I'm interested in Priceline. It looks like I can save a lot on hotels, but I'm a little hesitant because you don't know what you're getting and reservations are non refundable. Is it possible to figure out what hotels are available on Priceline before you buy?

You can try with sites like this:
http://www.betterbidding.com/index.p..._lists&tid=123

http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/

There are no guarantees, but it helps narrow things down.

It is easy(er) on hotwire since they describe the amenities and star level. On PL there is really no way to know. In some cities it is really easy to pinpoint a hotwire hotel. Even on hotwire though there are no guarantees.

PL is much more 'blind bidding'.

Ya pays yer money and takes yer chances.

I question whether any of the hotel booking sites really save anybody any money they couldn't have saved by booking direct with the hotel. If they are willing to sell the room for less on a booking site, why wouldn't they sell it for the same price directly and cut out paying the middle man? Makes no sense to me.

The thing is, you can't actually check to see if you got a 'deal' or not. It's like trying to check on who got the lowest airfare. You or the guy sitting next to you.

http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com is another good source. Nicely curated list of known hotels, friendly forum moderator.

But as others have said, you never really know for sure until after you book. And reservations on Priceline (and Hotwire for that matter) are non-refundable. Yup, ya takes yer chances. Sometimes the savings aren't worth it.

PL is great for some places including London, San francisco, LHR, SFO, etc . . .and really risky for others - Rome, LA, Paris . . .

BTW, don't forget that PL and HOtwire do not reveal whether you will be paying a resort fee, even if the hotel is just a chain and not a resort.

There are a few crowd sourced websites that can help you figure out what other travelers have received on Priceline, but this doesn't always mean you'll get the same hotel. If you're prepared to take the risk on an unknown and non-refundable hotel, just make sure you are saving a decent amount of $ to compensate you for your risk. Don't do it for a measly 10% savings or something like that.

The sites I use are: www.hoteldealsrevealed.com and betterbidding. Both have nicely curated lists of hotels that others have received and good healthy reports of recent wins by others.

What city are you going to?

When you buy a 'pig in a poke'. Guess what you can expect to get.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+pig+in+a+poke

I don't like the regular Priceline bidding site, but they also have the Express deals section which is more like Hotwire. For some reason I have been better able to figure out the hotels on this part of the site. And no, hotels won't typically give you 50% off just for calling and asking.

Yes. You surely are able to figure out which hotel it might be through express deals, but the savings are not as good as bidding through NYOP.

By the time you factor in the fees, and bidding ability, I find that there often isn't a whole lotta difference between Priceline's bidding side and Express Deals section.