Getting those cheap rates the sneaky way
[QUOTE=JayWonEm;3014985]We need to have a bit of self-awareness LOL. Most Thailand visitors aren't spending two months in the provinces of the Philippines. I lived in southern Africa half a century ago more or less, and I would buy a bar girl a couple of drinks, take her home to a place nicer than wherever she was staying, and give her "cab fare" in the morning knowing damn well that she was walking. I wasn't a tourist (not that there were many) and I didn't get tourist pricing. That was then; this is now.
When I visit I am going to a country I have never been to before, where I speak exactly zero of the local language, and where I am following in the footsteps of tens of thousands of other visitors in the same situation. Why the hell should I expect "local pricing"? Why would I expect things to be the way they were 10 years ago? Hell, if things were the way they were 10 years ago I wouldn't be leaving southern Florida, because no market has gone to hell the way this place has..[/QUOTE]Why not trying to get dirty cheap deals if you're able to, not everyone is wealthy stock owner that has money flowing to his bank account based on the Wall Street affairs, most of us are just working class people who work for a year in our places of residence (I am originally from Balkans area but I live in California and NYC for the past 30 years), I work menial jobs like construction and moving throughout the year and then maybe once every two years I am able to afford a trip to Colombia or Philippines and sure as hell I fly into Manila but immediately hop on the bus to AC to get those provincial fun rates as opposed to be looked upon as rich American in Manila which I'm definitely not. Last time I was in San Jose, Costa Rica, the one hour prices at the popular hotel (I forgot the name of it) were about $150 per hour, but thank to the local guides that are standing outside the hotel, they took me literally around the corner where those short term places were, it's like bunch of bars with room in the back, the same thing was like $30 for 20 or 30 minutes, amazing talent. So, it's always good to look for the best opportunity to get more bang for your buck unless money is not an object, which I assume for most of us here that's not the case.