hotel program vs. priceline
 

i'm am a marriott rewards member and have collected some points throughout the years but have been using priceline for all my hotel stays in the past year. i have been getting good prices, alot less then sites like expedia would give me for 4 star hotels. my question is: would it be beneficial for me to stick to a hotel program, book on expedia, collect points for future stays (have not redeemed my points yet, planning on a big trip in future) or keep with priceline. i have searched but could not find a thread on comparison. i would think priceline would be the way to go to get 4 star or resorts for under $100 a day. please convince me otherwise

another question i had was if i keep with marriott and become gold or plat member, would that be worth it more in long run then just pricelining hotels?

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers for you.

How much are you saving by using Priceline versus Expedia? Is that money you can save and use on a future vacation? Lets say you are saving $20/night using Priceline and you stay on average 50 nights per year. That would mean you could be saving $1000/year. Assuming you used Expedia and you paid $150/night (and you are a Gold elite using the Premier Marriott Visa card) you would be making about 135K points per year plus throw in a few bonus points for promos like the Megabonus (we'll say around 50K/year). That gives you a grand total of about 185K points/year. (Given a few more promos, use of CC on non-Marriott stays, etc, you might be able rack up some more points.)

Two items of thought here:

1. You now have Gold status as you are getting credit for your stays. If you are staying at FS Marriotts, this would mean CL access and free breakfast. That might save you some money as well. (How much do you currently spend on breakfast during your trips?)

2. You should have enough points for a Standard 7-night award at even a Cat. 7 hotel, which means you could stay at places where it would cost significantly more than the $1000 you saved.

Now you can play with your nights, savings, hotel costs, etc and decide if the savings is worth more to you than the cost of the awards.

When paying for your own stays....Points/Status are great but cash is king! :D

In my experience, bidding on priceline saves much more than $20 per night... it is typically 33%-50% for me.

thanks hhoope01 for the reply and explanation. everything you say makes perfect sense. i always felt that priceline was the way to go but i guess it matters how many times you get a hotel.

One thing to note is that if Expedia are giving you better rates than the Marriott website, have a look at invoking the 'Look No Further' best rate guarantee and save yourself some cash whilst still earning nights and points.

This is where Bonus Bucks and Premium Pounds have come in handy for me. I went from using Priceline 90%+ of the time to always using BBs and PPs while adjusting my schedule for two nights stays.

Can you use Look No Further with a rate you found on Expedia?

i'm sorry but what exactly are bonus bucks and premium pounds? i myself use priceline 90+% as well.

A quick search using "Bonus Bucks" will provide a lot of illumination. But in a nutshell, BBs/PPs are coupons in $50/$100 denominations (or British Pounds for the PPs) that can be used almost like cash for 2 or more night stays.

I have done lots of times.

I'm also one of those who used to use Priceline a lot but now use a combination of Premium Pounds coupons and 'Look No Further' discounted rates. Like treefrog, I also try to arrange my stays so that they contain an even number of nights, maximising the benefit of the Premium Pounds coupons.

Yeah. If the money's coming out of your wallet, stay on Priceline and use the various web sites that tell you what to bid (see the "Budget Travel" forum on FT).

Priceline for my money, Marriott when its OPM
 

I used Priceline 3-4 times last year for some personal stays. However when travelling for work, I always use Marriott or Starwood.

There is no right or wrong answer, it depends on several factors including:
- How frequently you travel and whether you can reach elite levels
- How long your stays are
- Whether you normally travel at your own expense or work pays
- Whether you are mostly/always able to use a single brand (i.e., Marriott)
- How much using Priceline (or Hotwire) would save you, and how much time you want to commit checking betterbidding or biddingfortravel to see how others have fared to maximize savings

I don't travel all that frequently for work, so for many of my personal trips, I end up usually using Priceline or Hotwire. Some locations you get better deals than others. For example, we just returned from a weekend in Ft. Lauderdale - I had bid and won a room for 2 nights at the Courtyard Ft. Lauderdale Beach hotel for $64/night. I checked Marriott's website after my successful bid and the best rate they listed was $319/night! And I have a stay in March in Dallas where I accepted a Hotwire room for $42/night which turned out to be a Hilton Garden Inn, and the best rate at the Hilton website is $101/night. When you can save at least 50%, it is hard to argue not going the Priceline or Hotwire route - regardless of your status level - in my opinion.

KJ

I am a Marriott Gold and have just booked my first Marriott stay using Priceline (saved around 60%!) my question is will I still get the "Gold" benefits on this stay as I cannot add the booking to my Marriott account number? As I said it is a first for me and maybe the last as I do like the added bonuses!!