I think this is a great service, and I really couldnt care where or how coolwulf gets the lowest acceptable bid
$1.95 isnt much if the amount is in line with what Im willing to pay.
But to pay $1.95 to be given an amount that is more then I want to pay doesnt hit me the right way.
eg. I can bid for a room for 1 night at CDG it comes back as $259, Id rather use my pts in 1 of the programs I have pts in for an award stay instead. Or a 3* in HomeTown,Ohio comes in at $49 and I can book for $55 and get pts and a stay credit, so those $1.95 can add up very fast, unless 1 will go with PL no matter what
Its alot harder for a Car, since I dont have any insurance of my own and my CC covers the CDW if the lowest bid price is substanially below what I can reserve it for, it wont pay and its $1.95 per request, so econ,compact,mid, full is $8 before even bidding, Ive gotten full size cars for less then economy at times on the rental car companys sites. So I dont know how they will handle cars, I will wait and see
I can see where if a person knows Exactly what they want that this service willl be a Great benefit. I need Flex so I will stick with playing with the different codes I know of and book the old fashion way and usually it will cost me only a few bucks extra per night which usually will be evened out with the pts etc that I will earn. Its rare for me to pay near or over $100 per night anyway
Now if cool eventually sets up a BFT/BB type of site then that will change things as if I see a certain city is expensive I can request for another nearby city, but I dont want to spend $20 just trying to find a room within say 50 miles of Philly
But to pay $1.95 to be given an amount that is more then I want to pay doesnt hit me the right way...
eg. I can bid for a room for 1 night at CDG it comes back as $259, Id rather use my pts in 1 of the programs I have pts in for an award stay instead. Or a 3* in HomeTown,Ohio comes in at $49 and I can book for $55 and get pts and a stay credit, so those $1.95 can add up very fast, unless 1 will go with PL no matter what...
Now if cool eventually sets up a BFT/BB type of site then that will change things as if I see a certain city is expensive I can request for another nearby city, but I dont want to spend $20 just trying to find a room within say 50 miles of Philly
No need really for coolwulf to set up a BFT/BB type of site. I use those sites to figure out the current approximate going rate. Easy for you to do too without spending much time. Then if you see a 3* at CDG is about $300, you don't request a bid amount from coolwulf. He might get it to $259 as you say, but if the general ballpark amount you want to pay is too high, you look elsewhere.
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DELTA - Driving Every Loyal Traveler Away
I think this is a great service, and I really couldnt care where or how coolwulf gets the lowest acceptable bid
$1.95 isnt much if the amount is in line with what Im willing to pay.
But to pay $1.95 to be given an amount that is more then I want to pay doesnt hit me the right way.
You're paying for the time it takes to research your question. You can always go the old-fashioned way and check hotel rates in your zone first. Hotels that are sold out, or only have rack rate available, are unlikely to offer "reasonable" PL rates. Some people would rather pay $1.95 to avoid having to do any research.
It would be nice if they would automatically provide the suggested bid amount for the next lowest * level if there is nothing available at the * level you requested.
I suspect many people will save enough money (low overbidding) or enough time (not having to do research) to more then justify $1.95.
People who don't like the terms don't have to use the service.
I pretty much said what you guys have. I dont know of anything that works for everybody. What works for me might not be beneficial to you and vice versa.
Since 100% of my travels are not Biz related, Im very Flex (BTW over 200k actual Miles this yr so far). So if I can say get a cheap stay within 45 mins of LA I'll grab it. Alot of people cant do that and want to be close to where they will need to work. So before I book a Hotel , I check MR,SPG,HH out and see if theres a rate that I can live with (worth paying for the benefits I'll get), if not then I will PL it but in a good year Im lucky if I do 3 PLs
For an upcoming trip I booked a 4 points in ONT even thou Im landing at LAX and will be spending my time in LA. But for $67 and 2x on Stay credits and the extras being a SPG Plat, its better to me then saving an extra $20 (if that much) and not getting Plat again for next yr. Not many can or will do the same
Like purchasing a tkt, I check JFK,LGA,EWR,PHL,BDL before purchasing to see where I can get the best deal, not only $$ wise but schedule wise and aircraft type as well. So in most cases the $1.95 will add up very fast for me and most likely cancel out most if not all of the extra savings, which wont be the case probably with 99% of the people out there. Thats why I didnt Bash cool , just cause something wont work for me doesnt mean its not a good thing, its just not something that will work for me.
Now do I ever see the possiblity of using cool and his services , yep , when those few times happen when Im postioning myself for a MR out of town and simply want even a 2.5* for the night by an airport and rates are more then Im willing to pay or too many pts for a free night for they arent available
On Sept. 17, I wrote (in the original thread on Free Priceline Bidding Help, post #4, which sparked some animosity):
"Wow, this thread has the potential to become very long very fast, if everyone is posting their requests, receiving replies, and posting results to it. It will become like an entire betterbidding.com in a single thread. Yikes!"
It's now been a month. That thread is up to 614 replies, and is 41 pages long. I think my prediction was correct!
The fact that the thread is so popular (19,000+ page views) is evidence of great demand for coolwulf's service. I continue to wait, along with others, to see if PL ignores it. Perhaps the proverbial "cat" is truly "away".
Last edited by TeaEarleGreyHot; Oct 20, 09 at 2:25 pm.
Perhaps there is a way to deduce the hotel's lowest rates through another source other than hacking Priceline. Is there a travel agent source for opaque room rates?
Perhaps there is a way to deduce the hotel's lowest rates through another source other than hacking Priceline. Is there a travel agent source for opaque room rates?
Apparently there is but it is a violation of Priceline's terms of service. In an unrelated note, Coolwulf has posted an interesting notice in his thread. For some reason he has decided that the algorithm he was using may be problematic for Priceline.
Apparently there is but it is a violation of Priceline's terms of service. In an unrelated note, Coolwulf has posted an interesting notice in his thread. For some reason he has decided that the algorithm he was using may be problematic for Priceline.
Perhaps the cat's back.
One thing that bothers me is coolwulf's apparent hostility towards BB & BFT. His post yesterday (#669) continues to suggest a hidden agenda.
He also wrote "we 're going to provide a better service which is 100% without any violation", which is undoubtedly a laudable goal. But he'd assured us in the first place a month ago that he did not violate PL's TOS. Then a few weeks ago he tried to assure us that he didn't violate them any worse than BFT & BB. I can understand the backpedaling to his current stance, but I also see a trend of overstatement. Similarly his "guarantee" and other comments seemed to be the overstatements typical of an amateur. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Last edited by TeaEarleGreyHot; Oct 23, 09 at 9:15 am.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TeaEarleGreyHot
One thing that bothers me is coolwulf's apparent hostility towards BB & BFT. His post yesterday (#669) continues to suggest a hidden agenda.
That's one way to interpret it....of course, the statements above, coupled with other posts in this thread and the original thread by folks with very few FT posts, suggest others are the ones with hidden agendas.
That's one way to interpret it....of course, the statements above, coupled with other posts in this thread and the original thread by folks with very few FT posts, suggest others are the ones with hidden agendas.
Actually, Diplomatico, that's a fair criticism, and I'll withdraw my suggestion of a hidden agenda by coolwulf. His agenda is probably just as he's openly articulated all along: he wants to have a profitable site that's better than BFT or BB, and makes them irrelevant. Just like anyone else running a for-profit website would want to do vs. their own competitors.
And I'm all in favor of a competitive marketplace, be it for travel help or automobiles.
It would be incumbent on coolwulf to explain to FT participants the concerns about the algorithm that led to the closure. Priceline would reasonably expected to issue a cease and desist request if there is a violation of their process with a potential for a lawsuit for recovery of lost income and damages. However, if calling attention to the whole thing, and the hostility expressed by coolwulf toward those who questioned the process being used, the possibility of PL going after other sites is a concern. A "victory" over BB and BFT (rendering them "obsolete") that would result in their closure would be a very bad outcome. To be clear, I have no ownership or employment from those sites, in response to accusations that were since withdrawn.
It would be incumbent on coolwulf to explain to FT participants the concerns about the algorithm that led to the closure. Priceline would reasonably expected to issue a cease and desist request if there is a violation of their process with a potential for a lawsuit for recovery of lost income and damages. However, if calling attention to the whole thing, and the hostility expressed by coolwulf toward those who questioned the process being used, the possibility of PL going after other sites is a concern. A "victory" over BB and BFT (rendering them "obsolete") that would result in their closure would be a very bad outcome. To be clear, I have no ownership or employment from those sites, in response to accusations that were since withdrawn.
Why in the world is it "incumbent" on coolwulf to explain anything? He offered a service, now that service might be in question. Happens all the time in business. Maybe one party argues with or litigates against another party. Maybe a business goes into bankruptcy, whatever. If it is not a public-owned company, no one owes anyone an explanation. And I have no ownership, employment or affiliation with coolwulf. Just my 2 cents.
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DELTA - Driving Every Loyal Traveler Away
I agree with fti in the sense that the border does not necessarily pass where Priceline draws it. They may shout, and if a large and very rich organization shouts - you take cover, but CW, though I have my suspicions as well about his service, have not crossed the line yet, nor does he owe us an explanation.
I must admit that I would love to hear such explanation if he is willing to share it. But that's his own choice.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fti
Why in the world is it "incumbent" on coolwulf to explain anything? He offered a service, now that service might be in question. Happens all the time in business.
He doesn't need to explain a thing, and that's exactly the reason I'm not using his service. I don't want my screen name, bid location, dates of stay, and winning price listed in a master thread until I know who I'm dealing with. He's been on FT about 6 weeks now and clearly doesn't want to talk about his business model. The only thing I can recall him posting about his business model was this:
Quote:
I can guarantee you that we're definitely NOT using any databank of stolen credit cards. Our database and model of calculation are highly confidential at this moment. And we won't reveal this information unless we decide to end this service.
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