need priceline advice
 

I have never used priceline for hotel reservations, since we always need two connecting rooms. I know I could get two rooms using priceline, but I don't think I could request connecting. Am I correct, or is there a way to do this? Any help is appreciated!

Here's what I'd suggest. Take a deep breath and reserve two rooms through PL. Then phone the hotel and make your request for connecting rooms. The hotel will probably not guarantee this request, but will try to honor it when you check in. This strategy would probably work best for a larger hotel and an early check-in. When I book through PL, I always phone to make sure there's a reservation in my name just to make sure all has gone smoothly.

The only time I used Priceline was to rent a car. All went well, but I remember calling the rental car company after the priceline reservation was made, just to change the pick up time, and was told they could not touch the reservation since it was made through priceline. Therefore I think if I make it through priceline the hotel cannot touch the reservation to make any requests. Does anyone know for sure??

Were the four responses you got to this question on your other thread not acceptable?

I've "touched" hotel reservations a dozen or more times after making them with Priceline. The hotel has your reservation in their system a few hours after your bid is accepted. Hotels may in some cases not be able to change certain things in your reservation, but many times I have been able to set bed and smoking preferences (sometimes they are guaranteed) in my reservation records. In fact, if you care about your bed/smoking preferences at all, I strongly urge you to call the hotel directly after making your Priceline reservation to set preferences.

Andrew

Gardyloo - After I posted this earlier today I could not find it again! I thought maybe I inadvertently selected a state other than "General" so I did not know where to look for the responses! Could you help me - do you know where the thread is? Thanks!

The click-states box is for <i>searching</i> only; there are no separate state-by-state message boards.

To find your own posts click on your name.

Thanks for the help! I didn't know that I could click on my name to retrieve. After reading all the input I think I am a bit leery of using priceline. It was great for a car rental, but maybe not for the hotel in our case.

If you do your research on BFT, you can save a lot of money and get a great hotel with Priceline. Nothing to be &quot;leary&quot; about. If you are certain you MUST have connecting rooms, don't use them. If you are willing to risk not getting connecting rooms in return for big savings, go for it. That's really the only risk you take. If you find on BFT that you could get an undesirable Priceline hotel in the city/zone you want, weigh that, too.

For some people taking a little extra time to do the research for Priceline is worth the money saved, for others it's not.

Andrew

Yes there is something to be leary about, if you're not familiar with how priceline works. You stay you pay. You don't stay, you pay anyway.

Yes the savings can be big. The savings can also be big if you book a cancellable reservation directly with the hotel and need to cancel for some reason. With Priceline, no refunds.

Why is Priceline's non-refundable hotel policy something to be &quot;leary&quot; about? They tell you this up front, when you are booking. Most cheap airline tickets are non-refundable also or incur hefty change fees. Are you leary about those too?

If your travel plans are not firm, by all means don't use Priceline (or Hotwire). A better bet may be making a regular hotel reservation you can cancel and trying Priceline close to the last minute, when your plans are pretty firm. You can still get great hotel deals with Priceline near the last minute.

Andrew

I have gotten some of my best deals on Priceline at the last minute. We have never been disappointed with what we got but then we always bid on 4* hotels. As someone said previously, you just have to do your research and use Better Bidding or Bidding for Travel websites to guide you.