Off & Away aims to make luxury travel experiences accessible to the public ©Off & Away

A new travel website that allows bookers to bid on reduced-rate hotel suites has just been launched in the US.
Off & Away promises up to 90 percent off four and five star hotels using a bidding system, making it something like an eBay for travel.
Travellers place a maximum bid on their selected suite, with each item starting at $0 and no reserve, bidding against others until the clock runs out.
Winners can enjoy their suite at a reduced price, but losers must spend the amount of their losing bid on another of Off & Away's 50,000 hotels -- if they select the hotel they were bidding on in the first place, Off & Away promises a ten percent discount off the normal room rates.
Off & Away CEO Doug Aley says that the site is "about giving travelers the opportunity to book an experience of a lifetime", and from the first deals listed on the site, the company intends to make good on the claim.
The Presidential Suite at New York's The Pierre, two nights in the Wynn Las Vegas' Parlor Suite and three nights in suite at the InterContinental San Francisco are among the auctions featured on the site.
This year has seen a boom in alternative booking sites, whether "blind booking" or "members' only" clubs such as Tablet Hotels or Voyage Privé, that seek to maximize the unsold inventory of hotels to a bargain-hungry consumer market.
However, the team behind Off & Away, which includes executives from Expedia, Orbitz and Alaska Airlines, believes that they can change the way people shop for travel by helping the "everyday consumer gain access to exceptional travel experiences typically reserved for celebrities and heads of state."

Published 26.05.2010