Need Advice - Priceline or Code discount?
 

Hi everyone, first post to this forum. II find the information on this fascinating. Here goes: My family will be in Newport Beach, CA area this summer (7-26 thru 7-29). A few years back, we stayed at the Marriot Hotel & Spa across from Fashion Island. My wife particularly loved it and would like to go back. Rack rates start at 249.00, code discounts to about 212.00 that we are eligibel for. It is still a little high for me, and was wondering if PriceLine is thhe way to go? If so, it seems you are not necessarily assigned to that specific hotel (unless I'm missing something). Any suggestions. I love the looks of Montage & Ritz...but they're way out of my league, price-wise.

Welcome to FT.

If you are bidding on priceline, there is no guarantee that yo will get the particular hotel that you want. That said, if you have not used priceline bidding system before, do some reading up in these 2 web sites: (might help)

http://betterbidding.com/
http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/

Thanks for the links...still trying to figure if Priceline is the way to go. Worries about getting stuck at a hotel that I don't want to be. But...I'm open to suggestions!

The Marriott Newport Beach is a very nice property and popular in the summer. Those prices are not bad considering you're looking for a July date.

Priceline is a gamble and you have to be willing to take whatever property they give you. I had an experience once where everyone posting online was getting the Marriott in Copenhagen. I bid figuring I had a decent chance of getting the Marriott, everyone else was. I ended up with a different property, good location but not nearly as nice as the Marriott.

Don't bid on priceline unless you are willing to stay at any hotel (4 star, 3 star or whatever) in the area you bid. If that doesn't work for you then you should book directly with Marriott.

Does Priceline stay qualify for elite members to receive previleges?
 

I am just curious to find out if Elite Members will receive room upgrades, free internet (in North America) and lounge access if the stay is booked via a priceline bid?

Thanks!

Thanks a lot!

LKO...Thanks very much for the reply...good information. I will probably try to book directly thru Marriott to get the desired Newpoert Beach Hotel & Spa (cose shopping for the wife :( PL would be an option to use if I went for the 5 stars in the area (Montage, Ritz) in Dana Point/Laguna...i would definitely stay at those places if I can get them for a song...of course, they probably would not like my singing!

For what it's worth, the likely Priceline winner for that bid is the Hyatt Newport in the $75 range, maybe a bit higher in summer. I've stayed at that Hyatt once for a business meeting and had no issues with it.

In my mind, that's certainly worth consideration on a multi-night stay. I can make a great argument for points-earning rates on 1-nighters in areas where the Priceline gap is narrow. (See current Milesbuzz thread on this very topic.) But that argument weakens when the points-earning rate spikes that far over the Priceline rate and you're talking about multiple nights.

Maybe the Priceline summer rate also spikes more than I think it does, but worst case I'd consider throwing in a bid or two.

The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach - a spectacular-looking property - is also on the Priceline list but I don't see many winners getting that hotel. A quick glance shows a bunch of Hyatt Newport, a little Marriott, and a little Fairmont.