Any bad experiences with Priceline?

Old Aug 31st, 2007, 07:20 AM
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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.

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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 07:30 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 07:39 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 07:46 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 07:56 AM
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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).
 
Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:23 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:25 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:32 AM
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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 BOTH sell those rooms which will otherwise leave empty AND 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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:33 AM
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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 "worse" 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 "purchase" -- just didn't love it once we got there!)
 
Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:34 AM
  #30  
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Thanks rkkwan.
 
Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:45 AM
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I think you are more likely to get a "worse" 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, "Ah ha! BROOM CLOSET!" 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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 08:47 AM
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<<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 "worse" room than if you booked directly with the hotel but didn't use one of their discounts?>>

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 "bidding assistance form", then are ignored. And, fewer and fewer people are posting their winning bids.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 09:21 AM
  #33  
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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.
 
Old Aug 31st, 2007, 09:35 AM
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By the way, just like we're discussing on a car rental thread, I hope people realize that when they look at the "normal" 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 "lowest prices" there and actually think that is the lowest price you would get unless you used another discounter.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 09:55 AM
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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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 09:55 AM
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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 "that's a little out of my budget, do you have any specials going on?" 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....



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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 09:59 AM
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WillTravel - You should tell Neo what hotel you get in Seattle tonite. Have Neo call and ask them to undercut the $51 rate.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 10:58 AM
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<<By the way, just like we're discussing on a car rental thread, I hope people realize that when they look at the "normal" 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.>>

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!
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 12:25 PM
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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 "weekend with breakfast" specials, and simply "internet special".

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.
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Old Aug 31st, 2007, 12:55 PM
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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!
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