Delay

HTML

<input id="hotel.query.keyword" name="hotel.name" type="text" value=""/>

<span id="hotel.query.keyword" class="tips" title="searching keyword for hotel name, address, city or zip.">?</span>

<span id="hotel_query_keyword" class="tips" title="searching keyword for hotel name, address, city or zip.">?</span>

JavaScript

$(function() {
    var id = "span#hotel\\\.query\\\.keyword";
    alert($(id).size());

    id = "span#hotel_query_keyword";
    alert($(id).size());
});