Jeffrey Waters, an investment adviser and Q Club member from Baltimore, estimates that overall he's saved between 30 and 40 percent on the lowest rates offered by hotels, but he notes that blackout dates can make bookings over holidays and long weekends difficult. "You may need to travel midweek." Still, Waters says he paid about $1,200 for three nights at the Maroma Resort on Mexico's Riviera Maya (see "Empire of the Sun"), a savings of about 50 percent. At the Soniat House, in New Orleans, he saved about $300 by bidding through Andrew Harper.

Other Online Offerings
Classic Vacations (classicvacations.com)
This is a good site in many ways: helpful and full of photos, with details about room features to make comparison shopping easier. In particular, we learned that it has good values in Hawaii and Mexico. Impressive offerings included $1,729 for seven nights at Maui's Resort Quest Shores and $1,365 for seven nights at Acapulco's Las Brisas. Unfortunately, the site doesn't provide online booking and warns that rates are "subject to availability"—meaning that you might not snag the price when you call a Classic agent to book.

Hideaways Aficionado (hideaways.com)
You must first pay either $135 for a regular membership or $185 for elite status in order to access any of the deals on Hideaways Aficionado. But we quickly learned that the fee doesn't guarantee savings. Although the site was able to provide deals at some properties, its rates were often merely comparable to and at times more expensive than those offered by the hotels themselves. One good deal we unearthed was $388 per night at London's 22 Jermyn Street, compared with $606 per night via the hotel's own site. On the other hand, Hideaways offered a rate of $413 per night at St. Croix's Buccaneer, while Kayak bested it with just $271 per night. A Hideaways customer service representative told us that the company will do what it can to match a cheaper price, but we think it should do a little more to provide one to start with. The bottom line: If you're going to pay for a membership, there are better places to spend your money.

Leading Hotels of the World (lhw.com)
This site has a rather limited portfolio of about 400 properties worldwide, and queries for popular destinations such as Maui and Bermuda came up empty. When using the site to search for room rates, we found LHW's values fairly slim. Compared with Kayak, it often delivered the lowest rate by just a few dollars. One of the better deals was a two-night stay at the Sofitel Buenos Aires for $310, which was $100 less than the lowest price on Kayak—but this was the exception to the rule. LHW's reservations engine produced only one truly impressive bargain: $2,177 for seven nights at Rome's Hotel Aldrovandi, about $300 less than the nearest competitor's rate. LHW also has a Special Offers section, which we enjoyed browsing for inspiration, and which did offer some solid values. The biggest Special Offers savings we turned up was at Madrid's Hotel Hesperia, with three nights for $202, compared with $310 through the property's own site. The bottom line: Prices on LHW usually meet and sometimes beat those offered on a hotel's own site.