3recondoc

I have used PL many times.

I have always been happy.

Mainly I am happy because I am staying in a 4 or 5 star hotel but paying 1 or 2 star prices. I can live without getting the best room in the hotel at those prices.

But many times I am upgraded. Never got an actual suite when bidding on PL but a few of my friends have. A suite in a 5 star London hotel for a regular PL win.

I have gotten the rooms of my choice. And last trip to AMS I got a 30 euro a night free upgrade for 14 nights. It was the upgraded view.

I also got a nice discount on breakfast if I had wanted that.

Have I been totally happy? Actually yes I have.

But then I work at it. I do my home work. I study PL for the city in question. I am cheerful friendly and personable at check in.

I do pretty darn well. And I save a small fortune.

redtop43

I pay very little attention to the room I get - for me, when I travel, a room is a place to sleep, not part of the travel experience. When I travel on my own, 2-star is fine, but when traveling with my wife I always go 3-star or higher.

So I don't pay a great deal of attention to the room, or the view, or anything like that. But I do remember when I went to New York at Christmas one year, having a really great view of Times Square. Another time we had big problems with the room (toilet stopped, lock not working), it was just unfortunate and the kind of stuff that happens, and the staff did everything I'd expect to try to fix it. We've often asked for a refrigerator and had one brought promptly. Every time I make a Priceline reservation, I call the hotel a couple hours later to confirm the bed type I want, and have never had a problem getting a King or two Queens, as I preferred. So basically, I've never felt like a second-class citizen.

A friend of mine often books lower-star hotels and travels with his bridge partner, and he has occasionally had hotels try to surcharge him for a room with two beds. But we all realize that bedding type is not guaranteed on a Priceline reservation.

SKYEG

My opinion on priceline in general, coming from a young frequent traveler who has limited income for leisure and have used priceline before:

I have used priceline a couple of times, and I say it's only really worth it if you don't travel much and you are looking to stay at a 4-5 star hotel. If you don't have status at hotels, it is well worth paying dirt cheap to stay somewhere nice as you wouldn't receive any benefits anyways. Being young and having budgets for leisure travel and also having elite status at several chains, I still choose to pay more and receive the status benefits even though the price difference might be big.

For ex. $80 pricelined hilton, $150 for King sized standard. the $70 difference is quite a bit of savings, compared to earning the points and breakfast and possible enhanced room which I would only say amounts to around $20 max. You could also ask for an upgrade with a priceline booked room and get a good rate, or even be upgraded for free(Both which I've encountered with my limited stays).

Financially it makes more sense for me to book priceline, even with status. But the uncertainty of where I am going to stay, the horrifying thought of receiving 2 double beds(I always travel with my S.I. for leisure), and having zero flexibility on the booking makes it not worth the money I save. Oh and also because I am obsessed with having status


That being said, I've never been treated like a second class guest booking through priceline. If you call the hotel directly and ask them to pre assign you to the room you want, it usually works. I've been upgraded for free, and got good upgrade rates right at the desk.

And honestly, you could potentially be saving $200-$300 on a luxury hotel. Should you be treated differently? Probably not. Should you care if you were treated differently? No. You saved the money and booking priceline that was your main motif. I never once had the mindset of being treated fairly or better than a non priceline customer, and that is the attitude you need to have if you want to save money. I think its human instinct to automatically think someone is cheap when they spend less money than others

skimthetrees

I don't have a lot of bookings but I too have never been treated like a second class guest booking through either Priceline or Hotwire. I usually end up with at least as decent of a room as I would expect if I booked direct.

I use Priceline usually only for high end, 4 star or above, properties. Hotwire I use for anything 3 star or above but I try to divine the hotel before I book through sites like betterbidding.com.

jpetekYXMD80

I've never experienced a 'second class citizen' feeling, and i've done this a lot. Maybe some tempered graciousness at check in, but thats not common. I don't doubt it happens, but I find that very unfair. It's the hotels prerogative to participate in such programs, most likely with their own very calculated cost/benefit analysis, much like those of us who often utilize them. As long as you have the right mentality and expectations about the limits of these rates, it should be a win-win with no need for awkwardness.

I recently had a wonderful experience at the Manua Lani. Hotwired it for apprx $200. Got a ground level room with a distant ocean view, but easy access to the pool area and grounds right out the door. It was a perfect scenario

DJGMaster1

As someone who is fairly expert at using Priceline (and Hotwire) for hotel bookings, I would say that it's really useful to understand what the hotels themselves perceive as the use and benefit of these sites. They are used by the hotels for selling excess inventory, in a manner that does not substantially taint their pricing power with respect to selling to more loyal customers and during more in-demand timeframes.

Generally, if one takes advantage of the availability of these cheap rooms at off-peak periods, one should not flaunt it, but just be glad you can.

The decline in the travel market over the past few years due to the overall poor economy has given rise to exactly the most opportune set of circumstances for using Priceline - as just about all hotels now have excess inventory except during the highest of peak periods. I recently used Priceline to book a couple of getaways to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. One late last year, and one later this month. Last year, I got the Westin for $49 a night, and this year, I got the Marriott for $47 a night. These are certainly within a few dollars of the lowest prices one can get these two properties for - probably just a handful of bucks over the hotels' marginal costs to fill the rooms vs. leaving them empty.

BTW, I was not treated as a 2nd class guest at the Westin, and I do not expect to be at the Marriott either.

danielonn

It actually pays to email the hotel directly and tell them about your requests and any special occasions. I have done this before on a Hotwire rooom as well as Priceline and it worked out well.

Once I booked a regular room at a Hilton using Priceline and was upgraded to the Executive Floor with no status or extra charge because we waited a long time for the room.

Our family used Hotwire for rental cars and got the Premium Car at the Full Size Rate due to an oversell and the car they gave us had a transmission problem.

So all in all if you are nice to the staff at the hotel they will do whatever it takes to make you happy. The hotel would much rather discount a room than have it go empty and wants repeat business.

If you are rude or don't state your requests for a quiet room then your reservation can go to the bottom of the list.

ianp

Good communication and putting requests in writing is the way to go..

bmw745ion19s

love using priceline and hotwire on a regular basis and save tons with them. have never feel like ive been treated unfairly or rudely. a couple of times when making a request ill be warned a certain room isnt promised because I reserved through the site but they will put the request in. I dont see this as being rude just the person being informative.

I have also been offered numerous free upgrades even on these stays. some of them were at hotels I frequent (always using PL or HW) and some were places I hadnt been before.

I agree to please also report and use betterbidding.com. I frequent the site and love helping others as well

scottdurand

I started booking direct on the hotel websites and have had much better luck. I know exactly that look you are talking about. I think with Expedia they would've put me in a broom closet if they could have and I could get the same rate through them and get treated better.

GUWonder

There are certainly many US hotels in the largest cities where the default room assignment for PCLN and Hotwire guests involves the least desirable rooms/floors even when plenty of better standard rooms are available at the property. This is more an issue with higher category properties than lower-category ones.

Talking nicely with, or bribing the hotel staff, can work to get a better room assignment quite often.

Elite status benefits seem to be more frequently applied on PCLN and Hotwire bookings for properties overseas than in the US but that involves having the relevant plastic cards to present.

dll

I generally have neutral to positive experiences with Priceline rooms - like others, I appreciate paying lower rates for a higher category hotel that ultimately saves me money. I accept that it often means a less desirable room and may occasionally result in somewhat negative interactions at the hotel, although that's open to interpretation I suppose. Most of my stays are uneventful and I rarely stay more than 2-3 nights on a PL rate; anything longer and I'll prefer the opportunity to choose my property and room type.

I had a recent experience at a major hotel chain property in SF booked via Priceline. I was with another traveler and expecting, per their terms and conditions, to be provided with a double occupancy standard room. Upon check-in and reaching the room I saw we were assigned a single room with one single double bed. The hotel in question advertises this as a single room so I asked the manager about moving to a regular standard room. They did not budge and a phone call to PL customer relations did not resolve it. I ended up disputing it with my CC and moving to a neighboring property at a higher rate. The PL customer service team weren't particularly helpful and the hotel turned even a bit hostile about it. I was happy to walk away and move my business elsewhere.

YMMV on PL rates; be careful and do your research on the front-end to avoid nasty surprises along the way. Every once in awhile you may run into a situation like mine, above, but it's been pretty rare in my experience.

dogcanyon

Did your credit card side with you on the dispute or is it still pending?

dll

I am not sure what the outcome was on the merchant side, but they dismissed the charge and gave me a permanent credit. I don't know if it was a courtesy or if they charged it back to PL.

dogcanyon

I love using Priceline but my one problem with them is their poor customer service in cases like this.