Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Any frequent PLers stop using PL recently?

I used to be a frequent Priceliner, I kept a spreadsheet which lists nearly 50 stays I've had using Priceline, the money I've saved, etc, etc. It's a real nice, impressive spreadsheet, but it's stopped growing in the past few months.

Other than a few examples where there is a nice 4* hotel that has a very low Priceline rate, I am not finding Priceline all that competitive, at least when I consider recent developments, such as hotels clamping down and not offering any elite perks, promotions which offer discounted rates and more points if you book through regular channels, and finally, just my own perception that hotels are treating me a lot worse than a regular stayer, or considerably worse than an elite regular stayer.

One of my own recent examples was in Dallas, TX, where I normally bid and receive the Westin in Frisco, TX. This is a VERY nice hotel, 4* in all respects, and I have usually even gotten my elite benefits (as SPG Platinum) when I've been there. But SPG has really locked down on it, and along with the lack of bonus money, I wasn't able to get it for under $50 a night for the weekend I was looking for (I believe the PL rate is just a bit higher).

My other option was a Hilton Garden Inn, a little closer to where I needed to be. Now you don't quite compare a Hilton Garden Inn to a Westin, but the HGI was brand-new, had a very proactive management, and I would receive double points and all other perks associated with Diamond status for only $10 more, after considering the sliding Priceline fee.

So I booked the HGI and even upgraded to a jacuzzi room. I still used Priceline to secure the Hyatt Regency near the airport on the way back, but at least in my own experience I am finding Priceline not to be the slam-dunk decision it used to be..

Comments?

Don't know about your areas, but in San Francisco PL is still alot cheaper than booking through any other channel. Hyatt Regency SFO for $27 instead of $80. Homewood Suites for $32 instead of $69. Downtown Marriott for $60 instead of well over $100. Are Diamond amenties worth paying an extra $30-$50? Not to me :-)

I've used PL a few times now and have come to the conclusion that you can get good deals but the hassle may not be worth it. For example, just tried to get into the Hyatt SFO this weekend and wound up in the Crown Plaza instead. Not a bad deal for the $30 but I was hoping for one more FFN that I won't get.

I had another bad experience where the 3* hotel was an independent property with very small rooms.

So, while I'll still use PL for times when I just want a place to crash, I probably won't use them when the room is important to me.

As far as being treated differently since PL, I've seen it as well. Can't say I blame the hotels though. When they are charging their own customers so much more, they need to do something to differentiate their product. As long as Hyatt gives stay credits, I'll take them but if I was running things - no way.

The increased P/L fee and lack of bonus money has made them far less of a bargain in many instances, especially when one factores in the non-refund factor, the lack of free breakfasts at HH etc properities, the value of stay elite and total credit etc. My last P/L stay was over 6 months ago. Unless I can net savings of more than $50/night I avoid P/L anymore.

MisterNice

MisterNice sums up my current approach.In some locations (even some suburbs),I was getting hotels with parking charges and obviously no benefits. Add parking fees to Mr. Nice's list and I'm in agreement.
If I were going to Seattle,San Fran,NYC,etc. AND wanted to stay at a nice downtown property I probably would have needed PL more.
There are also sometimes great deals elsewhere. In Houston a number of times I've used Expedia for an $89 room.They honor my status (they have a nice program)and I get a 5 diamond property (no parking fee)in the Galleria area.

However,I have tried them a few times for autos,but none of my bids were accepted. I was trying for convertables,but found I could get them at same price range (with much better service)through Avis.

Hyatt SFO is one of (I think) five 3* hotels in this zone. It's a dangerous game to expect the Hyatt. I played the game last week....and lost. Doubletree for me.


[This message has been edited by hedoman (edited 09-02-2003).]

Seems you can book alot of HGI's for great rates on Fri and Sat. From what I've noticed, most of these appear to be in business/industrial areas. I just did two in the PDX area for this weekend.

PL in the Bay area continues to be a great deal for weekday stays.

A few months ago I posted that I did not expect PL to be the best deal forever. Things change, and continue to do so rapidly.

Regarding treatment on PL stays. If you're used to top elite status at a chain that has decided to no longer recgonize you on a PL stay, it can be a humbling experience. That doesn't mean they're treating you like a dog, or that it is a bad experience. We've been used to a preferred status and we have agreed to forsake that staus for a lower price. It's up to the individual to place the value of each. Usually, it is a pretty easy decision.

Too many times, I'm paying $100 less on a PL rate than the guy checking in next to me.

I must add that caveat that I use Priceline almost exclusively for weekend stays, not weekday stays (rather than rehash the discussion about using Priceline for business, let's just say I don't).

I think its a trend overall that hotels are differentiating their customers more and more -- micro-targetting, maybe? (I made that up). It's even true with people who book 'regular' stays -- did you book with the hotel? its online site? an online travel agent? a regular travel agent? Sometimes the treatment can be different even based on that.

My wife keeps telling me that before I discovered Priceline I would not think twice about booking a nice Marriott/etc for a very reasonable $70-$100 a night and now I'm busy scrounging for $30-$40 night hotels, which these days are closer to $50-$60 and the Marriott et.al is now closer to $60-$80.

A real example: Marriott Houston Woodlands, only 3* in area, period, and participates in PL. Bid up to $50 w/ no luck, used promotion to get hotel for $67 and recieved upgraded room and points.

Glad to hear its not only me, though I do continue to use Priceline often for those 'night-before' airport stays, where I am flying out of the airport early morning to get back home.

I'm still staying every night at a Fairfield Inn in the Detroit metro area. $23/night. Free breakfast. Treated like everyone else. Swimming pool.

Room is safe, clean, shower works, good sized towels, a/c works, comfortable bed.

Have yet to figure out PL's fee/tax scheme, since every week it's different for the same price at the same property, but I'm still saving a bundle.

I never was a frequent user of Priceline, but I used them from time to time.

I didn't have any bad experiences, thank goodness, but lately I have either found a good rate elsewhere (rental car or hotel), or my bids were rejected.

I will never bid more than 1/2 of the lowest published, refundable rate. The savings have to be large to overcome the lack of choice and total and all-encompassing non-refundability.

With the Expedia.com special rates for hotels, you have to pay when booking, but the cancellation fee is only $25 if you cancel at least three days in advance. That saved my butt for the most part when I needed to cancel a hotel room recently. Had I booked the room through Priceline, I would have lost all of my money.

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"Where's my money?" -- Pizza the Hutt

Does anyone book a priceline stay and then tack on a day or two before or after the stay at the same hotel based on the walk-up rate and/or a conscious online booking selection of the same property?

For example, a business traveller is going to DC for work, but wants to hang out for the weekend. So such person pricelines a room and then tacks on his business stay at the same property. I presume the hotel wins out big in such cases (even if a minority of cases).

Lets face it. Hotel rates are starting to firm up in some markets. I think this is forcing several changes. Obviously some area prices will just go up lets face it were not in 2002 anymore. Plus some hotels may want to attempt to market their properties more aggressively meaning they will shun PL more in an attempt to get more $. Will it stick?? Who knows. Ijust booked Portland,OR and East bay Northern Cal stays and they were good deals. Basically 1/2 price. Don't confuse PL terms and conditions with the marketplace. PL has ALWAYS had the pitfalls of requiring big time flexability on the part of the buyer. That is one thing that has not changed.

Another possible factor is, as hotel yield-management software becomes more accurate and sophisticated, hotel companies may be able to tighten their internel criteria as to when to move inventory to PL and HW.

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

The increased P/L fee and lack of bonus money has made them far less of a bargain in many instances, especially when one factores in the non-refund factor, the lack of free breakfasts at HH etc properities, the value of stay elite and total credit etc. My last P/L stay was over 6 months ago. Unless I can net savings of more than $50/night I avoid P/L anymore.

MisterNice</font>

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I could not agree more, yet I never really liked 'em, or used 'em much to begin with!

Glad to see your post, BTW, MisterNice! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

-Mark

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by doc:
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I could not agree more, yet I never really liked 'em, or used 'em much to begin with!

Glad to see your post, BTW, MisterNice! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

-Mark

</font>

And doc I am really glad to see you are again posting (over 40k) and guiding the uninformed, the unread, the unresearched and sometimes the unwashed etc. Tomorrow I am cancelling my subscriptions to the NYT, the WSJ, USAToday etc as you usually beat all of them (and most of us) to the real nice notable newsworthy news.

MisterNice

I've been using PL extensively for the last year (50 stays) and I've not noticed an erosion in the more metropolitan areas; I can't say that it's done much for me outside the cities; I can usually make a better deal in some other way. That said, a $42US Hyatt in Vancouver or a $28 Doubletree almost anywhere in the US is useful to me.

I've done cars 2X with Priceline, and have reverted to Avis Preferred or National Emerald Aisle service, as I just want to get off the airport as quickly as possible, **** the $10 difference, and I would sooner fly to the moon on Biman Bangladesh than even consider using them for air travel.

Eric, Who Figures A $43 rate at the Westin Las Vegas more than makes up for a lack of Starpoints on the best-available $199 rate.

Pitflyer:

I would agree with your general assesment about lack of great PL deals.

I recently saved a grand total of 10% compared to the web rate of a Starwood property. I almost felt as if I had rented a car through PL! ( I have never got great savings on Car rentals through PL)

However, there all still deals that can be found. For eg, I got a 3* Marriott for $46($35++) on a weekend. Now, that is a good price any day.

BTW, did I see your spreadsheet on Biddingfortravel?

Not often one books a hotel for their own town, but I used PL today for someone coming in from another office. Hey, we're a dinky company, gotta save bucks, and Pittsburgh's "Downtown" zone is nice and small with predictable 3* or 4* hits. I took a chance on 3* and bid $42/night for 5 nights beginning 14 Sept. Got immediate hit for the Hilton. It's right around the corner from our HQ office where I work. (This guy will be working several blocks aways, but it's still perfectly fine.) Under $50/night including the tax & fee, that's a heckuva deal even here. (Typical rate would be more like 100 bucks, though more if it were heavily booked for something. Good thing the Steelers are away that Sunday!)

Weekend PL deals in big cities are often their best bargains.Many of these hotels get their weekend business from small groups (weddings,graduations,reunions,etc.)While they often discount (or have "specials")for weekends,they don't want to advertise $30 rooms to allow their sales department to negotiate at resonable rates.PL then becomes a great option.

Nope, I was banned from BFT pretty much before I even started posting there. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

The bottom line for me is that about six months ago I would bid on Priceline knowing that the best price I would get there would handily beat any comparable deal I could find through other channels. Now I've had many cases where Priceline barely ($5-$20) is better than a deal I can secure otherwise, or not at all, so I have to go back to being an 'informed bidder'. It was so much easier the other way http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by VibeGuy:
I would sooner fly to the moon on Biman Bangladesh than even consider using them for air travel.</font>

biman bangladesh? is that an airline? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pitflyer:
Nope, I was banned from BFT pretty much before I even started posting there. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

The bottom line for me is that about six months ago I would bid on Priceline knowing that the best price I would get there would handily beat any comparable deal I could find through other channels. Now I've had many cases where Priceline barely ($5-$20) is better than a deal I can secure otherwise, or not at all, so I have to go back to being an 'informed bidder'. It was so much easier the other way http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif</font>

I hear ya there about not really even having to check elsewhere. Except in my (probably much more sporadic than yours) use of Priceline I haven't found that small a spread to be the case at all. I'm either going to the wrong places or you have a better source of deals. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fly co to see the yanks:
biman bangladesh? is that an airline? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif</font>

If owning and operating aircraft makes you an airline, sure. By that logic, owning a waffle iron and consuming a box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix may make you a black woman.

Eric

Earlier this year, I was using the 10 pound bonus using the UK priceline site. I would go to BFT (www.biddingfortravel.com) site to get a feel for what hotels were going for & bid on the UK PL site. I got the Wyndham Greenspoint Houston for 29 pounds (about $45 total) for a 2 night stay in December. That bonus has dried up a few months ago. Since I travel for leisure & go when there is a very good deal, I am content when I get a 3* or 4* for less than a Motel 6 price.

Reading the board the other day, I got concerned that PL sent an e-mail recommending if you will arrive at the hotel after 6PM, to call them. I know of a FTer who arrived late due to the hurricane & the hotel denied him the ability to check in using his prepaid res. The hotel was willing to sell him a very pricy room, however.

[This message has been edited by chemist661 (edited 09-12-2003).]

I've gotten these emails as well, but seemingly at random; all confirmations show as being held for late arrival, but every four or five bookings, I'll get the Scary Reminder Email.

As I often arrive after 11PM for my bookings, PL giving hoteliers the option to resell my prepaid room (and make walk-in rates + PL wholesale on it) feels like a dilution of the benefit of the product. I've often booked a PL room to get a quick nap and shower before a meeting with something akin to a 5AM arrival.

Eric

I've cut back dramatically over the past two years, corresponding to the lack of bonus money, the soft post-9/11 hotel market, and the reclassification of the Radisson Cambridge MA as 3*. I used to book 60-70 nights a year on Priceline, now I book about 20. Adjusting the price savings for the risk of needing to suddenly cancel, Diamond room upgrades, 18 HHonors points per dollar, free full breakfast (except Hampton Inns), and often free Internet... it's often just not worth it.

But when I do, they are real doozeys, like the Hyatt Grand Manchester in San Diego for $60/weeknight. But I miss the days of consistently getting winning bids for $12-$18.

I'm still getting good deals in Chicago and New York City. About $55 in the Chicago Loop and $75 at the Hyatt at Grand Central.

Seattle's Downtown zone is a total loser for PL reservations at the 4* level, and there's a clinker of a property gumming up the 3* - 4* winning bids are usually over $100, especially on single-night stays, and 3* are around 63-65 for something as basic as the Holiday Inn. That doesn't mean there aren't fantastic deals out there, like a Westin for $43/night - it just depends on local market conditions.

Eric

I've had great luck with PL in Seattle at 4* (Westin) and boutique.

Downtown Seattle (or any of the Seattle-related zones) do not have Boutique now.

Like JS, I was never a frequent user of Priceline (4 stays in 2003). About the only thing I have changed was instead of adding zones for re-bids on now wait the 72-hours in order to rebid. Generally when I travel, it is for a specific event and all of the 2003 stays were in cities or for quality levels where no free re-bids were available. So now I am less apt to stay in an outlying zone, because I have discovered that for an extra $10 and 72-hour wait, I can stay much closer to the event that I am attending.

Since I never had status at any chains and typically the 2-3-star properties do not have upgrades anyway, the change in hotel treatment of Priceline customers with status did not affect me. Most of the bonus money required you to sign-up for long distance or have a specific credit card, both of which I was unwilling to do, so the only bonuses I utilized were for $5-10 so not having them now really has not changed the economics of using Priceline for me.

I agree that PL is not always the best answer for a particular hotel stay. I agree that losing the SPG/HH benefits is a factor.

I look at a stay as the total paid less any benefits and points/miles. PL has to beat that price for a particular quality level by at least $10/nt. I'm also not fond of the hotel roulette, which can be scary in some cities.

For example, you need to be careful in New Orleans at the 3* level...you want the Sheraton or Hyatt (if you don't mind the shuttle), but you could get something else. At $35/nt at the Hyatt and $50/nt at the Sheraton on a recent stay, that still beat the cheapest rate at a decent hotel by $50/nt on average.

I'm going to Las Vegas next week and am staying at the Venetian through PL at $79 for one night and then over to the Hilton on a regular (non-PL) reservation at $55. I used PL because the Hilton didn't have a decent rate...nor did any other 4*+ hotel.

Overall, I use PL for about 25% of my hotel nights. It's a nice backup even with it's shortcomings.

No problems using Priceline about 10 times now. I'd guess that I've saved around $2,000.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by pitflyer:
Comments?</font>

great rooms, great prices.

great rates on rental cars.

I still use Priceline, almost* always.

*if the market rate is one that I'm comfortable with, that I think is a really good deal, I won't use PL

My PL usage has tapered off a bit thanks to more aggressive promo rates by the hotels themselves. (Marriott brands in my case.) A year ago, Priceline was a no-brainer. $50 rooms with no perks vs. $100 rooms with perks. Now the hotels have cut that down a bit - I'm finding the gap to be more like $50 vs. $75. And I'm finding Residence Inns in that $75 range, which was rare a year ago. That is a gap I'm willing to pay for the benefits that come with a "normal" stay.

I still look at them for 50% of my trips, but the deals have gotten less competitive, what with the lack of bonus money and higher rates for the worst rooms. You also have to know which cities are good PL bets and which are not. For example, Philadelphia is a good PL city whereas Boston is definitely NOT. But to answer the OP, I guess I have indeed been using them less.

The deals are still there, just a little harder to come by, especially in smaller cities. I tried without success to get a room for about $60 in Albany, NY, in the winter time no less!
I've also come up empty in Aspen or Vail despite bidding up to $100. By then, PL was no longer competitive as I was able to land a Marriott for $105 in the area.
And don't even try getting a room in Newport, RI, during the summer. Or at least don't bother paying what it would take, which was over the $110 I tried for on PL. Better to bite the bullet and not be stuck with schlock.
Finally, even though the webmistresses at BFT can be snotty, a lot of the info often borders on the invaluable.

MurrayHill:

You could not get a room in Albany for $60 on a week day or weekend?

I assume you were trying for a 3* by the airport?

Smaller cities can be finicky because Priceline may only have 1 or 2 hotels in its inventory for your zone/class. Therefore, Priceline may be yielding nothing even though there are plenty of hotel rooms available via other means.

Happened to me in Lincoln, NE this year. We were going there for the Lincoln Marathon and wanted the Embassy Suites (the only 3* Priceline hotel in town). We ran bids up to $75 or so and still couldn't get it, even though the hotel had rooms available. Only when we arrived did we figure out why: the Embassy was the host hotel for the race, and was obviously hoping to sell out the night before with walkups. (We stayed at a Hampton Inn on a AAA rate instead.)