Travel Parents - A couple Q's

krak

Most hotels are now wireless and also have computer rooms for the use of their guests

I do believe you can do the cell phone thing with no problem---the teens on here would know better than I

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Krak,

Can help with one of these...

We have found on our baseball trips (most recently...Hard Rock - vegas, Embassy - Pheonix, Treasure Island - Vegas,...) that many of the hotels in the states have ethernet (cable)internet access...but of course you will pay...Usually in the $11.00 per day category...As TR says the other option is sometimes wireless...but they often still require that you pay...

Don't know about renting, but would be sure that you get wireless capabilities...

And Krak...do I remember you saying you will be in the Pacific Northwest this summer?...

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Thanks, guys. Yes, we'll start our summer baseball off at the BB Northwest Prospect Games at the U of W (Seattle) on June 22 and go from there, almost 40 games in 6 weeks. We end the summer trip at the Summer Series in San Diego in August. Just spent about two hours online trying to find a reasonably priced high-season hotel in San Diego for a week. GOOD LUCK!!! Holy Chickens.

Krakatoa--As far as the phones go-try getting one of the mobile phones that come with pre paid minutes. You won't have to sign any contracts and get the phone as well. You can get them at any Target or Wal Mart.

The last few times we've traveled we've stayed at Country Inn & Suites, which are not too expensive. As of last summer they had free internet access via ethernet.

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Style good info..

Something to check out prior to arrival.

Something I failed to add, that's a per day charge.

Krak...will be up that way this summer, Will stay in touch via PM, maybe we'll take in a game or two..

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We have had some good luck finding hotel rooms on the internet through hot wire and priceline. The downside is that you don't always know exactly where you are staying until you finalize the transaction. You pick a general area - so you might end up driving a little further than you would like.

We did the "name your own price" option on priceline a couple of weeks ago and ended up in a Crowne Plaza for $45 a night in Southern California. The downside to doing this is that it is non-changeable, non-refundable. So it might not be a good option when making plans several months ahead of time.

Krak,
Almost all major chains now have free wireless and many have their own computers you can access. We are Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn travelers and have found most lobbies to be equipted with pc's for your use. Access to your wireless is always free. Days Inn has workplace business centers (not all) and you can use their faxes, pc's, etc.
If you are an American Express customer you can rent a cell phone. But I find the suggestion to buy a phone and prepay a good suggestion.

I worked in the PC rental industry for years. There was a lot of money to be made back when a PC cost the same as a car. Now that the purchase price is more like a car payment the industry has kind of fallen apart. Rental was by the month and it was easier for a company to get credit approval for a couple hundred laptops than for an individual to get approved for just one. I wouldn’t count on finding a cost effective rental, especially as an individual. Finding a hotel that will provide the service would be easier.

Thanks for all the great advice!

A few opinions:

1) Renting a cell phone is a waste of money - you can get a prepaid phone (the Go Plan from cingular as an example) far cheaper.

2) Renting a laptop is practically a non starter - very difficult to do. A used laptop can be purchased off of ebay and delivered to a friend or you could rely on internet cafe's. Most cities have a coffee shop with a PC or two and they are often free. As others have indicated, hotels also have free or nearly free machines for guests.

3) Internet access in a hotel is sometime included in the room rate (not quite the same as free ). Other times it is $10-15 for 24 hours. Another option is t-mobile hot spots (wi fi) - available at most starbucks and borders book shops. I think they have a monthly pass.

Just some FYI as well for you travel parents:

If you bring your laptops remember that the majority of Starbucks have free WIFI service(HOTSPOTS). Also, places like Panera Bread have free WIFI as well. I bring my laptop and if the Hotel doesn't have Web Access , which is rare, I just use the WIFI at Starbucks. It would also be a good idea to get a wireless network card. They are pretty cheap these days.