Hotwire vs Priceline
 

I am a regular user of Priceline and have gotten some great deals. Just wondering, about how much less can you get a hotel on Priceline as compared to Hotwire in cases where the same hotel appears to be awarded.

I've been looking at biddingfortravel and betterbidding. Hotwire has a 3.5* Back Bay Boston hotel for $100. Based on what I've read, it is most likely the Sheraton, which also seems to be the 3.5* coming up frequently on Priceline.

I'm just curious if anyone made such a comparison and then placed a successful bid on priceline for less than the Hotwire price.

I haven't done it that way, but from past research, it appears the same hotel on Hotwire and Priceline will usually be 10-15% lower-priced on Priceline (I assume that's because you're at greater "risk" regarding which hotel it will be -- you can often identify a Hotwire listing, but with Priceline, you only know what star level and area you are getting).

I use Hotwire even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to pay a little bit more. Using the hotwire hotel list on www.betterbidding.com and matching up the amenities icons to that list, I'm fairly confident of the hotel I'm going to get. I get irritated when "playing the game" on Priceline bids. I start low, knowing I'm going to have to add star options and/or areas on the map and raise the price each bid. Honestly, I'd rather skip that step and get a hotel from the list I'll be happy with, than do all the bidding.

Note - I'm comparing Hotwire to the Name you own price part of Priceline.

Personal note - although the bids/purchases are "final", I was able to cancel when my trip had to be cancelled. I didn't expect that, but was very pleased with Hotwire's customer service. They based that decision on my many purchases with them and no prior requests to cancel. Because of that excellent customer service I am even more willing to use Hotwire. It's worth a few more dollars to me, especially considering the savings. The only time I've gotten a really small room was with a Priceline bid - at a hotel that was very empty and had units that were truly apartments. At another favorite hotel, they will upgrade me upon availability to a king room with a Hotwire reservation but charges an additional fee for the same room with a Priceline reservation. I feel I'm treated a bit better with a Hotwire reservation vs a Priceline one.

starrs, I did mean the "name your on price" feature. I've used it many times. Actually once Priceline canceled a reservation on us! Long story, but they placed us in an alternate (inferior location and *s), but did offer a refund (which we took).

Good to know about the Hotwire customer service though.

When I know for sure I'm taking this little trip to Boston, I'll take a stab at Priceline for a little less than the Hotwire offers.

You can guess, but never be sure. The 3.5* on Hotwire could also be the Hilton and the Priceline areas are a bit different, so with Priceline could also be the Marriott or Park Plaza.

When bidding on Priceline, I start at 40% of the hotels rates for my dates.

I was successful many times getting the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City with Priceline for considerably less than what I was certain was the same hotel offered on Hotwire (using those same resources to identify the hotel). Last time, however, Priceline "upgraded" me to a 4*, the brand new Westin, which was fine, but I would have preferred the Hyatt.

You do want to check rates at all hotel possibilities both for Priceline bidding purposes and any possible Hotwire booking. Rates with Hotwire are often not much lower than booking directly.

I've read/heard that if Hotwire has inventory, Priceline will have the same hotel for much less, but, of course, there are no assurances. And, Hotwire plays with ammenties to make it more difficult to guess the hotel (though I don't know why that would matter to them and it often discourages me from using Hotwire).

The star rating system is not the same on Hotwire as on Priceline.

Believe the Hotwire rating is a half a star higher than Priceline - for the same hotel.

In my case (Boston Back Bay, 3.5*), both Hilton and Sheraton are listed for both, and the sheraton seems to be the most recent one award. Either are fine, and are right across the street from one another. Sheraton used to be 4* but was knocked down a 1/2*.

In any case, I plan on bidding, and will bid a little less than the Hotwire price. I'll report back with the results.

Well I did Priceline andended up with the The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers for $85 (3.5*). I'm happy with this!

I use Hotwire to help determine the bid I set on PL.
Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
I've never been stuck with a dog of a hotel.
Works even better on cars!
I got a car in PDX for 11.00 and ended up with a brand spankin' new Hyundai Sonata. Such a nice car!!!
It changed my mind about the brand!

I often check the Hotwire price and then bid $10 or even $20 less on the "Name your own Price" on Priceline. It works more often than not unless the hotels are tight on inventory when I want to stay. We were upgraded to a suite on the 10th floor for a room that I bid on Priceline.
I bid $13/day for a car in LV and got a 2011 Mazda2 with less than 1000 miles on it.

I usually use Priceline when we have to overnight near an airport (otherwise we stay in small hotels or B&Bs). I've had really good luck, gotten nice properties, usually around $50.00 in Dallas and Miami.

Most recent trip through DFW though, I was close to $70.00, and still no takers. Finally went with Hotwire for around $55.00 for an ok property.

I also used Hotwire for a care rental in Florida in December. Got a decent sized car for about $17.00 a day, ended up being through Hertz. The bad part of the deal was the $13.00 a day they wanted for a second driver.....

The regular prices on Priceline are nothing special. I always use the bidding, but always do homework in advance. If I can't get at least 30% off of the cheapest price for the typical hotels awarded (after checking biddingfortravel, booking sights, AAA discounts, specials offers, etc), then I don't bother with Priceline. I find that prices on the hotels' own websites, especially using applicable discounts or special offers, tend to be as good, if not better than most regular booking sights.

I have yet to use Hotwire, I still think I do better with Priceline bidding whenever I compare the possibilities.

I have yet to use Hotwire, I still think I do better with Priceline bidding whenever I compare the possibilities.

Hotwire tends to be slightly more expensive than Priceline, but that's because you can almost always identify the hotel, and they tell you the amenities, in advance on Hotwire, whereas with Priceline, all you know is the area and star level.

Whether or not you have success with Priceline depends partially upon the city and the time of year. For example, I have yet to get a winning bid for a trip to NYC coming up in September. But, last year, when we were in Budapest, we got the Marriott Hotel with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Chain Bridge and the Castle for $65USD a night...and it was in high season.

Here's an interesting article on the comparison of Hotwire vs. Priceline from a hotel rating perspective. http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com/bl...hotel-ratings/ Basically, the article compares the rating of thousands of hotels that are on both Hotwire and Priceline. It finds that Hotwire gives about a half star rating higher than Priceline about 1 in 3 hotels. On the contrary, Priceline rarely ranks a hotel higher than Hotwire does. For me, this means take Hotwire with a grain of salt.

On the other hand, at least you know what hotel amenities you're getting with Hotwire. You don't know that with Priceline, but you'll save $ using Priceline. They tend to be cheaper.

It doesn't mean you should take Hotwire with a grain of salt. It does mean, though, that if you're willing to go with a 3-star hotel on Priceline, you'd want to stick to 3-1/2 stars on Hotwire. I personally only do Hotwire, because I like to be able to pre-identify the hotel (which I've done on all but one occasion using Hotwire), but I usually stick to 4-star places, unless I'm certain I know what I'll be getting.

Totally agree with SF7307. I only use Hotwire for the de-risk factor. For me, it's simply not worth saving an extra $10 or so per night to use Priceline. But while researching this topic, i found a good article highlighting the hotwire vs. priceline differences: http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com/bl...-vs-priceline/

Bottom line; If you're on a tight budget, use Priceline. If you want to save $ but not quite a risk taker, use Hotwire which is what I do.

There is a good article on Hotwire vs. Priceline: http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com/bl...-vs-priceline/

If you are familiar with how to rebid, and if you have a few rebids, I'd start on Priceline very low, say 25% lower than Hotwire, and work my way up, stopping just below the Hotwire price.

Generally, Priceline is 10% to 25% lower than Hotwire, but there's cases where I have flat out not gotten anything on Priceline even at the same price!

Also, don't forget to check out Priceline Express Deals for comparison too.

I booked my hotel and had a conformation for a hotel near the phoenix airport with an airport shuttle, with the airport shuttle being the most important feature of the hotel to me, because my car rental did not start till the following morning.  I later received a call from hotwire stating that my hotel was overbooked and that my reservation was cancelled.  I was then presented with two options.  The first was that I could get a refund, or my second option was that I could have hotwire book a new hotel for me.  I chose to have hotwire book a new hotel for me because I was driving to the airport, so I couldn't do it myself, and still needed a hotel when I got to Phoenix. I explained to the Hotwire customer service agent that I needed a hotel with an airport shuttle because my car rental was not scheduled till the next morning.  She then asked me if the Four Points Sheraton at 6850 E. Williams Rd.  in Mesa would be ok, to which I responded, "As long as they have an Airport shuttle, and can pick me up."  She then indicated that they did, and proceeded to book my room.  I am not familiar at all with Phoenix, and I didn't have any access to the internet while driving, so telling me the address of a hotel has no meaning to me.  My only concern was that the hotel could pick me up at the airport. Much to my surprise, after picking up my luggage and calling the hotel, they informed me that they were located in an entirely different area, and serviced an entirely different airport.  I then called hotwire to have this situation  resolved.  After waiting on the phone for 30-40 minutes while the hotwire representative pleaded unsuccessfully  with the hotel to pick me up, I was told that I needed to catch a taxi to the hotel and back the next morning (a 30 minute drive each way), and that it would  be refunded by hotwire.  I asked why I could not simply be changed to a new hotel, and was given the excuse that it was already the next day, and if my hotel was changed, I would not be able to check in till 3 p.m. the next day. This however did not really make sense, because it was still before midnight in phoenix at the time. I was instructed by hotwire to submit my taxi receipt by email, and I would be refunded in 7-10 days. Instead of being refunded however, hotwire changed their tune and emailed me back saying they would not be able to provide any compensation.

Escalate!