For over a month, we've been quietly testing a new offering from the <a href="http://www.gilt.com/sale/women">Gilt Groupe</a>, the online shopping site that hosts exclusive sample sales for fancy designers like Chloe and Caroline Herrera.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>Gilt has done so well with its retail business that it acquired <a href="http://www.jetsetter.com">Jetsetter,</a> a travel site that offers its members insider discounts on luxury properties around the world. Like a sample sale, the hotel discounts that Jetsetter offer last only as long as the inventory does, and shoppers are treated on a first come, first serve basis. And like a sample sale (and as Elaine points out in the comments), there are no refunds, exchanges or returns - so buyer beware, should your travel plans be anything less than 100% certain.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are usually a couple of sales every weekday, and so far, we're impressed by the properties that have been featured. Each hotel is chosen by a Jetsetter correspondent, and hotels can't pay to be featured on the site. And while we haven't booked any rooms through them - yet - we have been comparing their prices to what you can find elsewhere on the web. And the savings have been, and continue to be, considerable.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Take the <a href="https://www.jameshotels.com/">James Hotel</a>&nbsp;(pictured above) in Chicago, for example, where the cheapest rate we could find for a King Guestroom was $179. With Jetsetter, the same room is offered for just <a href="http://www.jetsetter.com/sale/thejames/kingguestroom_thejames">$109/night</a>, a savings of almost 40%. Not too shabby, especially when you consider that the rate is available almost any night of the week over the next few months; this isn't a one-weekend-only, tons-of-blackout-dates sort of deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>We could go on and on about how the interface is sleek and easy to use, and how we want to visit all the hotels they've featured already, but we don't want to sound like we're fawning.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously, we're a fan of Jetsetter, and we think you should check it out too. So without further ado, we offer you <a href="http://www.jetsetter.com/invite/dorothymcgivney">our membership link, where you can sign up</a>&nbsp;to get access to their excellent sales. (Jetsetter, like Gilt, is invite-only, a clever marketing tactic that makes their offerings feel insider-y and exclusive. If only we were so clever.)</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, when you join, you can also invite friends - and if they join and book a room, you'll get $25 to spend on your next booking with Jetsetter. (As do we, we hope, unless they discriminate against similarly-named travel sites!)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div> 2009-11-16T17:36:50Z 336 jetsetter-our-new-favorite-travel-site-for-savings 2009-11-16T19:11:47Z