Any bad experiences with Priceline?
 

I'm thinking of trying Priceline for the first time, for a trip to NY next spring (probably May or early June).

I've heard so many success stories about it, but what about the times it didn't work and you ended up in a bad hotel, felt cheated, had to move -- whatever.

We know NY geographically pretty well, so I'd be familiar with the neighbourhoods, and I'd probably be looking at 4-stars (unless you think I could do well with 3-stars). How much of a gamble would I be taking?

Have a look at the hotel FAQ's and reviews on www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com

Are you talking about New York City? Contrary to most advice, I've always had great luck bidding way far in advance. But, it is absolutely essential to do your homework before bidding, understand free re-bid zones, and know which zones, if any, have less than desirable hotels.

It's also a good idea to shop various dates (if yours are flexible) on other websites to get a feel for the rates. Depending on what's going on, rates could be significantly different one week versus another.

I have gotten some amazing deals with Priceline (also Hotwire) for New York City. BUT, hotel rates have gone way up in recent years, along with fill rates.

It's also important not to get caught up in bidding or getting overanxioux. Now that you can re-bid in 24 hours (versus the previous 72 hours), you can take your time and think things over.

You need to look very carefully at the * ranking they give hotels. In NYC some that are rated 3* are not very pleasant - and to be safe you should really bid 4*.



Also- you obviously need to be flexible about exact location, amenities and street noise. (I'm always amazed at people who complain at street noise at a Manhattan hotel, but it comes up fairly often on tripadvisor. I mean - you're in the middle of 9 million people - of course there's noise in the streets 24/7 - and you'll hear it unless you have a really high floor room.)

Yes, I do mean New York City. And we're quite flexible about the date. The rates I've been seeing on 4-star hotels in May range from $350 to $450. I haven't done a thorough search yet, though.

Re the high floor thing, can you make requests like that on Priceline? Even when you do it normally they always say they'll note your request but can't promise anything.

I'm in the middle of a bad expereince now but, to be fair, I don't know if the fault lies with Priceline or with Sheraton Hotels.

In May, I made and paid for a two night reservation at the Salt lake City Airport Sheraton for late July through Priceline. I recieved the e-mail confirmation but, when I arrived at 2:00AM, the hotel did not have a reservation for me. They did have the reservation number that Priceline had given me but it was in someone elses name, who had a name with the same initials as mine.

Fortunately they were able to check me in but I had to agree to the rack rate. Since this was at 2:00 am on Sunday morning, there was no luck reaching Priceline cusotmer service. I did call them the next morning and they confirmed the reservation had been made for me and with the same confirmation number they had given me. They told me they would call the hotel manager on Modnay and get it taken care of.

However, by the time I checked out at noon on Monday, no corrections had been made and the hotel manager was not there to talk to.

When I got home the next day, I e-mailed the hotel manager and, the next day got an e-mail from someone with an Indian name that worked in "customer service" but did not specify whether it was for Sheraton or Priceline. In that e-mail, he informed me I had changed the reservation to the other name and nothing more could be done. I sent a reply informing him I had not changed the name and got another reply telling me they understood I said I had not changed the name but that I did.

Over the next month, I sent two more e-mails to the hotel without response. Then, when I got my credit card bill, I found they had charged me only $88 instead of the $200+ on my checkout bill.

I again e-mailed the hotel and this time was less polite and more insistent, mentioning potential complaints for fraud and elder abuse and, this time, I received a reply from the manager within hours. He told me he had been told by his staff the problem had been resolved but that he would look into it and get back to me.

That was two weeks ago and I have heard nothing since. I will be going through SLC again on this road trip so I am going to try for a face-to-face with him and try to get it settled one and for all.

Other than that, I have used Priceline many, many times over the past several years and have never had any other problem.

I've used Priceline a bunch of times for hotels, and I've overall been very pleased. Only a few times have I needed to contact Priceline customer service at all. Last Christmas, I had booked an airport hotel at my destination, but my flight was canceled due to weather; Priceline refunded the amount in full, without any sort of argument. A few months before, I stayed two nights at a Doubletree in Maine which I'd booked via Priceline, and I had a lot of problems at the hotel, mostly due to noise. I emailed Priceline after my stay requesting a partial refund, but instead they gave me a full refund for my entire stay.

In the case of dwooddon above, I would taken the case up with the Sheraton, since they refused to honor a reservation number matching what I had printed out (I take a copy of the receipt with me). If Priceline and Sheraton refused to work out a refund from the Sheraton charge, I would leave it to my credit card company to work out the dispute - infinitely easier if I had used the same credit card for both purchases - although it still sounds like a huge pain, something Priceline should just work out for you. But I have heard similar horror stories about, say, Travelocity. Having a 3rd party involved can complicate things.

Does anyone know of any cases where someone ended upo with an unacceptable hotel?

Only one-
NYC, a room so small that 1 could not be in it let alone 2.

Remember the Priceline rules: They guarantee only that you will get a room that can accomodate two adults. They do not let you specify type or size of bed(s), smoking or non-smoking, or location within the hotel. You may end up with the worst room in the hotel, or luck into a great one, but since you will probably be the lowest paying guest in the place, don't count on anything beyond the basics even in a 4*. And your payment is nonrefundable.

On the other hand, I have never had a priceline problem that I couldn't charm a solution out of the desk clerk. In a worst case scenario where charm fails, most hotels will upgrade you for a fee if a better room is available, but then you are no longer paying bottom dollar.

I guess if I arrived at a hotel with a confirmation and the hotel had a matching confirmation with the same number but the name was wrong (even though it had the same initials as mine) I would sure try to convince them that obviously a mistake with the name had been made. And I can't imagine most sensible desk clerks arguing with that theory. Especially if my reservation had been made through Priceline and the matching one was also done through Priceline. Since they had rooms available it would certainly be the most logical thing to go ahead and give you the room and then if someone else did show up for that same reservation give the remaining room to them. I just don't get the hotel NOT doing that.

I've only done Priceline once and got a poor room at the New York Times Square Hilton. When I asked about a different room, I got a curt "you're only here one night and you booked through Priceline, that's why you got that room" even though it was early afternoon and obviously dozens (or hundreds) of people hadn't checked in yet. And when I pulled out my Hilton Honors card for points, I was just as curtly told "people who book with Priceline don't get points". I really did feel like a "second class" guest.

Others say that kind of treatment is not the norm, and with only one experience from me, I can't argue that point.

I have used Priceline for at least 20 successful bids for myself, my parents and my sister. Also a few times helping my cousin bid successfully on her account.

I've gotten rooms from 2* La Quinta in College Station to 5* (according to PL) Sheraton at AMS.

The only time someone was not completely happy is the Kensington Holiday Inn in London. My parents find rooms very small and poorly maintained - but one can't really complain for the price they paid.

Anyways, I always present my hotel membership cards when I check-in even using PL or HW. They'll always reminded me that the room rate won't get credit, but I always smile at them and reply immediately, "I can get points for restaurants and room-service, right?" They always confirm that and smile back.

In the old ways, before many travelers learn to sign up for the free hotel programs, I've been given better rooms even with my bottom level card. But these days, it does require an elite-level card to get the better rooms. But at least it's still very possible with PL bids.

I've only bid on a hotel once through Priceline and it was not a very good experience. I won a Wyndham Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ that was supposed to be a 3* (Priceline did not offer anything higher than 3* for the area) and it was at best a 2*. The room looked and smelled clean, but the carpet was sticky beside the bed and the sheets just felt greasy. I ended up sleeping in long sleeves and sweatpants and taking a long, hot shower in the morning because I just felt disgusting. When I got home, I read reviews of the hotel online that said the hotel wasn't that great (I know...should've looked before I bid, but it was a very last minute booking). However, I'd try Priceline again for another area, based on what I've read about the successes others have had.

Good luck!

I have used Priceline a lot of times and have never been disappointed. Some hotels have been better than others and some service has been better than others but I only bid in areas where I have a good idea of what hotels I will get and only bid 4 or 4*. I do know you can get some small rooms in NYC.

SuCo27, you should note that hotel ratings are really based on amenities, not quality. That's what Priceline's and everyone else's 3-star rating was based on (having a restaurant on site, an alarm clock, etc.) You could get a dirty room in a 5-star hotel - that doesn't make it a lower star rating. Anyway, it's too bad you got a dirty room but obviously moving rooms ASAP would have been best.

I love Priceline- if you know your neighborhood and are able to pick your hotel class- you're set. I'd say 2 out of every 10 bids has been less than satisfactory, but I was still staying in a 4 star hotel...so it wasn't tragically disappointing.

SuCo27's case illustrates what happens when you don't do your homework. The Wyndham is one of the three 3* listed on biddingfortravel for Cherry Hill/Mt Laurel, so that's not a surpirse.

Then when you go to tripadvisor, you'll find that it's rated #18 for 20 reviewed hotels in Mt Laurel. It's clearly a zone to be avoided.

While Biddingfortravel and betterbidding are invaluable for Priceline information and strategies, don't rely on the "hotel lists" too much.
1)Most of the actual lists (as opposed to postings by individuals of their results) are OLD. A year, or 2 sometimes.
2) New hotels are being added to priceline, hotels are dropped, hotels change names (A Hilton may now be a Radisson for example)
3) zones change a lot in some areas
4) ratings change and can go higher and lower.

If you use Priceline a lot, you'll be more aware of these changes and learn to live with them. I see people post all the time on the priceline boards and here saying "but the hotel I got wasn't on THE LIST..."

I use Priceline for some business trips, and for leisure travel where the location and facilities aren't as important as price. If I want to spend a special occasion somewhere, I do not use Priceline.

The worst experience I've had with Priceline was being assigned to a less than desirable, out of the way, awkward access room in an otherwise nice hotel.

At that same hotel, the room was also not cleaned until after 11 pm ,and then only after I complained about it!
Of course it was a holiday weekend at a very overbooked hotel where wedding guests who paid much more than I did also had problems (people were getting dressed in the lobby!)so I doubt that Priceline was the cause of that problem. And at checkout when I mentioned the problem with the room cleaning, my 2 night parking fee ($16 per day) was comped. The room was prepaid (through Priceline) so they really did as much as they could financially.

ttt

You can't just look at "the list" on biddingfortravel.com, but also the winning bids. If you haven't seen the same star level in your zone reported in a year, then of course you need to be skeptical about "the list".

Everything gives you information and hints. There's never any guarantee, which is one thing that's certain.

Holy cow. This is getting scary.

You should ALWAYS reserve a back up hotel in case you're unsuccessful on Priceline.
>If you are more than 2 people or 2 people who can't share a bed, PL is NOT for you in NYC. (other places maybe).

>If your trip is longer than 4 or 5 nights, don't expect to win a single PL bid for the whole time.

4* bids are becoming more difficult to win except right before a stay (which can be nerve racking). There are more 3* hotels being bid and won lately. Unfortunately there are more clinker hotels in the 3* categories. have a look on bft or bb and see which hotels people are winning and at what price. The one real clinker I see is the Wellington (3* upper midtown) for $276. That does't look like a bargain to me.

If you're a person who likes to know a long time in advance what/where you'll be staying, I'd say PL for NYC is not right for you.

If your dates are flexible, I'd pick a few alternate dates and do some research on kayak.com taking note of price differences on a few hotels that interest you.

Two years ago I was working on a Priceline bid in Seattle, studying and carefully bidding. But when my third bid attempt just $20 less than my back up reserved rate still got declined, I gave up. At that point it seemed that $20 was not worth the unknowns and having to do a non-cancellable prepaid reservation. Several people here acknowledged that Seattle is a city where good Priceline deals are sometimes hard to come by. So it really can depend on the city and of course, the time frame.

NeoPatrick, any city, not just Seattle, can have limited or no Priceline availability. It's never, never guaranteed that you can get a good Priceline deal anywhere. Hotels can decline to participate with Priceline on particular dates if they don't worry about too many unsold rooms or for any other reason; maybe they don't participate at all in high season or whatever. Priceline is just one of those things you should never rely on as a sure thing. On many trips my Priceline bids have simply failed and I booked rooms in other ways.

I agree that saving $20 (minus the Priceline booking fee, approximately $8 per booking, have to take that into account) isn't nearly worth it. I need to save much more than that to make using Priceline worthwhile.

The only upside with Priceline is that
you have chance to stay in top (??) hotels for minimal cost. But again, their ratings are not reliable. What's 4** in Priceline may end up a 2/3** in reality.

Also, if you have issues with a particular chain, want to be close to public transportation, or any museum or monument, Priceline probably can't help.

Besides, they do not guarantee any specific amenities.

I wonder - when a hotel declines to "give" its rooms to Priceline or Hotwire, because they're pretty sure they'll be close to full for the particular date, what do they do with those rooms at the last minute? I'm not huge Priceline fan (I just don't enjoy the process; prefer Hotwire if at all), so I have reserved a room in Chicago for next weekend. Some more preferable hotels still have rooms available, but at very high rates. Can I expect the room rates to come down, e.g., one day before my trip?

Also, I know on Priceline and Hotwire you might not get the best room in the house. Does this apply to discount rates on the hotel's own website, such as AAA or Senior discounts?

FWIW, the only time I did use Priceline, I got the Wellington. I didn't love the hotel, but they gave us a 2-room suite. On the other hand, I've used Hotwire to get not only a great room at the Times Square Hilton (the Times Square Westin, too), but when we arrived, they very pleasantly acknowledged we were "Hotwire" guests, and still gave us a choice of floor and view (and even told us which view was better -- we had a view of the Empire State Building).

Seriously, how often do any of us get a hotel on Priceline that was not listed on BFT? Of my 20+ winning bids, I can't remember a single time. At most once.

Sure, new hotels pop up. But if you're bidding in popular zones with plenty of BFT postings, your chance of getting an unexpected hotel is pretty low. And you just have to look up the list on BFT to see if the hotels in that zone satisfy you or not. The star level of hotels vary from zone to zone, city to city.

earthhopper, you first of all can't compare the "star" ratings very easily because there is no standard for them. Travelocity, AAA, Priceline, Hotwire all seem to use different ratings. And the star ratings don't mean "quality" they generally mean amenities. The same hotel with a restaurant onsite gets a higher star rating than if it doesn't - has nothing to do with whether the hotel is a dump or a gem. And yes, Priceline does guarantee certain amenities (like a restaurant on site).

I don't worry about the things you are concerned about because I use BetterBidding.com and BiddingforTravel.com to do my research. So I have a good idea of which hotels I'm likely to get in a particular zone, and I even know when it's wise to avoid certain zones and quality levels.

dmlove, you can get "not the best room in house" at a hotel whether you use Priceline or Hotwire or you pay rack rate. SOMEONE gets "not the best room in the house" when the hotel is full. If you show up at 11:30PM and that's the last room and you paid rack rate, guess which room you'll get? Sure, if you booked with some sort of discount rate, you are less likely to get the hotel's best room, but I don't think Priceline is singled out.

I've never heard of any different treatment in general of guests using Priceline vs guests using Hotwire. You can't base it on two stays at two different hotels. I've received fantastic rooms with Priceline (more likely an average room) and dumpy rooms without it.

dmlove - Most hotels do not lower the rates if they don't sell. Just like airlines will often leave seats open rather than discount at last minute. They don't want to "cheapen" their products and make people think they can get them for cheap at the end.

The attraction of PL and HW for these hotels is that they can <b>BOTH</b> sell those rooms which will otherwise leave empty <b>AND</b> not cheapen themselves publicly. You won't find the $60 room from that Westin on Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, or their own website. They just do it quietly and anonymously. Many people who use PL and HW don't know about BFT or BB.

As for what kind of rooms you'll get, it mostly depends on how packed the hotel is for that night. If it's mostly open, they have nothing to lose to give you a better room, even if you get it through HW or PL.

Andrew, you misunderstood my questions. I wasn't attempting to differentiate Priceline treatment from Hotwire treatment at all. But all of the recent Priceline threads (the good and the bad) note that you're more likely to get a not-as-desirable room with any discount site than you are if you go directly through the hotel. So I wanted to know if that includes going through the hotel's own site, but using one of the available discounts on their site, such as AAA -- are you likely to get a &quot;worse&quot; room than if you booked directly with the hotel but didn't use one of their discounts?

And, as I said, I have only used Priceline once. I didn't stop using it because of the Wellington, I stopped using it because I don't enjoy the process. Hotwire, on the other hand, I find easier to use, and have used it many times, always successfully (I didn't love the Hilton in Hilton Head, but I knew that's what it would be before I pressed &quot;purchase&quot; -- just didn't love it once we got there!)

Thanks rkkwan.

I think you are more likely to get a &quot;worse&quot; room whenever you use book with a discount rate vs. paying full price, but as said above much depends on how full the hotel is, when you arrive, etc.

Hotel managers may have preferences for one booking service over another, but more likely, the front desk agents don't know the difference. A friend of mine worked front desk at a 4-star botique hotel for a while and honestly didn't know the difference between Priceline, Travelocity, etc. when bringing up guest reservations. It wasn't like she saw it was a Priceline reservation and said, &quot;Ah ha! BROOM CLOSET!&quot; Actually she claimed that within reason the front desk agents had a great leeway to assign rooms at their own discretion. If a guest checking in was really nice and cheered her up when she was in a bad mood the guest was more likely to get an unexpected upgrade vs. the guest being rude and obnoxious for no reason - that was an easy way for the guest to get the absolute minimal room available.

&lt;&lt;But all of the recent Priceline threads (the good and the bad) note that you're more likely to get a not-as-desirable room with any discount site than you are if you go directly through the hotel. So I wanted to know if that includes going through the hotel's own site, but using one of the available discounts on their site, such as AAA -- are you likely to get a &quot;worse&quot; room than if you booked directly with the hotel but didn't use one of their discounts?&gt;&gt;

This has not been my experience at all. In fact, we have gotten some very nice rooms, free upgrades, or upgrades at a nominal extra rate.

A friend of mine who works for a major chain told me they often release rooms to Priceline and Hotwire at the last minute (but never below cost) or before because bonuses (and job performance reviews) are, in part, based on fill rates.

Biddingfortravel is definitely not the resource it used to be. For one thing, the New York City hotel list has not been updated since February (Boston - November). Priceline changes the names and boundaries of their areas all the time (along with adding new hotels). And, the monitors are no longer providing prompt bidding assistance. I so sympathize with folks that follow all the detailed directions, do their homework, post the &quot;bidding assistance form&quot;, then are ignored. And, fewer and fewer people are posting their winning bids.

Thanks Andrew and djkbooks, that's interesting. djkbooks, I will continue to check hotwire for a less expensive but at least 4* hotel in Chicago right up to the time I can cancel my other reservation.

By the way, just like we're discussing on a car rental thread, I hope people realize that when they look at the &quot;normal&quot; prices for rooms on Hotwire or even Hotels.com and other sources, that those are often NOT the lowest rate you'd get by contacting the hotel direct.
I think some people make the mistake of looking at one of those hotel sites and looking at the &quot;lowest prices&quot; there and actually think that is the lowest price you would get unless you used another discounter.

I've several times gotten hotels not yet listed on any bidding site, and I don't bid nearly as much as some people.

But you can do research to prevent surprises even in this respect, by checking Expedia and a few other hotel sites to get an idea of the broad range of possibilities.

Heading to Seattle tonight - I bid $51 (some months ago) for a room that is $160 on the hotel web site and not cheaper anywhere else.

I have used other discounts such as AAA in the past and gotten nice rooms. But I wish there were some way for families to participate in PL.

Since I can't, I always check a hotel's Internet site before I call. When I call the a hotel directly and get a rate, I ask &quot;that's a little out of my budget, do you have any specials going on?&quot; Sometimes I get a yes. It might be only $20 off a night, but hey, better than nothing if Priceline doesn't work for you.

If we ever do make it to NYC with the kids (my oldest is interested) I guess we would just stay outside Manhattan and commute in each day. I read the NYC hotel discussions here a lot. I could never afford those prices.

I would love to hear any other strategies people have for families....

WillTravel - You should tell Neo what hotel you get in Seattle tonite. Have Neo call and ask them to undercut the $51 rate.

&lt;&lt;By the way, just like we're discussing on a car rental thread, I hope people realize that when they look at the &quot;normal&quot; prices for rooms on Hotwire or even Hotels.com and other sources, that those are often NOT the lowest rate you'd get by contacting the hotel direct.&gt;&gt;

Well, what's the secret phrase? Whenever I ask for a good deal direct with the hotel, I'm given the rack rate. In fact, more than once when I tell them I have seen a better price on the web they tell me they don't doubt it but can't even match the price on their own website!

rkkwan, should I pretend your post wasn't intended to be an insult and that you really are able to read?

One would think from your post that I indicated such deals aren't possible in Seattle. Nothing could be further from the truth. I only mentioned that for the single two nights I tried two years ago -- good deals were not available, and when I asked here, I got several replies saying that yes, Seattle is often NOT a great place for Priceline deals.

Or are you suggesting that my comment that it is always good to see what the prices are from the hotel direct before assuming that Hotels.com and Hotline are listing the actual lowest prices was NOT a good suggestion? It certainly wasn't meant to say that they will match a Priceline offer and nothing I said could possibly be interpreted as that.

Your stupid and demeaning post seems to indicate that I was suggesting something I never did. Why be so rude? Have I said something to offend you and you need to try to discredit me by making up things?

And Andrew, again I did not mean to imply that there will always be a lower rate from the hotel direct or that they will always match the discounter rate -- but simply that it is worth checking. On some hotel sites they list everything from AAA to AARP or Senior discounts, to &quot;weekend with breakfast&quot; specials, and simply &quot;internet special&quot;.

I've been known to get half price senior rates at Hyatt fairly often. That is certainly worth knowing before bidding higher than that based on the lowest rate on Hotels.com for instance.

Neo - I agree with plenty of stuff you said in your posts in this or the rental car thread. There's no guarantee that PL or HW always give you the lowest price. I totally agree with you. I often book hotels here or abroad direct with the hotels as they can be cheaper or PL/HW possible offerings just suck.

But what I have problem is that overall your tone in these two threads are that PL and HW hardly ever give people the lowest price. I just have to disagree with you, and from what I'm reading here, it's not just me but others here too.

If I misunderstand your intention, I apologize. But if you've read many other posts on Priceline here, I've given people very detailed descriptions of how to bid, but also WHEN NOT TO BID. I always tell people to check all prices directly on the hotels and rental car companies' website first. ALWAYS!

But anyways, my main purpose of responding to your stuff is that overall you give a pretty negative opinion on those services, for all reasons. That's opposite my experience, so I'll continue to balance your negative posts with mine. If you don't like them, tough!