Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Priceline Bonus Cash Rewards value

I am just curious - do you think Priceline Bonus Cash Rewards is a real value or just a marketing gimmick?
I just used my $20 reward that increased my bid by just $2 a night. I really think this $2 did not make any difference if my bid was successful, I would probably have gotten this hotel even without this reward.

In my experience, it's real. I have a hotel that I routinely get for $X time after time. When I have bonus cash, I get it for $X-bonus cash daily amount.

I do think they work-----most of the time. Or at least some of the time?

But I know for 100% sure it does not work all the time.

I was advising folks on bidding on an Amsterdam 4 star. I knew the price and the hotel to be won. $69 for the NH Amsterdam Centre. Not a guess-----we knew for sure. Win after win after win at that amount.

That price was working 100% of the time at that period of time.

So I bid using bonus cash of $5 a day.

That hotel still cost me $69+$5 in bonus.

And right after me someone bid and got the same hotel for $69 with no bonus cash.

So I am 100% sure that bonus cash did O for me.

Still happy though. Except for the fact that I wasted $30 on an Entertainment book I did not need.

$69 for a nice 4 star in an expensive hotel city-----for 14 nights.

Why complain?

I've heard a similar story before. My experience is only with bonus cash Priceline occasionally sends me via emails. Could there be a difference with deals thru coupon books? Anyone with knowledge?

Max, a great point. And something I wondered about.

You would think that bonus cash is bonus cash.

But it could have made a difference.

Interesting discussion. It is hard to know for sure unless you have 2 people trying it at the same time for the same hotel room on the same dates.

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Interesting discussion. It is hard to know for sure unless you have 2 people trying it at the same time for the same hotel room on the same dates.


And that is exactly the situation I saw when I realized my bonus money was bunk.

We had several people bidding right around and on that date.

We all got the same hotel. And we got it for $68 or $69. Some bid $68 and some bid $69.

I got mine for $69 + $5 Bonus Money. That Bonus Money added 0 for me at that point in time using that Bonus Money on that bid.

I make no projections about other bids and time or other cities or even other PL Bonus Money.

You indicate you obtained 14 nights for $69 per night like all of the other bidders even though you applied bonus cash. The number of bonus cash nights you had seems not to be shown. If(?) you bid for 14 nights but had $5 bonus cash covering only 2 nights wouldn't the $10 bonus cash be spread out equally over all 14 nights resulting in a dilution down to only about .75 cents per night? Or did the bonus cash somehow cover all 14 nights (which I have not heard of)? Could that explain why your bonus cash was no help?

I did stay for 14 nights. But that was two different bids. I was in fact hoping for a 2nd hotel.

All I can say is that I got the room for the exact same win price those that did not have bonus cash got it for.

I am not suggesting that all PL bonus cash is bunk. Far from it.

It was though bunk for me during that one bid.

anyone know of any tricks to gain bonus cash? maybe doing downloading a app or something?

anyone know of any tricks to gain bonus cash? maybe doing downloading a app or something?

Watch the hotel deals forum.

I find after I place 3-4 days of rejected bids magically I get a $5 rewards email.
I had bid up to $67 and gotten rejected. Next day with rewards I again bid $67 + the $5 reward and got accepted. I feel like they think after a few days of rejection, that I will probably go elsewhere so to keep
that from happening they send the link. I usually am able to get a hotel with the link.

I find after I place 3-4 days of rejected bids magically I get a $5 rewards email.
I had bid up to $67 and gotten rejected. Next day with rewards I again bid $67 + the $5 reward and got accepted. I feel like they think after a few days of rejection, that I will probably go elsewhere so to keep
that from happening they send the link. I usually am able to get a hotel with the link.

I bet if you go back and check your email about the bonus cash, you got it on a Wednesday, right? PL almost always sends it out on a wednesday. This is a fairly regular thing that PL does.

If your 2nd bid was $67 + 5 bonus cash, that's the same as $72, right? It still doesn't solve the mystery. Could I have gotten the same hotel for something less than $72 without bonus cash? Could you have gotten it for something less than $67 plus $5 bonus cash?

Without this data, it's hard to tell. At least for me, the verdict is still out. I always lowball Priceline just to be on the safe side.