ElmhurstNick

Before the economy tanked, I was a big user of Priceline - probably 75 nights/year, 30 of them in Boston alone. The original $25/night AMEX bonus money helped a lot. I'd stay at the Wyndham Boston or Seaport for $80-$85/night and laugh at everybody paying $229. On weekends, I'd get really cheap stays, sometimes as low as $1/night in a place like Des Moines.

But now the economy is garbage, the bonus money is gone, I have Diamond status from Hilton, and about a quarter of a million Hilton points to boot. Now I spend $115 and stay at the Doubletree Guest Suites and get a 2-room suite with breakfast. The points and Hilton status are a nice bonus, it's the room size that matters. When the economy goes up, the $115 rate will become $175, and I'll go back to Priceline.

Meanwhile, I still use Priceline from time to time, but only in obvious low-ball situations where Hilton's weekend rate or point redemption value is out of whack.

venk

The main problem with PL for most business users is that it does not give them a way to launder company money for personal benefits like free nights for personal travel.

All the other reasons are valid some of the time but mostly rationalizations. With sites such as www.biddingfortravel.com, you can often pinpoint exactly which hotels you will be getting rooms in and can very often stay at a better hotel than what the company would permit on a regular rate. The good hotels on PL stays have always given me a decent room.

I am willing to pay a little bit over PL prices in certain context but not 2-3 times more.

dominick

In addition to bonus money- I find that the Priceline UK is much cheaper at times, especially with the 10 pound ($16US) bonus, I've actually been using this moreso than Pline US. I've been getting some great deals, yesterday infact I got a 3*Delta Montreal for $28 US (pound conversion aprox) taxes in, while I originally tried $37 without tax on the Us site and failed

cordelli

I won't let Priceline choose my hotel. I want to know where I'm sleeping, and I want to choose my flights, for both business and leisure travel. To me that is worth the extra money, and the points, status, and all the rest are just gravy. When I was in college I didn't think twice of staying at a $20 a night Motel Six, now I wouldn't go near the places.

So while Priceline can save signigicant money, giving up any choice of where you are sleeping that night just doesn't do it for me.

Rental cars though is another story, I love priceline for rental cars. They would only use what I would use, airport rental agencies, so for rentals I think they are fine, though there are many times a better deal is had dealing direct with the car agencies.

They also have a very nasty habit of double charging for the car rentals, it's always credited back, but it's a pain to deal with.

thesqueegeekid

Can you please provide me with a link for the bonus money and especially, a Europe priceline form... I must try this!!!
Thanks



[This message has been edited by thesqueegeekid (edited 02-21-2003).]

ac/elite

Link to priceline UK forum:

http://pub31.ezboard.com/bpricelineeuropediscussions

There is a section on that forum which includes links to bonus money.

thesqueegeekid

Just tried to bid on the UK Priceline ... BUT could not use either my Canadian Visa or US Mastercard. Is there any tricks to this???

I know for using Canadian MC cards it can easily be done.

Gaza

I agree the Priceline is not much use for business but for 1 or 2 night leisure stays it is unbeatable. I used it for the first time recently and I was very impressed.

I had to stop off in San Jaun on my way to St. Lucia. As I was due to arrive at 1:00 am and depart again at 10:30 am I wasn't too fussy about where I stayed. Using information on the site mention above - http://www.biddingfortravel.com - I was able to get the Caribe Hilton for GBP50 plus GBP6 in tax and processing fee. The Hilton website was quoting rates in excess of USD200. On arrival I was upgraded (I'm Diamond) and given full access to the lounge for breakfast. My HH number was entered on the system but so far no stay or points credit has been given. I'll wait another week or so and send my receipt to the service centre to see if they will credit me.

On my way back from SLU via SJU I had an overnight stop at JFK. I decided to give PL another go and I did some research on http://www.biddingfortravel.com and put in a GBP35 bid for 2* Moderate. For some reason the classification system used on the UK site is different from the US site and 2* Moderate compares to 3*. I had my bid accepted and got the Courtyard by Marriott at JFK. They provide a free shuttle to and from JFK and the rooms were good. Again I was only there for a few hours (10:00 pm arrival, 6:00 am departure) so it fitted my needs perfectly.

venk

Not to sound like a commercial but in PL, you will not be staying at Motel 6. You will stay in the same places that charge you $200/night but at Motel 6 prices.

Most hotels that people prefer to book here also participate in PL.

thesqueegeekid

There is no debate here for leisure travel.... we ride up in elevators all the time at Hiltons with those that spend the big bucks.

So, if Cordelli wants to spend three/five times as much, good for her/him.

For us well, we lose because in some towns we may not get the Hilton and get stuck at Marriot or Hyatt. So Cordelli, I have seen the err of my priceline ways. It is worth $89, or $129, or even $200 to ensure a hotel instead of a $40 ***equivalent*** wildcard.
(sorry for the sarcasm)

I will think about this at the Hilton Metrotown in Vancouver which I got for only 30 bucks. Maybe, Rut Dog will be there laughing at me for not getting it free!!!

My new one day old Hilton Honors Gold in my pocket ... hmmmm life is sweet!!!

BUT seriously, I have never been to a hotel yet where I did not get a choice of smoking/non, 2 beds/1 bed BUT the odd time, I do get the "oh you booked through Priceline" look from the clerk. With BFT you can also pinpoint where 4 people could not go like NYC. Also, with the savings, you could book two rooms.

There's my two Canadian cents, they certainly are not worth much!!!


------------------
Canadian studying in New York

[This message has been edited by thesqueegeekid (edited 02-22-2003).]

outoftown

FWIW, I've had about a dozen stays on PL last year, all for business. This is not curently in line with my corporate travel policy, but so far no one has objected. Besides the print version of the receipt, I normally attach a second one with any incidentals from the hotel. With the belt tightening I'm seeing lately, I am able to stay in a better class of hotel than normally allowed...I have also gotten stay credit, miles and/or points so far with two different hotel chains, although I don't count on it. To maximize PL compatibility for my needs, I research likely hotels I'll get on www.biddingfortravel.com I also wait until a few days prior to my stay to avoid losing my prepay due to a change in plans. I bid on only 3* or above. I usually get the hotel I'm expecting about 3/4 of the time, but I've never really had a bad hotel experience. I even get upgraded on occasion. My business travel doesn't always take me to cities with much more than a Hampton Inn or HI Express, so my use of PL is best when limited to medium to large cities, to maximize savings. So far PL has been a boon to having more stays at the best business hotels.

huangFT

I will add my $0.02 here. I don't use PL for business travel for the following reasons, in descending order of importance:
1. No flexibility when meetings get rescheduled/cancelled
2. Distance to my destination. Often I am in a unfamiliar city with an early morning meeting. I want to stay within 1-2 miles of my destination to avoid getting stuck in traffic and miss my meetings (PL let you pick a general area, but it could still be far away or with confusing roads like Boston)
3. There are a lot of trips when a few of us travel together. It makes no sense to use PL which can get you in different hotels.

I don't use PL for personal trips because:
1. location, location, location. We have a young toddler travelling with us. I don't want to push his stroller for 20 blocks to the next place I want to visit.
2. There can be huge differences between 3 stars and 3 stars, even of the same brand
3. Because of my business travel, usually I don't have to pay for personal stays anyway.

pinniped

I'm a big fan of PL for leisure travel. I hate uncertainty, so to this point I've always bid "tight" geographic zones (i.e., at-the-airport) or zones where there is only one hotel in my target class and I can look it up on a map before I bid. Since I've mostly been able to eliminate the uncertainty factor, the only downside for me is the flexibility. Therefore, I put a cancellable reservation on hold somewhere, and do my Priceline bidding about 2 weeks before travel, when I'm 95+% certain the trip will happen.

As for the hotel classes, I think PCLN does a good job making sure that 3-star means 3-star. Hotwire, on the other hand, plays it loose to their advantage: a 4-star HW might only be a 3-star on PCLN. I've read many experiences across geographies that indicate this is somewhat common. Therefore, I tend to trust Priceline when I bid 3- or 4-star. (I get Hiltons, Starwoods, and maybe at the worst a high-end Holiday Inn Select).

Regarding status: I know for a fact that I would never reach the top-tier in any hotel chain, even if I did all of my business/leisure stays at one chain. Therefore, I take mid-tier in all of them because you get that for calling up and asking for it. (Except Marriott: I had to earn Silver, then sign up for the credit card, and they've kept me at Gold ever since.)

Most hotels will be nice to you regarding room preference when staying on a PCLN rate and showing your Gold card. I have never gotten a big-time (suite) upgrade, but I've gotten concierge level in some cases, and almost always get my bed/smoke preferences. Starwood gives me the free breakfasts and free drink coupons. Hilton and Marriott don't. I don't really care about hotel breakfasts anyway...if I'm on the concierge level, I'll nibble a little bit in the lounge. If not: I don't worry about it.

Only leisure stays where I shy away from Priceline are when we absolutely need a specific room type. For example: four of us traveling and we need two double beds. Then we book Marriott (unless a 2-room Priceline bid would STILL save us big money), because they absolutely guarantee room type, or they give you cash back or a second room.

lynowens

Which two have you had success with? Thanks.

lynowens

How did you access the San Juan hotel? The only site I know of only covers the US? Is there a site where I might find Costa Rica?
Thanks.