Sandy

I'm looking for a good rate in October, but afraid of Priceline - are you locked in the moment you accept the price. Has anyone had a bad experience? I've just seen good reports.

Sandy

Sandy,
As others will probably tell you, go to biddingfortravel.com before you bid on Priceline. They have great info. on the hotels that Priceline uses and info. on how to place a bid.
You WILL be locked in to a NON-REFUNDABLE reservation if you're bid is accepted. Only bid if you are certain you will be happy with any hotel they give you. I'm not sure where you are looking for accomodations, but there may be some other alternatives to Priceline for you.

TvlPro

Try travelocity.com or hotwire.com
Hotwire has great integrity in the ratings system and you get exactly what you expect in a 4 or 5 star hotel.
Travelocity tells you upfront what hotel you are booking and has a nominal fee if cancelled within a generous timeframe.

Anna

I was also considering trying priceline.com but read some not very good things about them from previous postings (try doing a search and you'll probably pull up the bad and the good). One person got really messed up when his/her credit card numbers were used as the bidding price and was picked up on as the bidding price!! (must have had high numbers). Anyway, this person had a big mess. I'm too afraid of being locked in so I decided to use hotwire.com instead. I got a really good price at the Hotel Belvedere in New York and was very pleased with the hotel as well as hotwire.com. I'd read some of the not so good reports about priceline.com before trying it (there are also good reports). I've never read anything negative about hotwire.com so I decided to stay safe and stick with them. They were great! Good Luck

Sandy

Thanks for the suggestions - I'm off to hotwire.com. Main fear is cancellation if my husband becomes ill.

El

If ability to cancel is a concern, it's better to select a service with no-penalty cancellation policies, even if it cost more.

Donna

I've used Priceline and Hotwire many times. You are definitely locked in once you submit your bid on Priceline. If accepted, your credit card is charged immediately. I've experienced lower rates with Priceline, but more preferable (to me) hotels with Hotwire and generally use Hotwire when I'd like to sort of splurge and Priceline when I just want an economical place to stay. Agree with above, though, if you think there's any possibility you may have to cancel, it's better to book directly with the hotel or with an online booking site that does not require prepayment with a hotel that has a favorable cancellation policy. Even so, you can try Hotwire a few days before departure. Sometimes, the best rates are at the last minute. Or, you can try Priceline at the last minute.

Annie

I booked a hotel quite aways out and then waited to see if something looked better on hotwire.com 1 week ahead. Sure enough, I got a really great deal at the Sheraton on Michigan Ave. (Chicago) but at least I had a hotel booked ahead just incase. I was then able to cancel my original booking and go with hotwire.com for a better hotel at a lower price! Worked perfect but I was glad I had my original booking as a back-up with a 24 cancellation policy just in case. Annie

x

If I were in your position. I would book a cancelable reservation. Then when it got very close to time to leave take a chance with priceline.

Jill

Be careful....I got kind of "messed up" with priceline.com when I used them. I waited until 5 days before leaving for San Diego and my bid on priceline.com was not accepted. I was limited to travel dates and location so I couldn't use them...due to the fact that if your offer is rejected, you have to wait something like 3 days before you can bid again!! With my trip so close, I didn't want to risk it. I was able to secure a room on hotwire.com though so it all worked out fine. If priceline.com is what you want to try, just be careful about this stupid 3 day waiting period they impose. Not sure why they have this waiting period??
If I'd had a 2nd credit card, maybe I could have gotten around this but I'm a single gal who only has 1 credit card/American Express. Jill

walter

The 3 day no-rebid period is there for a reason. If they didn't have it, people would bid a nominal amount and keep rebidding until they hit a minimum acceptable bid.

Suzy

Jill, you would have benefitted greatly from the advice at www.biddingfortravel.com. There are several ways to work with the "stupid" but necessary 3-day rule. Certainly, with something as hit-or-miss as Priceline, it was unwise to wait until just 5 days before your trip to start bidding. As others have mentoined, it's a good idea to make a regular, cancellable-type reservation as a backup.

Al

Walter, regarding the 3 day waiting and the nominal bids made before getting one accepted....isn't this what you want to do in order to get the lowest price possible? Otherwise, it seems that if you don't start out trying for a low bid and working your way up....you might bid too much to begin with..?? (never used priceline.com but may be interested in trying it sometime). Al

Frank

yes Al, that's exactly what you as a customer would want to do (if you could) to get the cheapest price possible. But it's is Priceline's best interest for you to overpay, since all that extra money is profit for them. They are a business, after all.

jabez

Trvlpro
I'm not sure where you coming from when you state that Hotwire has a more accurate rating system.It has been my experience that Priceline has better prices and a better star system.Hotwire,however,has a more flexibility.This is a quote from the owner of the bidding for travel web site:
"As evidenced by so many of the posts in the Hotels category of this Hotwire section of the board, Hotwire usually assigns a higher rating to the same hotel you would get through Priceline at a lower rating. We periodically see that people are fooled by this and assume Priceline cannot beat Hotwire because their Priceline bid at an amount just below Hotwire's price has failed. Whenever you purchase a hotel through Hotwire, you are assuming a real risk of getting a hotel that you wouldn't get at the same rating through Priceline. You would have to bid at a lower quality rating through Priceline to have a chance at the same hotel in most cases."

Marjorie

Beware of Hotwire's rating system!! My "Four Star" property in Houston was "three star" on Priceline and it really didn't deserve more than 3!!

BillyBoy

The three day waiting period is there to prevent people from starting their bidding at $1 and working their way up, $1 at a time, to guarantee that they'll eventually get the exact minimum price that Priceline will sell a particular hotel room at.

By having the three day waiting period, it means the bidder has to start the bidding at a reasonable level in order to have a decent chance at getting a successful bid.

By reading the reports of successful and unsuccessful bids at biddingfortravel.com before I start my bidding, I know (generally) how much my initial bid should be to give me a good chance at getting a room without overpaying by more than a few dollars.

John

A lot of people hedge their bets by finding an acceptable price on a hotel, booking it with (-important-) no cancellation penalty, then trying to beat it on Priceline. As you will see on biddingfortravel.com, the way to work around the 72 hour "freezout" is by juggling the star ratings and geographic zones in the target city in order to obtain re-bidding opportunities.

One thing to note is that hotels in smaller towns often appear harder to book on Priceline than those in bigger cities, no doubt because of the competition factor.

Laurie

I was lucky enough to get the Marriott Residence Inn during our visit to Disneyland. It had a full kitchen, seperate bedroom and included continental breakfast. It was a very nice property and just perfect. I could not have handpicked a more perfect property in all regards. I obtained this on the hotwire.com website after unsuccessfully bidding on priceline.com This was the first time I had used either priceline.com or hotwire.com. My advice is not to get discouraged (like I was) if your priceline.com bid is rejected. I was very pleased with hotwire.com and they tell you the bottom line price upfront so you know exactly what it will cost without having to bid. I think the suggestions to have a back-up property with liberal cancellation policy just in case is very good advice! Good Luck Sandy. Laurie

Sylvia

I bid two time for hotels at Priceline. $86.00 for Midtown east and west for 8/10 - 8/14. The bid was rejected. I am thinking to book on expedia or quickbook.com. I have three hotel on my mind: Metropolitan, Radisson Lexington, orThe Mansfield. Please give me some hint on these hotels. Thank you!