Beware of Priceline
Dec 23, 2009, 9:45 am
#16
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: IAD
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With a little research, you can usually figure this out. Your first clue might be when you choose "resort" for your hotel category.
Dec 23, 2009, 9:53 am
#17
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Dec 23, 2009, 10:33 am
#18
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Dec 23, 2009, 10:47 am
#19
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Uncertain
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dont sound like an appologist for them now.....
Dec 23, 2009, 10:47 am
#20
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Uncertain
Programs: Korean Air, Lufthansa M&M, SPG ,United Mileage Plus
Posts: 908
...maybe that was their...last...resort!!! 
^ haha (to sqeezing..just a FEW more pennies out of ya?)
^ haha (to sqeezing..just a FEW more pennies out of ya?)
Dec 23, 2009, 11:17 am
#21
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Philadelphia
Programs: AA Ex-Plat, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 670
A bunch of Las Vegas hotels that are listed as a 4* or 5* charge these fees.
Dec 24, 2009, 12:36 am
#22
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: DTW
Programs: AA EXP, DL FO
Posts: 1,719
I've had excellent luck with PL. I recently got a true 4* in Hawaii for $80/night and a Resort in HI as well at almost half off the cheapest price the property was available via any fixed price source.
With a little research you can easily determine the possible properties a given bid will return and base your bid on that data. It might be difficult in an area with many properties, but for Hawaii it worked great.
With a little research you can easily determine the possible properties a given bid will return and base your bid on that data. It might be difficult in an area with many properties, but for Hawaii it worked great.
Dec 25, 2009, 8:49 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Champaign, IL
Programs: AA, Delta, Hilton & Marriott Elite
Posts: 231
Yes, they gave me a hotel outside the area and, yes, they admitted it. After an hour on the phone with three people (including a supervisor) they agreed to refund my money if I paid a $25 fee!
As for the quality, the room was falling apart. In addition, I had called in advance to say I was allergic to feathers and needed to have no feather pillows or blankets in the room with feathers. I got there and there were NO pillows or blankets in the room!! The front desk claimed the hotel only didn't have anything else (and didn't see the need to tell me before I got there) so I slept with a towel under my head and a bathrobe over me in the IL winter!
I've gotten some not so great deals from Priceline in the past, but the fact that they have stooped this low in 3 stars should be enough to get people to stop using them.
Marcia
As for the quality, the room was falling apart. In addition, I had called in advance to say I was allergic to feathers and needed to have no feather pillows or blankets in the room with feathers. I got there and there were NO pillows or blankets in the room!! The front desk claimed the hotel only didn't have anything else (and didn't see the need to tell me before I got there) so I slept with a towel under my head and a bathrobe over me in the IL winter!
I've gotten some not so great deals from Priceline in the past, but the fact that they have stooped this low in 3 stars should be enough to get people to stop using them.
Marcia
This thread will get moved to the appropriate travel bidding forum, but I must say it sounds like your complaint is mostly the result of ill-informed bidding. You will NEVER get a hotel out of the designated zone, which is easily viewable on the website. If you do, I am CERTAIN they will refund your money.
There is an occasional problem of getting a lesser quality hotel than what you think you'll get. What's a "4 star" is, obviously, subjective. I have a severe problem with this about once in every 25 or 30 accepted bids. I have a "questionable" rating about 10 to 15% of the time. You ALWAYS want to bid on the assumption that you'll get "not really a 4 star" and bid below what a 3 star hotel would cost. After all, the only reason to use priceline is to save A LOT of money over what booking direct would cost. If other people were paying less than you for the hotel, you were bidding too much.
Sorry for the pointed reply, but this is how priceline makes their money. Over-bidding. If you ever want to use the service again (which seems doubtful), you want to do some research before naming your price. Betterbidding and biddingfortravel would be two places to start.
BTW, if you ever really screw up a bid and pay more than a published rate, call priceline and they will refund the difference.
There is an occasional problem of getting a lesser quality hotel than what you think you'll get. What's a "4 star" is, obviously, subjective. I have a severe problem with this about once in every 25 or 30 accepted bids. I have a "questionable" rating about 10 to 15% of the time. You ALWAYS want to bid on the assumption that you'll get "not really a 4 star" and bid below what a 3 star hotel would cost. After all, the only reason to use priceline is to save A LOT of money over what booking direct would cost. If other people were paying less than you for the hotel, you were bidding too much.
Sorry for the pointed reply, but this is how priceline makes their money. Over-bidding. If you ever want to use the service again (which seems doubtful), you want to do some research before naming your price. Betterbidding and biddingfortravel would be two places to start.
BTW, if you ever really screw up a bid and pay more than a published rate, call priceline and they will refund the difference.
Dec 25, 2009, 6:45 pm
#26
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Resort fees being charged at non-resorts is unfortunately true, although (AFAIK) instances are still rare. One situation that comes to mind was reported in the thread below:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...oing-dogs.html
I hope the OP will provide the hotel and zone information, if for no other reason than to prevent any other FTer fro being ensnared by this dubious establishment.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...oing-dogs.html
I hope the OP will provide the hotel and zone information, if for no other reason than to prevent any other FTer fro being ensnared by this dubious establishment.
Dec 25, 2009, 7:18 pm
#27
Join Date: Jan 2008
Programs: Once nearly a somebody, now a nobody with United and Marriott
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Dec 25, 2009, 8:12 pm
#28
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Traveling the World
Posts: 6,072
I stopped using Priceline
I have stopped using Priceline as I can find better deals when booking direct with the airline or hotel. I go to hotels.com for good deal on hotels. Sometimes I use Hotwire for bids on nice hotels and save money.
When I used Priceline for an airfare I only saved $10 but with their policies I would rather book directly with the airline when it comes down to cancellations and flight delays. I knew someone who booked airfare on Priceline and their flight was canceled and the airline basically told them you booked on PL so go through them yada yada etc.
So I would rather book online through other more reliable companies.
When I used Priceline for an airfare I only saved $10 but with their policies I would rather book directly with the airline when it comes down to cancellations and flight delays. I knew someone who booked airfare on Priceline and their flight was canceled and the airline basically told them you booked on PL so go through them yada yada etc.
So I would rather book online through other more reliable companies.
Dec 26, 2009, 6:33 am
#29
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Champaign, IL
Programs: AA, Delta, Hilton & Marriott Elite
Posts: 231
The ironic part is that every time I got off the phone/wrote an email to Priceline (all of which I did within the first 12 hours of the bid), I received a survey about their service. Each time I wrote explaining that they ripped me off. I've gotten no response. The last person did, however, suddenly deny that the hotel wasn't in the map!
Anyway, I've wasted more hours on this than I is worth it. I was just trying to warn people about Priceline (which, as a writer, I'm also doing in multiple stories). There was a time when they were reasonable and reliable, but not anymore. Take or leave the information.
Marcia
Dec 26, 2009, 3:16 pm
#30
Join Date: Mar 2000
Programs: Hy-Vee Fuel Saver
Posts: 404
It would certainly be frustrating to see the welcoming "Country Inn" sign near the airport, only to discover that you're staying at the Country Inn on the other side of town! There are two locations for Country Inn & Suites in Bloomington. Neither is in Normal. They are both in Bloomington. (Normal is basically north and Bloomington is basically south.)
The last time I pricelined Bloomington, there was only one zone for Bloomington and Normal, so I just looked at Bloomington again, and there is still only one zone for Bloomington and Normal.
The Priceline page that shows the Bloomington map says:
The other one, which must be the one in question, is Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Bloomington Normal West at 923 Maple Hill Road in Bloomington. That one is just northwest of the intersection of I-55/I-74 and Hwy 9/150.
On Priceline's map, the street at the western edge of the Bloomington zone where it intersects Hwy 9/150 is Avalon Way. If you increase the magnification on the Priceline map, you will see it. 923 Maple Hill Road is just under a mile east of Avalon Way, so it is within the boundaries of the Bloomington zone.
If you go north on the interstate to Veterans and then south to the airport, it might well take 30 minutes. Same thing if you go south on the interstate to Veterans and then north to the airport. But if you go straight east on Hwy 9, it's 15 to 20 minutes to the airport, depending on the time of day. Maybe 5 minutes more on a day like today when it's snowing.
Some towns have only a single Priceline zone and a single Hotwire zone. It's common sense that Priceline would include the areas immediately adjacent to the interstate within the zone, because that's where many of the modern chain hotels are. If any location within that single zone is unacceptable to a traveler, that traveler might want to avoid using Priceline and Hotwire for that town.
Much of the time, I avoid Priceline and Hotwire because a zone contains a sketchy or inconvenient area, or because one of the hotels listed in BFT or BB for a given star rating in a given zone has bad reviews.
Edited to add: The more I think about it, the more I think that single-zone towns the size of Bloomington/Normal (combined populations 127,000 according to Wikipedia) are not so good for bidding. Any town that size is going to have areas where you wouldn't want to stay the night, and it's big enough that every location isn't convenient to every other location. On the other hand, maybe Priceline doesn't have enough participating hotels there to warrant splitting it up into more than one zone.
According to http://www.vegas.com/resorts/circus/
Circus Circus Las Vegas, which is a 2-star according to BFT, has decided to impose a resort fee:
The last time I pricelined Bloomington, there was only one zone for Bloomington and Normal, so I just looked at Bloomington again, and there is still only one zone for Bloomington and Normal.
The Priceline page that shows the Bloomington map says:
Please note: The Bloomington airport is located within the Bloomington, IL region.
Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Bloomington-Normal Airport is near the airport. The other one, which must be the one in question, is Country Inn & Suites By Carlson Bloomington Normal West at 923 Maple Hill Road in Bloomington. That one is just northwest of the intersection of I-55/I-74 and Hwy 9/150.
On Priceline's map, the street at the western edge of the Bloomington zone where it intersects Hwy 9/150 is Avalon Way. If you increase the magnification on the Priceline map, you will see it. 923 Maple Hill Road is just under a mile east of Avalon Way, so it is within the boundaries of the Bloomington zone.
If you go north on the interstate to Veterans and then south to the airport, it might well take 30 minutes. Same thing if you go south on the interstate to Veterans and then north to the airport. But if you go straight east on Hwy 9, it's 15 to 20 minutes to the airport, depending on the time of day. Maybe 5 minutes more on a day like today when it's snowing.
Some towns have only a single Priceline zone and a single Hotwire zone. It's common sense that Priceline would include the areas immediately adjacent to the interstate within the zone, because that's where many of the modern chain hotels are. If any location within that single zone is unacceptable to a traveler, that traveler might want to avoid using Priceline and Hotwire for that town.
Much of the time, I avoid Priceline and Hotwire because a zone contains a sketchy or inconvenient area, or because one of the hotels listed in BFT or BB for a given star rating in a given zone has bad reviews.
Edited to add: The more I think about it, the more I think that single-zone towns the size of Bloomington/Normal (combined populations 127,000 according to Wikipedia) are not so good for bidding. Any town that size is going to have areas where you wouldn't want to stay the night, and it's big enough that every location isn't convenient to every other location. On the other hand, maybe Priceline doesn't have enough participating hotels there to warrant splitting it up into more than one zone.
Circus Circus Las Vegas, which is a 2-star according to BFT, has decided to impose a resort fee:
Circus Circus charges a mandatory $3.95 resort fee per day, per person to be collected from the guest upon registration. Upon paying the fee, guests will receive a Circus Circus Las Vegas “Resort Passport Booklet” which includes: A coupon for Free Chips & Salsa at our Garden Grill Restaurant; a coupon for two free well drinks (beer or wine included); a coupon for two free Midway games; a coupon for two free Adventuredome Premium rides; a coupon for two free adult passes to the fitness room; free local and toll-free calls (up to 30 minutes per call); Miscellaneous retail, restaurant, and gaming coupons (over $100 value); free in-room wireless internet access.
A lot of people might be willing to pay that to get the wifi, but what about people who go to Las Vegas without their computers?
Last edited by scruffy; Dec 26, 2009 at 4:59 pm