I sometimes find Entertainment rates are better than Priceline, plus you know what hotel you are getting and where it is.

Priceline also has "transparent" bookings where you pick the hotel and there is no cancellation penalty. I just got a great rate rate on a hotel in Tokyo this way. Cost was not much more than people were getting the 4* opaque Tokyo hotel for and the hotel is as nice and in a better location.

I am really picky on where I stay, so I never use priceline. I typically go on vacations to cities where I would not drive. I want to be really central, convenient to me, within walking distance to a specific place and in a hotel that has been recommended for good stays. I know that I can get nice hotels on priceline, but they are not always the best deal.

I have got some really good deals booking through the airline. It typically gives me even more miles than what I would get booking through the hotel. I want to be sure my hotel room is nice and not filled of surprices. I never would go for less than a 4* hotel if I was to book on priceline.

Now a while back, I had to book an unschedule trip and hotel. I did my way and my sister did priceline. I paid less on both hotel and air fare. And I had the direct flight....

Well, you can definitely tell that Priceline is downplaying the "Name Your Own Price" part vs. before. Was not sure whether that was due to changes in customer preference (eBay, for example, is also backing off the bidding/auctions model), or whether it was due to getting fewer rooms to sell because of hotels cutting back and an improving economy and better supply/demand situation for the hotels (with Priceline often only an outlet of last resort).

Still, I've had only one case where I've booked off the fixed-price screen (a 2* for $45 in ANC). Usually they're at $49-59 fixed and I'm trying for $30.

If you lowball it at the 2* level lately there's an excellent chance you'll end up in an extended-stay place. I really tend to like those, but I can certainly see they're not for everyone. Seems like you have to bid at least 3* to get something more mainstream and closer to full-service, rather than a niche place. The Extended Stay America spot I stayed at recently for $25 in Des Moines (overlooking one of the busiest truck routes in America, though thankfully with double-paned windows) would have been terrible for families.

It's always been better in the sense that it's more polite, but my impression is that it's still got only a fraction of the data that Sheryl's board has, even after the ezboard problems last year. (Though I don't understand the problem that people have with Sheryl. If you don't like her posting rules, you can just use it as a read-only resource.)

Betterbidding is definitely a more "human" site. Moderators are pleasant and helpful without being nasty, and others are encouraged to contribute advice -- without being slammed if they make a human error!! There aren't quite as many postings on betterbidding, but we're all working on it!

Even with the best discount coupons, corporate rates, or other shenanigans, I usually still can't get even a modest 2.5* hotel cheaper than using Priceline. I, too, like picking where I get to stay, but part of the fun with Priceline is doing the research and taking a bit of a crapshoot. Some cities are worse than others for zones, but if you're saving significant dough on the room, perhaps it's worth a few extra bucks on the taxi ride or the gas in the rental? Also, I don't stay in enough hotels each year to make it really worth collecting in a program. I got comped (somehow) to SPG Gold, so when I travel internationally and a *wood property is almost as cheap as Priceline/equivalent, I tend to book using the hotel site to get a few more points and possibly a room upgrade.

As always, YMMV.

one other consideration in the points vs. price equation:

* many hotel programs allow one to purchase points(Hilton
in this example). So, one comparison might be the hotel
rate vs. Priceline & purchased points...see which ends up
being the best deal.

Or course, if you're on a threshold of number of stays and
moving up a level in a hotel program, you could view the
extra $$ paying hotel rates as an 'upgraded' fee to a higher
level in the program.

Sometimes Priceline works better and sometimes it does not.

I used to do lots of Priceline reservations but not any longer. Knowing how the hotels work you can get pretty decent rates directly and when you consider all the benefits that comes when you have the right status it is not really worth using the Priceline that often.

If you do not have any status with the hotel chains and do not care where you end up sleeping that night then the Priceline is probably the way to go most of the time.

Priceline sucks in my opinion, you are better off calling up the hotel and negotiating with them once you find out what their online rates are.

jpkneifl

I never use Priceline. Even though the rates may be a few $ more, if I need a cheaper rate, I use Hotwire. Their system of listing amenities, coupled with the betterbidding.com site, usualy allow me to be 90% positive of the hotel I'll get.

I mainly only use Hotwire when I go to Chicago, where my home office is based. Rates vary wildly - the Sharaton might be $139 one week and $239 the next, depending on the size of the conventions in town.

Our CFO's benchmark is the rate at the Holiday Inn closest to our office, where I do NOT wish to stay. If I can get a regular rate at a hotel I like better for below the HI rate, i will book it. If not, I use Hotwire. They can't quibble about my staying at the Swissotel when I got it for $106 a night

Also, the point about dates being firm is pretty important as well. If there is a chance a meeting might be cancelled, won't book Hotwire or an internet only noncancellable rate.

They are similar. Some would say that one is more user-friendly than the other.

If I'm 99+ percent sure I won't cancel and don't have a reason (like a conference) to be in a specific one, I'll check the Web for the best I can do with my assorted discounts. Then I'll Priceline for something sufficiently lower than that to make up for the loss of points and the very remote possibility of having to eat the cost if I do cancel. If I get it, I win; if not, I've only lost a couple of minutes.