I'm pretty well acquainted with Priceline, and have had some good successes using it. But I've been seeing quite a few references here to Hotwire.com, which I just went and explored. It seems that - just as with P'line - Hotwire doesn't tell you WHAT hotel you are getting until after you've paid. So what's the attraction? Is it a better deal in any way than Priceline? Thanks!

Two Major differences. !st, instead of bidding for a price, THEY give you prices for different quality levels of hotels. 2nd,a very important, they give you some indications the ameneties for the hotels they offer, so if it has a swimming pol, or free breakfast, or if it's a suite hotel(eg: Embassy suites).

I think they both have made a nice nitch in this type of market for finding cheap air, flights and car rental. Priceline seems to require much more effort and patience...maybe ultimately getting a better price but maybe not. I've used both (mostly for air and hotels) and actually prefer hotwire.com since I feel like I can compare what the price of a 2 star, 3 star, 4 star hotel is in a given area I chose (yes, you can zero in on a specific location and it gives the boundaries street wise). I have had occassion where I was considering a 3 star hotel but when I saw a fantasic price for a 4 star, I decided to chose the 4 star instead since it was the better value and actually less than some of the 3 star hotels they offered. My most recent hotwire experience was a non-stop from JFK to LAX on American Airlines so the airlines don't always require changes of planes and they only work with top major carriers. I think you should explore both and decide for yourself which method (knowing the price ahead of time or bidding) works best for you. Lou

I know some folks on this board swear by priceline.com and have had excellent results. Unfortunately, I found it all to be a very exhausting 2 week experience without having a bid accepted. I had pretty "strict" demands as far as location and couldn't change my dates etc.which didn't help. I went on hotwire.com and within minutes had a hotel in excactly the location I wanted in NYC for $18 less per night than what I had been rejected with on priceline.com! GO FIGURE!!Talk about a blessing in disquise! I too like being able to play around to see what the price is if you go one day earlier, stay one day longer, change areas etc.and seeing all the prices of different hotels BEFORE I put in a credit card and it is finalized! IMO based on my experience, I'd say 2 thumbs up for hotwire.com!

What about quikbook for hotels? I have found them to be very reasonable for hotels.

IMO, Hotwire wins hands down. Not only for the reasons others have listed but you can call and talk to a real person at 1-877-HOTWIRE. If you call Priceline everything is automated and you go through a huge loop of pushing prompts and I never was able to talk to a real person. There NEVER was an option like "to talk to a customer service representative" push such and such. I found it exhausting! Why doesn't Priceline.com allow you to discuss questions with a representative like Hotwire and the other travel sites do?? Sarah

Sister, quikbook can't very well be compared to pricline or hotwire as on quikbook, you can select your hotel...thus their prices will most likely always be higher. They are probably a very good travel site to book with if you've committed to one particular hotel.

I don't think there's one right answer to this question. My strategy is to check out the Hotwire prices and if there's nothing suitable there, go over to Priceline. Don't try to bid on PL without using www.biddingfortravel.com.

Watch out for hotwire, they are well known to overrate hotel properties. A 4 star is really only a 3 star in priceline's eyes, and so forth. Even Priceline gets criticized for overrating sometimes so the results with hotwire can be disastrous.

I have not been able to get a price accepted yet with priceline.com (glad to hear it's not just me!) but did receive the Westin on Michigan Ave. (Chicago)on hotwire.com for $95 per night. It was rated by hotwire as a 4 star which is quite accurate IMO. This was a spur of the moment trip. We stayed for 4 nights and were very pleased, a great location! Hotwire.com will tell you the criteria used to be considered a 3 star, 4 star hotel which was quite helpful.

I've had no success getting airline tix deals for priceline probably because I fly from the NYC area airports and there are usually already good rates available. I have had great success wiht hotels but it really is the luck of the draw. I always check Hotwire first for prices and then check recent winning bids at www.biddingfortravel.com I did end up once getting what I thought was a better deal on Hotwire but it was the Hotel tremon- rated by priceline as 2* and Hotwire calls it a 3*. I became ill and was unable to make the trip (one of the risks w/buying rooms this way - can't be cancelled or refunded) but research indicates that the tremont is not a great property. This past weekend I was in Chicago and got the Hilton Towers on S. Michigan Ave for $60 per night - much lower than Hotwire was offering but it's all a question of what inventory either service has to offer. I happen to love the bidding and rebidding process but if you don't... Hotwire does have much better deals than quickbook, expedia or the other consolidators.

I haven't been able to find the site on priceline.com or biddingfortravel.com that list the criteria for 4 star hotels? I feel like I'm gambling without reading which hotels are which. When you found that hotwire rated a hotel 3 star and priceline rated it a 2 star...where did you read this info? This is why I always stick with hotwire.com I feel like I have better control on what I'm actually getting before I enter my credit card and commit. Thanks for information, Stacey

I diddo the question asked by Stacy...shed some light please....

Fill in a date and city in the priceline hotel area and click NEXT.

On the next screen you'll see a map which shows a shaded area in which your hotel can be located. Click NEXT.

On the next page you'll see hotel star rating avaiable in that area, click on the words next to the star ratings (ie- Economy, Upscale, Deluxe, etc) and that will explain the criteria for each star level.

(you can get to this point without registering, bidding, giving a credit card, email, etc)

Sorry, here's an easier way...

Go to Priceline and click HELP.

Under the Hotel area the first question is "How do I know what star level to choose?" Click on that and you will get a description of what each star level corresponds to.

Thanks so much for the advice. I must go try it! Were you worried about putting in your credit card and knowing this could all be finalized without even know whether you'd "won" your bid or not? What about this waiting around 2 (maybe 3 days)of you're rejected before you can rebid? (this part seems most annoying and not sure the reasoning behind it??).... Did you ever run out of time before your trip? I'm somewhat limited as to the dates and the area (Chicago) so I can't go with outside options? I read that you can rebid with a different credit card (this is a possibility in my case) but wouldn't they recognize my email address? I feel SO COMFORTABLE with hotwire.com ...no waiting time either knowing a head of time what I'm getting, even without the exact name of the hotel. Did you start off with hotwire.com and build the confidence to advance to priceline.com?? I found biddingfortravel.com totally worthless....the dates and cities with approvals weren't even close to my needs...I'm not sure why this site is so highly touted..it didn't do me any good at all!!! Thanks guys, "a newbie who is just learning" Stacey

Biddingfortravel gives you a picture of some prices for hotels, but I agree it is not as useful as some who rave about it. Also, be aware, if you try to poast anything other than a fantastic accepted bid for some locals, this "administrator" named Sheryl will scold you in a very demeaning fashion.

I believe it's actually Hotwire that tends to give hotels higher start ratings than priceline does but an easy way to check on what hotels hav ebeen awarded in the past at given star levels is to tcheck the "Hotels" category at www.biddingfortravel - there's a listing at the beginning of the winning bids page for each city. It's a compilation of all the hotels that people have posted winning bids for. It's not a guarantee that you'll receive those hotels but does offer insight into what priceline perceives to be 3*, 4* etc. I admit that iit does come off as scolding when the biddingfortravel admin questions the bidding procedures of those who post (only on occasion) but I discovered that it's because so many people fail to read, study and understand the FAQ that instruct one on how to bid in an intelligent way. People have failed bids or grossly overpay because they don't understand the process as it's explained (I was once one of them). Now that I finally took the time to understand the structure, I generally do very well in my bidding and when I don't I understand why (typically it's because it's a popular time slot ini my destination of choice and priceline has no inventory). My most recent winning bids were $60 per night for the Hilton Towers on S. Michigan Ave in Chicago and $40 per night for the new Elliot Grand Hyatt in Seattle. These prices are far below Hotwire's or those of any other discounter or service. Anyone who doesn't understand the "free rebid" process for getting best prices on priceline hotels, feel free to email me direct and I'll send plain English concise instructions on how it works.

Stacey (and others),

I used Hotwire once for a flight from NY to Chicago... it was about $100 cheaper and my plans were flexible, so i have it a shot and was happy w/ the experience.

Since then i did find BFT (bidding for travel) and tried for a hotel and was successful. Other people's winning hotels dont' need to be for your exact dates, it's just simply to give you an idea of how low to start your bidding. I've bid for various hotels since then and have gotten a hotel everytime (once i had to wait the 3 days to rebid). Out of 4 winnning bids, i hit two at the lowest possible price, one i overbid by $1, and one i overbid by $2 (you can tell this by the tax rate after you win).

They dont' let u bid again right away, otherwise peoople will start at $1 and continue to rebid by $1 until they win (i think Priceline makes more money off of "overbids" than their $6 service charge).

There are "free rebids" which are discussed on BFT which are VERY useful if you understand them.

I'm a Priceline fan too, but initially felt the same way about the "tone" of the administrators' replies.

However, the first time I used it and posted there for some advice, they were very supportive. Perhaps b/c I did take the time to read thru all their material and understand the process. In these days of point and click, reading that stuff is pretty daunting if you're in a lazy-axx mood. So I agree with Owen's comments about this.

thereuare, I'm wondering how you can tell from how much you overbid from the tax rate. Can you elaborate on this a bit?

(I got Montreal for $50US! during prime time (Jazz fest & fireworks). Cheapest I could find was $199CAD. I'm just curious as even if I overbid, I feel I got a steal.)