If you search the Hyatt site on Flyertalk, you will see that you can have your cake and eat it too. Hyatt has continuously allowed Priceline stays to qualify for their Faster Free Nights program, which is on yet again from October 15 – February 29. This gives you a free night for every two stays.

The Priceline stays also count towards your elite status in the program, and you are extended all elite benefits on the rate. Starwood will not extend elite benefits on Priceline rates beginning on Jan.1.

Of course you have to use Priceline effectively with the assistance of biddingfortravel.com. During the last FFN promotion at Hyatt. I accrued about 5 free nights on Priceline stays of about $30/night at SFO and other places. I used these nights at their resorts in Maui and Lake Las Vegas.


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[This message has been edited by ericwinter (edited 10-11-2003).]

I think this is changing, at least at the upper-end properties. The Venetian for $79 (not uncommon from PL of late) is markedly better than any published deal, and I have personally booked 12 room nights at the soon-to-open Westin Casaurina LV for the low, low rate of $43/night.

Where I find PL especially useful in LV is for big conventions and the week ahead of them; I am consistently able to get better rates than the Casino Guest rate, even at properties where I have rated play.

Eric

I've purchased hotel rooms mostly under 2 loyalty programs (SPG and HH) this year, but once I completed the requirements, I switched a lot of the business over to Hotwire and Wyndham ByRequest 72 hour sale rates. My hotel costs have dropped about 20% this year.

I'm probably going to drop SPG as I have tried and really don't care for any of their products; I prefer HH and will continue to book my 30-35 stays per year with them. More stays will also come through PL and Hotwire.

I agree it is Priceline all the way-
With only one city so far I have refused to use it in- San Juan, Puerto Rico!

In any other larger city you have a choice of areas ( MG- last time I looked MSY had five areas to pick from).

But in SJU you could be stuck anywhere from the Caribe Hilton- Old San Juan, to basically next to a 737 at the airport (what six miles apart).

If location is no problem- go for it-
but if you're looking to spend most of your time in Old San Juan (pre-cruise maybe), or Condado, or Isla Verde- Don't count on being relatively close to what you want.

Ditto. Government travel regs do not permit me to use priceline for business travel, so I usually book the best hotel I can find at the government rate. For a while that was Marriott due to the breadth of choices, but lately I have become partial to Hyatt and Starwood.

Priceline is my first choice for leisure travel, particularly for weekend nights in cities with Hyatt locations. Otherwise I will go with a discounted internet reservation service (e.g. londontown.com, travelworm etc.) depending on the location. I usually end up with a 3*-4* room in the $40-80 range, depending on the season and location.

In the last year, I have only booked 2 leisure stays at posted rates: (1) Bajamar Mexico (I had no choice for a friend's wedding) and (2) Fort Bragg, California. In both cases I was rather pissed off to pay $100+ (the rack in Mexico) for a mediocre sub-holiday inn room. Boy do we get spoiled on priceline.

I expect to have low level elite status by the end of the year in a couple of programs. Depending on the benes, I may re-direct some of my business travel to these programs. But I seriously doubt I will do any "hotel runs" at year end just to get status, with the exception of Hyatt, which still allows you to double-dip (or at least counts PCLN nights for status and provides status benefits on PCLN stays).

For stays <=3 days

1. If a pointstretcher is available, grab it. Best bang for the buck.

2. See if a good Priceline rate is available at a HH hotel that has a track record of honoring Elite status no matter what you pay.

3. If cent/point ratio is higher than 0.75c/point, got with the HH points redemption.

4. If there is no award availability with HH, encash your SPG points as the last resort. With a HH Diamond, capacity control is not an issue.


For stays >= 4 Days

1. HGVC points redemption.


P.S. I would rather stay at a Mid-level Hotel in an upgraded room with elite benefits than at a high-end hotel in the crappy section.

Granted, you can't beat Priceline. Still, I usually don't bother b/c for a regular trip I check the major booking engines and the hotel web sites, then book.

For Priceline I do the above, then I check the location maps (which are pretty good) against the hotels I've already targeted, then I check biddingfortravel.com, then I anxiously bid, wait for Priceline to tell me it's a ridiculously low bid, anxiously check to see whether it's accepted, and if it is, anxiously wonder whether I'll get status recognition and points.

Well, in reality there's very little anxiety, but there is time and uncertainty and sometimes it seems worth it (conventions where it's hard to get a decent rate) and sometimes it doesn't (overnighter at an airport hotel).

I'm 80% Priceline last three years, but always always always have the hotels's program card for any chain you expect to land at and offer it. Sometimes gets you stay credit, often an upgrade, even at chains that advertise they don't do anything for Priceline or consolidator rates. There seems to be a "hotel option" on both of those, and they might just choose to bless you. (Except right how Wyndham, which will tell you what you can do with your card on a Priceline rate).

The caution is Priceline in some markets has gone up and chain web rates have gone down, especially on low occupancy days. The spread some places isn't what it used to me and certainty and perks might be worth the difference. Make sure you don't outfox yourself, especially if the Bidding for Travel (Priceline bidding) thread warns of the rare turkey hotel on Priceline.

Priceline and Hotwire

Go to Hotwire first, see what they offer, offer $5-$10 less on Priceline, if it doesn't work, the go with HotWire.

I stayed at Sheratons, Hyatts and Embassy Suites for less than $40 using both services.

Even with the company money.

No reason to spend more

How do you find these Wyndham rates? I took a glance at a couple pages on their web site but found no mention of it...

Plus if you're a Upromise member, you'll get 3% cash back if you book through Priceline. No chain is going to do that for you. ;-)

I *think* the reason Wyndham plays hardball with the bennies is because their program entitles you to specific, tangible benefits with every stay. (e.g., free long-distance phone calls, free faxing, free high-speed internet, etc.) At least that was the explanation given to me on the 2 Priceline Wyndham stays we've done. In both cases, I was given a nice room (not a real upgrade, but nice view and correct bed/smoke type) and was not given any "attitude" about using a prepaid rate. Just a well-reasoned explanation as to why prepaid rates don't get all of the usual goodies.

I've used priceline with mostly lots of good experiences. The one problem I had was in Flagstaff AZ at the Holiday Inn. They put me in a single, smoking room. Even though PL says you will get NS, queen bed, it is really up to the hotel in the end. I would have moved and eaten the cost if they hadn't moved me first thing in the morning when a room opened up. It was really gross. I booked the room really early and called to confirm my late check in so I wasn't the last one to get a room... just the only one paying below the regular price... which they made a point of mentioning several times.

No you were not. You paid a "regular" price. Priceline rates are still rates - they're just not rack rates. It's total B.S. on the part of the hotel. No one makes them load inventory into Pl's system - they choose to do it. No one makes them charge $75 for a 4* room - they choose to do it.

Then they blame you for paying the rate that they and PL agreed upon in advance. Screw them!

Sounds like a few airlines I fly.