How do you determine when to pay for hotel vs. using priceline?
 

Ok - I feel stuck sometimes -- I love getting points - but at the same time, I love the idea of paying less.

How do you determine when to use either?

For example:

NYC Hilton - $239 rate to earn points
$165 for priceline

any advice is appreciated.

I would go with Priceline and save some $$$$. I would still get Starpoints for charging ... However, how do you know you get Hilton with Priceline? You can get any **** hotel in an area in NY.

How can you be sure you're getting the NYC Hilton for that price with Priceline. You could end up in a wide variety of hotels. Priceline is an opaque system, meaning you don't learn the name of the actual hotel until after your bid is accepted.

For a list of hotels in each category for each Priceline zone check out [URL=http://www.biddingfortravel.com]. Would you be happy with all of those hotels in that category or would some be objectionable to you. If you wouldn't want to stay at some of the hotels on that list I'd suggest paying for the room and earning points.

Maybe there's a posting on B4T that is listing the Hilton on his dates for $165...

How many points???
 

How many points will you get for $69????? Thats the only question in my mind. And are they worth that much to you. My history tells me usually not. The only time I don't use priceline is when I'm driving cross country and don't know when or where I'll be tired.

I choose saving money over points unless it's a negligible amount. If I get 1 point per dollar and spend $100 for no points or $130 for 130 points then my "Free" 35,000 mile (Airline) ticket would actually cost me $10,500. (The 1 mile per $ was used to make calculations easier)

Or better yet on Betterbidding.com ;)

1) Who's paying - me or employer (yes, I know, shame on me...)

2) What's the price difference. I consider cash to be much more valuable than points, even at the "what's a point worth" value. The flexibility of cash doubles or triples that theoretical value when I'm making the decision.

Another consideration is if you're are trying to (re)qualify for status this year and what your alternatives are to get to that goal.

I'm going to be in Arizona in a couple of weeks. Hotel rates during the summer are very low. After reading up at www.betterbidding.com and bidding for travel, I can see that everyone is 'getting' 3 and 4 * properties for next to nothing. Not that much of a price difference compared with what's out there.

The reason why I'm staying at *woods is because I was targeted for a bonus program. Then, throw in some bonus points for using my second ;) *wood card, and I'm reaping a mini-bonanza in the point department. So this time, I'm paying a little more, for a big return on investment (depending on how you value your points. @:-)

Another consideration is that most direct-bookings are cancellable, often up until the day of check-in. With Priceline, you're locked in, nonrefundably.

This is the first time I've heard of www.betterbidding.com
Is this now a better site than Sheryl's board, which I used a lot in the past?

These are the factors I consider in deciding whether to priceline or book directly with a hotel, in order of priority:

1. How much do I care which specific hotel I get? (particularly an issue in certain PCLN zones that have wide geographies or lots of hotels at a given star level)
2. How certain are my plans? (most reservations directly with hotels are cancellable--priceline is not)
3. How many points am I giving up? (usually not that many)

Then I compare the potential savings and decide whether it's worth it. Usually the points are worth a lot less to me than (1) choosing my hotel, and (2) cancellability.

No, not shame on you. I travel for work and we are encouraged to book mid-level hotels with refundable rates. Based on the type of work I do, I usually have 2-3 weeks notice and my travel plans don't change much once they're set, so every now and then I eyeball an internet only rate. About 2 months ago, I used an internet only rate and stayed at the Westin Chicago for much less than the 4Points down the block. But last week I had a project where the client decided to spend one night in the city instead of in the suburbs. We were sharing a car, so had I been locked into my suburban hotel through an internet only rate, it would have saved them some money but been mighty inconvenient.

I do all my mileage earning on my own dime, so I tend to be very price-sensitive on hotels. None of the hotel programs have made any headway with me, though I think I got autoenrolled in HHonors somehow and signed up for Radisson to do the now-infamous Valumags-Goldpoints fiasco.

Usually on Priceline I'll go for 3* topping around $43 or 2* up to $33 or so in the 48US, with $15-20 extra allowed if Alaska or Hawaii. Hard to get even Motel 6 at that these days on regular rates.

I suspect the answer is to go with Priceline unless you get a good stream of points from business travel and need to top off to an award.

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.