Priceline

[txd]

We have to make a decision whether to reserve a specific hotel on Priceline or going thru bidding process.

 

Is it possible to bid on a specific hotel? Any recommendation greatly appreciated.

TD:confused:

[dondiane]

You can use Priceline without the bidding proceedure, you will see the hotel they are offering but the price will be higher than the bidding for rooms. There used to be a few sites that help with bidding. I think they were betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com. Its been quite a while since I used them but if they were still around they were quite helpful. Recently I've gotten fair deals on booking.com

[sandyss]

No, you cannot bid for a specific hotel. You must select a star level and location (sometimes there are several choices of location in a large city).

 

There are websites that have a listing of likely hotels at the different star levels in the various cities when you are Bidding For Travel on priceline.

 

IMHO, Priceline is good when you are Bidding for your hotel. But otherwise, I have found no savings on Priceline when purchasing a room at a specific hotel. I prefer to check TripAdvisor (a sister site to CruiseCritic) for help in choosing a hotel. Usually, I can obtain a better price, or added benefits, by going directly to the website of the hotel, rather than by using a booking engine.

[silentbob007]

You cannot bid on specific hotels, though you can use the sites listed above to get a better idea of what you might win when you bid. If you need/want a specific hotel, you pretty much have to book it directly or through a booking agency. I love Priceline, but I know it's not for everyone as you do give up some control over preferences in order to get a deal.

[txd]

Thank you for your incredibly fast response.

 

TD

[Alg63]

You cannot "bid" on a specific hotel but you CAN choose specific hotels on priceline and pay the advertised price. I have had fantastic luck on priceline with bidding, and have often got 5* hotels for 50% off the listed price. Issues can arise in cities like Rome or Paris or other international destinations most often in Europe where what "you" may consider a 4* hotel is not what "they" (the hotel/priceline) list themselves at.

 

You take your chances if you select a 3* or 4* hotel in Europe ... you may end up with GREAT, MODERATE OR UGH

 

Yes betterbidding.com gives you some great hints, tips and wins, and the closer to your travel dates that you book, the more hotels are generally out there IF they still have availability, and if there are no events/conferences etc in that city during your stay

 

I used to be a reservation manager for hotels .. trust me hotels are not going to list rooms that they KNOW they can sell at a higher rate, but as the date nears, rooms are unsold, group blocks get canceled, companies holding rooms release them, they are more likely to offer them up to priceline or similar

 

This is not the same as with sites like Expedia, Travelocity etc who may have "contracts" with the hotels where the hotels give them x number of rooms per day depending on the season. Again, if Travelocity / Expedia do not sell the room blocks, they release them back to the hotel, at which point the hotel may offer them to Priceline.

 

Both hotels.com and priceline.com may have both "contracted rates" (named hotels) and "secret" rates (unnamed hotels) with the hotel and sometimes you can figure out which hotel it is from the description

 

Remember, unless you take insurance with priceline (and even then there are restrictions) once you make your bid and it is accepted there are NO cancellations. You don't like the hotel, type, area etc, well tough like

 

And if you need specific bed types, or family rooms, priceline is not the best way to go.

 

But again I have never had a bad hotel. Priceline is wonderful for hotels and rental car, not so much for flights because you may end up with very early flights, very late flights, connections and long layovers, but if price is more important and you are willing to take your chances, airline can work too with priceline

[sandyss]

Another possibility is Hotwire. You pay a little more than on Priceline, but sometimes you can figure out which hotel is being offered for a very discounted price. When we needed a hotel in Amsterdam before a cruise, other people on our Roll Call had booked the Movenpick (adjacent to the cruise terminal) through Hotwire. They told everyone which hotel to book, and quite a few of us stayed at the Movenpick.

[tommy2tone41]

Another possibility is Hotwire. You pay a little more than on Priceline, but sometimes you can figure out which hotel is being offered for a very discounted price. When we needed a hotel in Amsterdam before a cruise, other people on our Roll Call had booked the Movenpick (adjacent to the cruise terminal) through Hotwire. They told everyone which hotel to book, and quite a few of us stayed at the Movenpick.

 

Totally agree. When I travel by myself, I use Priceline because it's usually cheaper (but not always). However, Hotwire lists the amenities which is sometimes really important. I use HW when travelling with my kids. They usually want a swimming pool, and I look for places that include a free breakfast (family of 5, so that's important) and if required, a shuttle.

 

For North American hotels, HotelDealsRevealed.com is worth checking out. They list hotels that are known to be on Hotwire or Priceline. While its harder to reveal your Priceline hotel because they don't list your amenities when you book, you can get a sense of the hotels that are coming up.

 

Overall, Priceline can save you money but it has some caveats that you should be aware of before leaping in.