mijols3

Can any one give me more details about Priceline? Pros and Cons?

Thanks,
Mij

GoTravel

Pros: Better room prices than anywhere else.

Cons:
No flexibility
They only guarantee two to a room
You don't know the hotel until you pay
No money back
Screwy ratings system

turtle123

We love Priceline!! You can get really inexpensive hotel deals if you name your own price. We have had the most luck in naming our own price when we've put it in about 1 week before we are going to stay somewhere. I like that you can pick the number of stars (of the hotel) that you want to stay in because then you know it's going to be nice if it is a 3 star or higher. THe only thing we don't like is that there isn't a way to cancel if something comes up- unless you buy the insurance. We really have had good luck with it though- We've been able to get nice hotels from $40 dollars a night and we flew round trip once for $75 dollars. We haven't had as much luck with flights as we have with hotels. You can also try Hotwire.com. They have good deals on things sometimes! Hope this helps.

J_Correa

Yep - that about covers it.

GoTravel

turtle, unfortunately, priceline's rating system doesn't cover what kind of shape the hotel is in only what amenities tha hotel has.

A three star or higher does not guarantee a nice hotel. In fact, many priceline three stars are dumps.

Again, priceline has a screwy rating system which is a big drawback.

jlm_mi

Acutally, neither claim of priceline's star ratings is quite accurate.

It's impossible to say that "you know it's going to be nice if it is a 3* or higher". What is nice? That varies from person to person. Someone accustomed to 5* accomodations may simply not like staying at a 3*, no matter what.

But they don't go just by amenities the way European hotels do. It's a subjective system that priceline determines on their own. Exactly what it is we can't really say as consumers, but here's the 3* description from priceline's help pages:

"The most recognized name brands and quality independent hotels in the industry, these hotels feature high quality hotel rooms and well-decorated public spaces. Along with all of the amenities of a 2 ½ hotel, 3 star hotels offer a higher level of guest service. In addition, most hotels will offer a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and offer room service. A fitness center may also be offered."

If you've stayed in a hotel through priceline that you think is clearly not the star level they claim it is, let them know. That's one thing they take into account when re-evaluating hotel ratings.

GoTravel

jlm, I worked with priceline when I was the Director of Sales and Marketing for a resort.

They rated us on our amenities and never once came and inspected the hotel for what kind of shape it was in, whether it was well maintained, or clean.

Priceline's hotel ratings are strictly about amenities and nothing else.

GoTravel

BTW, I was a provider for priceline and am stating fact.

gail

The most important negative is you can not get a refund for any reason at any time. You can not decide after you "win" a particular hotel that it is not what you want. If you screw up entering dates, area, too bad - you own that hotel room for those dates.

rkkwan

Go to biddingfortravel.com and find out what hotels are used by Priceline in that zone. Then go to tripadvisor.com and check out how they rate and others' comments. If there's one or more hotels in that zone that you find unacceptable, then you don't bid for that zone at that star level.

wliwl

Yes, it helps to become familiar with www.biddingfortravel.com before you use Priceline.

We use Priceline all the time for certain kinds of trips:

- You are on a road trip and just want a roof over your head for a night.

- You are definitely going on said trip.

- You are flexible on where you want to stay -- any old airport neighborhood or strip mall thoroughfare will do the trick.

- You don't ABSOLUTELY need a king bed, or two doubles, or the first floor, etc.

- You don't have to have a pool, spa, indoor parking, or whatever. You may get that stuff, or you might not.

That said, we will use Priceline this weekend when we go to visit a college in the Albany, NY area. All we're going to do in the hotel is sleep, so we don't really care where we stay (other than we'd like a decent place).

jlm_mi

GoTravel - You're experience is certainly interesting, but it is not what priceline says. Perhaps they are using creative marketing to stretch the truth about how they determine ratings? Or could they have changed their system since you worked with them? Probably not, I was just curious, since it's not what they say.

rkkwan

The star level also isn't absolute. By that I mean it's dependent on what hotels are like in that zone and what's offered.

For example, I've successful bid for the 5* Sheraton airport at Amsterdam Airport for my parents. But from their reports, it's more like a four star, but at an excellent location. So, is it worth more than the other 4*s that require a shuttle from the terminal? Yes.

At the same time, the Fairmont at Vancouver is only 4*. And other hotels in the area are only 3* maximum.

So, the standard for Amsterdam Schipol Airport zone and the Vancouver Int'l Airport zone is definitely not the same.

Or look at Hong Kong. The Sheraton is 5*. Well, then what are the the Intercontinental, Shangri-La and Peninsula that are adjacent? Well, if most people consider those other hotels as 5*, then the Sheraton can't be. But at the same time, it's clearly better than the Kowloon Hotel across the street that Priceline calls it 4*. I think all hotels in that zone have inflated ratings.

Same on HK Island. The 5* is the JW Marriott; but in the same complex, it's the lessor of the three hotels, compared to the Conrad and Island Shangri-La.

You get my drift.

nytraveler

One other negative - if a city is really booked up Priceline can;t help - since they will either have no inventory - or only at prices similar to what you can get from the hotel itself (and know what you're getting).

caribtraveler

Negatives:
-Can't pick your hotel.
-Will likely get the standard/least desirable room re: parking lot view.
-Can't guarantee the bed type (but you can always call the hotel and request it after winning your bid).
-No changes/no refunds (you can get insurance but make sure to check what the insurance covers).

Pros:
-Really good room prices. Sometimes so good, they're ridiculous.
-Sites like biddingfortravel.com that can help you avoid overbidding, help you figure out if the hotel rating is accurate, and help you figure out which hotel you'll likely get.

Anonymous

Using Biddingfortravel's lists of hotels and reports of recent wins, you can get a very good idea of what hotels you might win in each zone and star rating, and avoid combinations that might yield a hotel that has gotten bad reviews on other sites.

The amenties-based rating system works both ways: In order to be rated 3*, a hotel must have a restaurant, and there are plenty of hotels that end up rated 2.5* because they lack a restaurant. In most places, especially NYC, that's really not an imprtant feature for most guests, and you can get some great buys in 2.5* hotels. Just keep in mind that Priceline can upgrade your bid, so if you're bidding for 2.5*, be sure that you'd be OK with the 3*hotels listed on BFT, too.

mlgb

Bear in mind that Priceline adds a service charge, beyond the standard taxes. So you may actually do better on your own if you really don't care where you stay. Also, in some markets, you may get stuck with one of the hotels that charge a $15 to $25 plus "resort fee", but if you go on your own, you can avoid that. I'm thinking of Palm Springs area in particular, where are at risk of winding up at the Indian Wells Resort.

GoTravel

jlm, my property was a multi acre oceanfront resort with something like 11 or 12 tennis courts, 11 or twelve pools, restaurants, all condo in a gorgeous setting. The guy who designed Calloway Gardens laid out the resort. I think I had close to 1000 accommodations.

Priceline was only going to give me a 3 star rating because I didn't have room service instead of the resort rating that I should have been.

I had the F&B director start a pizza delivery service onsite with limited delivery hours and priceline immediately bumped me up to resort or 4 star. I can't remember which but their reasoning was that obscure.

They NEVER came and looked at my property unlike AAA, mobile, zagat, etc.

JJ5

It really helps to know your city/town with Priceline. But I have had tremendous luck at time when I didn't.

Overall I do think you can not be a picky person- and use Priceline consistently without being disappointed sometimes.

This has never happened to me and I've used it approximately 50 times in about 10 cities.

colombiana

I can tell you I¡¦ve been very lucky, the hotels 90% of the time meet expectations and for the price you really can¡¦t go wrong as stated by other posts do check prior to committing to priceline ( what I mean make sure you check the total you would pay normally including taxes to make sure you don¡¦t end up paying more) that is an advantage with priceline you get to see your total price in the last page before you actually ¡§purchase¡¨. Another great advantage is to rent cars through them I think it¡¦s wonderful to know once you get there you will not get any hidden surprises as far as additional airport fees/taxes (unless of course you are buying insurance) for hotels it also helps to ask the front desk to see if they have ¡§something with a nice view¡¨ this usually works for me ƒº. Airfares are normally good with them too, I¡¦ve been using it for more than 5 years now and I remember the last trip I took to Hawaii was $60.00 cheaper than it had been 2 years prior, you do have to be flexible with the times but, places like that do not have ¡§that many flights¡¨ so you can somewhat make some sort of estimate of the times you will be traveling. Lots of luck