“It never hurts to ask.” This platitude is one of those that people say over and over again. I’m not a fan of price haggling, unless the item is damaged. I think it’s tacky, and somewhat rude (I think I had one too many people convinced that I magically knew what was going on clearance and keeping it from them when I worked in discount retail). That said, I see nothing wrong in asking about pricing. For example, when my family and I were at the CN Tower in 2004, I liked the look of the prix fixe menu; however, the vegetarian entree was not an option. I asked the waiter if I could have the vegetarian entree, pointng out it was cheaper than other entrees on the prix fixe menu (but we’d still come out ahead). The waiter spoke with his superior and agreed.
More recently, I wanted to book a park, sleep and fly at a local airport. On the park, sleep, fly website, I noticed a hotel I liked the looks of, but the price on the site was out of my budget. Just for the fun of it, I pulled up the hotel on their website, and saw an AAA rate of $30 less. That night. I called the hotel, and found out I could book through them (getting the AAA rate and Sunshine Rewards credit), and just pay to park (at 1/3rd the airport price!) once I got there.
