Has this ever happened to someone on Priceline?
 

My daughter and I have to be in LA in May to attend the state science fair competition. Seeing that there are no good hotels near USC, we decided to stay downtown. I am an experienced Priceline bidder and use biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com for my bids. I saw that for 4stars, the Westin was being awarded. I did not want to be awarded that hotel since their outrageous parking charges would negate any priceline savings and the hotel objected to us bringing my daughter's project into our room (it's valuable and needs to be with us at all times.) I saw what was being awarded for 3.5 stars and I could live with those hotel choices. I placed a bid for 3.5 stars hotel downtown LA. Guess what? Priceline returns with a "You've been upgraded to 4stars and you get the Westin." I don't want a 4 star hotel.

I immediately called Priceline and told them everything and they said too bad. Priceline can upgrade you stars whether you want it or not. I went through the chain of command on the phone and was told "sorry and too bad" at every stage. They say it's in the terms, which I reviewed. However the terms to me are not that clear on that point. I was advised to send an email and just received a "we can't help you, you have to take the upgrade email."

So has anyone else ever gotten upgraded to a different star rating during the bidding process. Any other suggestions as to how to deal with this? Should I dispute the charge on my credit card since what I wanted was a 3.5 star hotel.

I have used Priceline over the years and at times have been awarded a hotel that I was less that thrilled with. However I knew that was a possibility. I had not idea that they could bump me up star ratings.

Thanks for your help.

thats nothing..I remember landing in Montego Bay getting on a shuttle to the Negril Beaches Resort and watching a couple learn that their Samsara Resort was full and they were being upgraded to the Hedonism Resort

Yes, I've been upgraded and also got a hotel I would rather not have stayed at. But "we might upgrade you" was indeed in the terms at that time (about 5 years ago) so there was nothing I could do.

The website text about hotel ratings says, "When using our Name Your Own Price® service, Priceline.com will book your reservation in a property with at least an equal or higher star level than you requested. "

You try to game the system and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The moral of the story is if you want to avoid a specific hotel, don't use Priceline.

I have been upgraded and didn't mind, but your situation certainly will make me think twice next time I bid.

I think Mike's point is the salient one. If there's a particular hotel you don't want, or a particular amenity you DO want, then Priceline is not a good choice.

But the OP wasn't trying to game the system or avoid a specific hotel; they merely didn't understand that they could be "upgraded" from the star rating that they were bidding for.

I can't recall if that has happened to me or not, but I can tell you that I have known about this potential "upgrade problem" for years. I probably have read about it on one of the bidding forums and I'm surprised you didn't know about this.

Yes, it does stink. But that is the chance you take when you use priceline. I too have gotten stuck with a hotel I didn't want. I ended up eating the 3 nights and booked something else. After that I think long and hard before I use priceline. Priceline is GREAT and I have gotten some awesome resorts, but if you aren't "open" you could be very disapointed!

Sorry it didn't work out for you.

I once mentioned on Bidding that I was concerned because I might get upgraded to a particular resort hotel which was a half star higher rating than I was bidding. Sheryl came back to say that was extremely unlikely -- yet the only reason I had brought it up was that someone had posted about that very thing happening with that hotel.

Yes, they make it quite clear that you can get upgraded.

I went back and looked at the Hotel FAQ at biddingfortravel.
http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/for...wtopic/id/2560

Quoted from the FAQ page (#7):
<i>You are bidding for a zone and a quality level and if the zone you are bidding offers a higher quality level than you are bidding, <u>you could be upgraded</u>. There is no way to avoid an upgrade if you do not want one and when you initial Priceline's website, you have agreed to the possibility of an upgrade since it is addressed in the Terms & Conditions.</i>

Are there public parking garages or parking lots near the Westin that charges a cheaper rate?

Priceline is a gamble.
Is the 3 1/2 star price you bid plus parking equal to what a 4 star bid would have cost?

Don't forget (to everyone) that sometimes the star ratings have little to do with price. Many hotels with an extra star have lower regular rates than some hotels in the same area with fewer stars.

<i>But the OP wasn't trying to game the system or avoid a specific hotel</i>

Yes, they were. They were hoping to avoid the Westin and any other hotel with very expensive parking.

They thought they could do that by not bidding for a 4* hotel.

"Is the 3 1/2 star price you bid plus parking equal to what a 4 star bid would have cost?"

The problem is that the 4* hotel has very expensive parking.

"sometimes the star ratings have little to do with price"

Or value. I'd rather stay in a 2.5* that has free breakfast and WiFi rather than a place that has higher stars because it has extras I don't care about, like room service or a fitness center.

This review on Yelp regarding the Westin Parking:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/westin-bonav...q8kVKaWXRTP2iA

<i>Tip: to avoid the 42$ parking at the hotel, if you are staying here on the weekend, theres a public parking garage right up the street across from the Marriot and its $10! </i>

BTW, since you're staying at the Westin, instead of taking your car out to USC, you can easily take the Dash Downtown F route: it goes directly between the Westin and USC for just 25 cents per ride!

Weekday Map and Schedule:
http://www.ladottransit.com/dash/rou...n/downtown.pdf

Weekend Map and Schedule:
http://www.ladottransit.com/dash/rou...owntown_we.pdf

yk,
thats quite a bit of effort to save 17 dollars

Thank you all for your responses. As noted by others, I wasn't trying to game the system for in the past I've gotten hotels on Priceline that I was less than thrilled with but knew that is the benefit of the bargain. In my previous 15 Priceline wins, I've never gotten a star rating higher than what I bid. Based on my history and my reviews of the bidding websites, I did not know Priceline could upgrade the stars. To answer another question, the price of the bid on 3.5 stars and the Westin parking charge is more than the 4 star bid and in fact it is what the Westin charges on their website.

The Main problem is the hotel will not let my daughter bring her electric bike and (her project) into our room for storage during the fair. I check with hotels in the area and the other hotels had no problem with the project, the westin did. That is my problem. If I had won any other hotel with my bid that had expensive parking, i would be okay. It is the bike that is the issue.

But now knowing this issue, as others have said, I'll think twice about bidding on Priceline.