priceline advice
 

I have been reading a few posts that mention priceline and I am considering using them for a hotel. For those who use them often, do you get lower prices if you wait until a few days before your trip dates or a few weeks ahead? Thanks

You just never know...best bet is to thoroughly study the FAQ's at www.biddingfortravel.com and check Hotwire for your dates, too. Sometimes, lower priced rooms are allegedly "released" to Priceline several days to a week ahead of check-in dates. Or, maybe it's just Priceline lowering rates for rooms they still haven't sold. Who knows? I always book a room I can cancel. Then bid every week on Priceline. I do not get caught up in the free rebids as it's too easy to want to be successful and bid too high. And, I check Hotwire every few days. Sometimes, once in a while, the rates go down or there's a larger selection available at Hotwire just prior. All in all, I think the major hotel chains have sophisticated software and fill history they use to release rooms to re-sellers for any given dates. You may get lower rates by waiting, but there may be no rooms at all if you wait too long.

Donna is correct that there's no hard and fast rule. If you check www.biddingfortravel.com and see a really, really good rate for a particular property it's best to jump on it quick. For example... the new Elliot Grand Hyatt in Seattle was (apparently)trying to bump up occupancy in this new property. There were a number of winning bids at $40 per night for a few weeks and then that price disappeared. I've tried a few days before the arrival date not gotten any great deals (but got decent prices - far better than booking direct) but I've also tried a few days in advance and gotten amazing prices - two weeks ago I got the 40th St 3* Clarion in NYC for $70 and last week I got the Marriott Lex Ave 3* for $80. These prices were for one night only - it's often tougher to get the deal for multiple nights. I've even had to break up an extended stay into stays at two separate properties in order to get a good price. One correction on Donna's post - I believed until every rectly exactly what Donna says - that Priceline "buys" inventory like consolidators do and is stuck with it if they don't sell it. This is NOT the case. The hotels "release availability" for certain numbers of rooms to PLL when they need to fill rooms. PL does NOT sell them below their cost. This is why rates for certain properties never go below a certain level - PL does not sell them at any price at the last minute - if they can't get at least their own cost basis you won't win the bid. if you look at your winning bid info and take the amount of taxes paid it's easy to figure out the price PL actually paid. My winning $70 bid for Clarion had $9.28 in taxes. based on NYC's 13.25% tax on hotel stays, this means PL paid about $70 - I got the room at their cost which is unusual - they typically shoot for making a markup in addition to the $5.95 processing fee.

There's no harm in trying farther out than a few days, provided you bid low enough to leave room to increase your bid later (in case you get shut out for 72 hours from re-bidding in a given area at a higher price.) But it does seem that the majority of winning bids posted on biddingfortravel.com are made between 1 and 3 weeks out. <BR><BR>If you suspect the market will be tight, look early for an acceptable room that you can book but can cancel with no penalty if and when you get a better deal on Priceline. <BR><BR>It's also very much the case that Priceline deals appear best when it's higher rated properties in big markets, rather than in smaller towns. I've consistently gotten 3* or 4* rooms on Priceline at between 30% and 50% of the listed (web, not rack) rates in places like LA, while hotels in smaller markets seem rarely to come in as cheaply.

Hi, Debbie!<BR><BR>I am a huge priceline devotee-I have been using them for years for flights, hotels, and cars with tons of success. I have never had a bad experience. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me. I would be more than happy to advise. Good luck!

The hotel sets the rates for the hotels, priceline does not.