Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Expedia Bargain Rates for Hotels

Expedia has reintroduced their opaque hotel product (they discontined Hotel Price Matcher almost a year ago). They now offer Expedia Bargain Rates, but apparently on a very limited basis. I picked a date and searched several cities and a Bargain Rate was only offered for a 4* hotel in San Francisco. What stands out to me as unacceptable is that they indicate they will email the name and address of the hotel to you within 48 hours after purchase. To me, that's a deal killer. And of course it's non-cancellable and non-refundable.

I have followed Expedia's hotel product extensively for more than 2 years, going back to pre-Travelscape acquisition days. In some cases, Expedia grossly misrates hotels and very often their rates are higher than booking directly through the hotel, even their Expedia Special Rates. Further, they will show no availability when there is plenty of availability for the same hotel on other travel agency websites as well as the hotel's own website.

Anyway, just one more option out there, but I am quite confident that when comparing apples to apples, Priceline will provide a better deal.

There is nothing quite like, or as good as PL, right?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sheryl:

What stands out to me as unacceptable is that they indicate they will email the name and address of the hotel to you within 48 hours after purchase. To me, that's a deal killer. And of course it's non-cancellable and non-refundable.

</font>

So what? Priceline also sells opaquely and is also non-cancellable and non-refundable. Sounds awfully similar to me.

Besides, why should anyone believe what you say, when you're paid by Priceline to say it?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Besides, why should anyone believe what you say, when you're paid by Priceline to say it?</font>

Come on, folks. I know Sheryl's kind of *****ly, but give her a break. We've been able to figure out the general scheme of her site's involvement with Priceline from her disclosures. While they could more clearly written, they do put you on notice that she might have some indirect income from Priceline. If it were my site, I'd keep it "clean", but it's not my site. In any event, it's a far stretch to say she's being "paid by Priceline" to tout it.

I don't like everything about her site, but if you bid following the principles on her site you'll get the best price possible for your travel product. You don't take her word for it - you KNOW it because (1) you've done your research and know what your alternate best deal is, and (2) you use bidding strategies that allow you multiple bids to test the bottom line Priceline price. You can't really argue with that.

ADDED: Ha, ha - the word that the Board automatically edited above was p r i c k l y - hardly a naughty word.




[This message has been edited by chazas (edited 01-02-2002).]

FWIW, I, for one, like Expedia, particularly to check on rates, yet I prefer using Quikbook, and hardly ever use Priceline since I personally do not like it.

I also echo the comments of JS above!

I used Quickbook to check prices, never booked with them. And Quickbook is only for USA.
I have booked several times with EXPEDIA; some Expedia Special Rates are very low.
Used priceline only one time, when I could not get a good rate elsewhere.

I use also:

http://www.travelnow.com/index.jsp?pageName=hotSearch

http://www.travelweb.com/

http://www.aaahotels.net/ !!! I have not booked a hotel with them (yet).

Hey Sherly,
Why don't you tell us exactly what your relationship is with Priceline. What do they pay you to bad mouth Expedia?

Looks like she is Administrator at BiddingForTravel.com

With Our Help, You'll Stay at the Best Hotels for Less with Priceline.com...Click Here!

Priceline seems to me their "SPONSOR"!?!

http://pub4.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding

I use Priceline only as a "last resort", and I book at Expedia only when I get a better rate than somewhere else .. after I seached several websites.

Nothing personal against Sheryl, but she has some serious issues to deal with. I mean, I've never run across another adult who has such massive control issues.

I visited and posted on her site after using Priceline for a bid last year. Somewhere in my post I made a "mistake," and the post was edited by Sheryl in a rude and abrasive manner.

Since that time, I haven't even considered visiting her site. What's the point when you know that the information is censored and controlled by someone who is bent on micromanaging the information?

When my brush with Sheryl occured, I didn't think much of it, and I wrote it off without much thought. Then, after reading all of her posts here, along with the other Informed "victims," it's easy to see that her website is run by a troubled individual.

If Sheryl reads this, I hope she gets herself some help...it's definately needed.

Heheh, While I don't like Sheryl as much as the other guy, you guys are too much, piling on everytime she posts. I think we all get it. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

I don't think any one engine is better than the other all the time. Suffice to say Expedia has a lot of nice features -- the map where you can see the hotels, bargain rates, etc. I think it is much more user friendly than a lot of other services.

So the moral of the story? Check all your sources! Being wed to one provider is a good way to lose money.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by USAFAN:
I use also:

http://www.travelnow.com/index.jsp?pageName=hotSearch

http://www.travelweb.com/

http://www.aaahotels.net/ !!! I have not booked a hotel with them (yet).</font>

Another option is http://www.turbotrip.com .