hdm

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?

djkbooks

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.

nytraveler

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.)

hdm

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.

dwooddon

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.

Andrew

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.

hdm

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

TKT

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

AJPeabody

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.

NeoPatrick

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.

rkkwan

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.

SuCo27

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!

Cali

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.

Andrew

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.

cristindanielle

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.

rkkwan

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.

nyer

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.

nanabee

ttt

rkkwan

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.

hdm

Holy cow. This is getting scary.