Long story, but I'm attending a conference in NYC, and to save costs I'd want to have a roommate, split the bill, and try to book through a priceline bid. However, with priceline I'd have to pay the full hotel bill in advance. Has anyone worked it out so that they pay the full bill, then ask for a partial refund so another person can make a payment? I guess it will depend on the hotel in question ...

when you bid on priceline, you pay priceline, not the hotel. The hotel will not refund a portion of your payment. Why not just ask the other person to pay you in cash their share?

I don't think what you are saying is very clear. You don't know who your roommate will be? He/She will assigned by the conference?

I can't imagine this will work.
Priceline pays the hotel in full. There's no reason a hotel would want to get involved in any other billing arrangement.
By the way, be aware that you may very well end up with a hotel room with ONE bed, no option to change. Are you OK with that? It's very common in NYC with Priceline bids as hotel rooms are pretty small in general and they will generally reserve the larger two bedded rooms for customers who specifically pay for that.

thanks. It all has to be reimbursed through the Graduate Division of my school, so I don't think there's any way for my roommate to get reimbursed or to be able to pay me unless he can document a paid receipt for his share.

Thanks, all. No, I know who my roommate will be, a friend. And, I was under the impression that priceline always offered a room for two people (that you may not get a say in the room arrangements, for example) but maybe this is wrong. Perhaps, then, I should re-consider using PL at al.

If your school is reimbursing you, then why would you need to split it?

This is what it says on Priceline:

All rooms will accommodate up to 2 adults. Requests for bed types (King, Queen, 2 Doubles, etc.) or other special needs (including preferences for smoking or non-smoking rooms) should be requested through your confirmed hotel and cannot be guaranteed.

• Reservation is guaranteed for arrival on the confirmed check-in date only. If you do not check-in on the first day of your reservation and you do not alert the hotel in advance, the remaining portion of your reservation will be canceled and you will not be entitled to a refund.

• If priceline accepts your price, priceline will book your reservation in a property with an equal or higher star level than you requested. The hotel that is selected may or may not be one that you have seen during a hotel search on priceline. Priceline will immediately charge your credit card the total cost of your stay. Rooms purchased through priceline can not be cancelled, changed or transferred and refunds are not allowed. If your offer is not accepted, your credit card will not be charged.

• The reservation holder must present a valid photo ID and credit card at check-in. The credit card is required for any additional hotel specific service fees or incidental charges or fees that may be charged by the hotel to the customer at checkout. These charges may be mandatory (e.g., resort fees) or optional (parking, phone calls or minibar charges) and are not included in your offer price.

• Hotel rooms purchased through priceline are not eligible for frequent traveler points, upgrades, vouchers, or other discounts and incentives.

I'm sure it sounds a bit old fashioned but can't your friend write you a check for half the cost of the hotel room & PL fees and submit a copy of it after it's cashed at the bank along with your PL invoice for reimbursement.

>>I was under the impression that priceline always offered a room for two people

Yes, Priceline does guarantee a room for "2 people" but that just means it can't be one twin bed! It could be one queen (or occasionally a double), 2 twins, etc. They don't get involved with who the 2 people are and whether they want to share a bed or not.
(Hotwire gives you an option to specify 3 people--that will guarantee you at least 2 beds)
Also note that any bill or receipt you get from the hotel won't have ANY price listed for the room. Since it comes up as "prepaid", the desk clerks do not even know exactly what your cost was. The Priceline receipt you can print out will have a price.

Okay, thanks for the replies and clarifications. My school is reimbursing me up to $500 for conference fees, airfare, hotel, meals, etc., so the roommate will help save costs. I'm checking with the school to see what documentation they need to get reimbursement - maybe cash or a check will work, but I doubt it, because I think they'll need to see 2 separate receipts for each of us, which isn't possible if I pay for it all in advance.

And thanks for the clarification about 2 person rooms. I assumed I could just contact hotel after winning and try to put in a request for two twins (knowing, of course, that they couldn't guarantee this).

Hi JoeTro, you can try Hotwire and enter 3 PERSONS in your search, even though you only have 2. When you enter 3 PERSONS on Hotwire, you will be guaranteed a room with 2 BEDS.

the hotel won't give you two receipts for 1/2 the total hotel bill even if you pay at the hotel. At most, they'll take two credit cards and give you the credit card receipts. What you will have is a receipt from priceline-or Hotwire, or Hotels.com, etc-, and then you will have the checkout receipt from the hotel, on which you can ask the hotel to print both your names as occupants.

ARe you both coming from the same school? I'm sure your school will be able to figure this out. Submit your expenses together to avoid any confusion.

The bigger problem with Priceline is that you may get a double bed. I think a web site where you can book two beds is a bettter option.

Joe, Call the university bursar and ask if you can the split the cost on one pre paid hotel room and if the printed confirmation from PL is adequate to submit for reimbursement for you and for your friend. I've done exactly this when a friend and I split a PL hotel in Chicago. We were submitting travel claims to a non profit which is like most universities....notoriously cheap. They ought to be able to find a way to make it work, esp. if you ask in advance.

I do agree, however, with the above poster that esp. in NYC, you may end up with one double bed so at least contemplate in advance how good a friend this guy is. And if things head south on the conference, the room is on your dime for the night.

No hotel will give you 2 receipts for half the price each for one room. they're all calculated by computer at one rate and only one bill. All you would be able to show is that the person reimbursed you for 1/2 the amount of the room. (This isn't a restaurant where you can ask for separate checks - and many don;t want to do that either.)

And Priceline will only guarantee you one bed - so unless you're comfortable sleeping in a bed with a stranger you have to choose another option - that allows you to select two beds (which may well mean a more expensive room).

When are you going to be in NYC? Look into Quikbook.com. They have really good prices for hotels in NYC and you don't have to pay them in advance. You pay at the hotel when you check out. In general, the concierge should be able to split the bill for you since you are paying at the hotel itself.

Is it possible to put 2 names on the hotel bill or even on the Priceline reservation?

Is it possible to put 2 names on the hotel bill or even on the Priceline reservation?

No. When you bid on PL, you only enter ONE person's name. And more often than not, the hotels I stayed at via PL don't even give me a receipt @ check-out, since it's already prepaid. Some hotels give me a receipt showing $0.00 charges, and some like Westin don't provide receipts. So the only receipt that shows the cost of the hotel comes from Priceline.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll look into hotwire and quikbooks. The hotel I stayed at for this conference last year (in Orlando), was able to perfectly split the room for each of us, but it wasn't through priceline, so it was obviously a lot less complicated.

I'm checking with my school to figure out how they'll handle the reimbursement. I know they are real sticklers ...

I work at a school and submit expenses for my staff...you're right, they usually ARE sticklers for all that kind of stuff!