jebr

There's plenty of times where significant savings can be had. Over the past year or so I've gotten a couple of hotels where I paid well under half of the going rate for that room had I booked direct through the hotel, and even a decent amount cheaper than pretty much any similarly-classed hotel in the area. Last year I stayed at the Westin in downtown Denver via Priceline Express deals for about the same price as I was finding for a Microtel or similar hotel near the airport when booked direct through the hotel. I have a reservation coming up in Boston where the price I paid was about a third of what their going rate is for that room when I booked, and cheaper than pretty much any hotel conveniently located in Boston. It certainly doesn't hurt that once you complete your current stay, they'll often send you a 10% off code to use in the app for your next booking. That can really help to make a price go from a decent deal to an excellent deal.

I've certainly had times where I felt like Priceline has done poorly with comparing their prices when they say that a certain reservation is "56% off!" or whatever - I once had one where Priceline claimed I was saving 40% or something where the opaque rate was only a few dollars less than what I would've gotten directly through that hotel, and there was a similar hotel with similar amenities that was 40% more. I had soured on them for a while due to that, but I've had a bit better luck now that I'm not looking at the "save xx%" as a way to compare hotels and just looking at Priceline's price versus what's available in the area. I also tend to have better luck when my expectation is that I'll get a good hotel (3*-4*) at a somewhat better location for about the price I would be paying for a refundable 1.5-2* hotel, rather than trying to squeeze the last few dollars off of a 1.5-2* hotel.