priceline.com experiences?

[78232]

I am trying to decide whether to use priceline.com for a hotel reservation in Fort Lauderdale pre cruise. I am concerned that the hotels might not honor the reservation, say it doesn't exist . or some other problem,,,,has this happened to anyone? Also what fee does priceline add one for their services?

[Noire]

I pretty much use priceline ALL OF THE TIME. I have never had a problem. If you are concerned just print the confirmation page. What I do is book through priceline. Wait a few hours and call the hotel and confirm and see if they can give me the type of room I want.

I am planning to use them when I cruise of of FLL in December. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also, the fee depends on how many nights you stay and your rate. They do give you the opportunity to look at the fee before you submit your information.

[63galaxie]

I've used Priceline and Hotwire for hotels in Fort Lauderdale, San Juan, Nashville, Louisville, Sacramento, and San Franciso in the last 1 1/2 years without any problems whatsoever!

 

 

Once you make your reservation, you'll receive a reservation number. You can either call the hotel or look on their website (calling usually works the best) to confirm your reservation. I always put my "special requests" in at this time (i.e. nonsmoking room, two beds, high floor, quiet room) and they always have complied with my requests. Also, some of the hotels will allow you to upgrade to a better room (i.e. a balcony room in San Juan) for a small upcharge ($50 at the Marriott's in San Juan). It's always worth it to ask if you are interested in such things. Finally, be sure to sign up for the hotel's frequent user club (i.e. with Hilton is the Hilton Honors club). When you check in, ask identify yourself as a member and you may get free upgrades or perks (i.e. bottled water in the Hilton hotels or free computer usage at the Fairmont hotels). Plus, you'll get credit for the stays on your account (which sometimes add up to free hotel rooms if you frequent the same brand).

Be sure to print off your confirmation from Priceline/Hotwire and take it to the hotel when you check in.

Karen in Kentucky

[78232]

Rhanks for the suggestion.

[silentbob007]

I've been using them for over 4 years and have never had a problem. Make sure you look at the total price on the screen where you confirm your bid ... this will be your final price (though some resorts may charge a resort fee upon arrival).

 

Just about the only thing to remember is that an accepted bid is non-refundable (unless you get turned away, there are serious problems with the room, etc) and that any request you may have (two beds, non-smoking, etc) is only a request and will be honored at the hotel's discretion ... the price for big potential savings.

[YoPhilly]

Check out betterbidding.com for bidding tips.

[Noire]

Check out betterbidding.com for bidding tips.

 

Or Biddingfortravel.com

[eandj]

Do your research on the bidding sites mentioned so you learn the ropes of bidding. There will be many tips on those sites. Also familiarlize yourself with the area and the hotels by checking here and on tripadvisor.com. Once you win a bid, the reservation is non cancellable and you won't know what hotel you will be assigned until it's paid for. So if you have any doubts or concerns or special bedding needs etc., go to the traditional discount sites or the hotels itself and avoid priceline bidding.

[Tazerok]

I was thinking about using priceline for a hotel stay in Rome. Does anyone have any experience with this? I understand hotels in Italy are very different from here in the states so I was going to just try bidding on a 5 star and see what happens.

[vmom]

I've had very good experiences using Priceline for hotels. The last hotel I got in Miami before a cruise was even much better than I expected.

 

Go to the Florida Departures area of these boards. You'll be able to read about what hotels people got for what $ and get some additional feedback.

 

Click on North America homports, and then from there click on Florida Departures.

[gkrnjlr]

Like others I have had great experience with Priceline. Not once have I had a hotel not recognize the reservation. They know it's from Priceline when they see the reservation but it's no different than any other reservation other than the fact that its paid for prior to arrival. I have experienced where at checkin I had to give a credit card for incidentals, which we ended up not using, but that's the only time I ever had to do anything "extra."

[eandj]

I was thinking about using priceline for a hotel stay in Rome. Does anyone have any experience with this? I understand hotels in Italy are very different from here in the states so I was going to just try bidding on a 5 star and see what happens.

 

 

 

Go to the ROME ports of call board and you'll find out a lot about the hotels of choice for those cruisers. Ask there about Priceline users and which hotels they won. A lot will depend on when you are cruising too. Also go to tripadvisor.com and read about the top 20 hotels or so so you know what you are bidding on. Location will be something you will need to know too. We will be looking for Barcelona and Venice hotels in 2009 too. Good luck!!

[GwenyP]

We're using priceline for our november FLL stay. I used betterbidding.com to do my homework and we got the courtyard by marriott on the beach for only $85 per night for two nights. The total, including all taxes and priceline fees came to $200. The hotel lists the same room on its website for almost $200 per night. Good luck.

[weltek]

I've only had good luck with Priceline. My reservation is always at LEAST 40% off the cheapest internet price I can find elsewhere and my reservations never encountered a problem. You don't always get a big upgrade in star levels, so be willing to settle for the star level you input.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I've used Priceline for years with many hotel bookings. My only issue with them is that you are guaranteed only one bed and it may not be a king size. So we can use Priceline only if it's just the two of us (a concern only on one trip with our daughter) and might have to settle for a queen or even a double (yikes!) We've had really good hotel experiences and most of the time actually get a king size bed.

 

We plan to go to Las Vegas this fall (to see "Donny & Marie"!) and will use Priceline hoping to get 4* on a 2* budget.

 

I do my research on http://www.biddingfortravel.com

 

We also used Priceline once for airline tickets. We had complete flexibility with flight times and just wanted to go to NYC to see ground zero the autumn after 9/11. Of course, at that time, there was far more availability than demand. Our booking worked out perfectly.

[sjcruiser]

I normally call the hotel, airline, rental car, etc an hour after booking using an online agency to verify the booking. Normally the vendor or merchant will tell you it takes a few days for the reservation to hit their system. The online agency will give you their confirmation number and one for the vendor or merchant, which are usually two different numbers. When checking back after a few days, they will normally verify the confirmation and give you "their confirmation number" if you don't have it. Depending on far out my reservation is, I normally confirm the reservation a week later and then two week before the reservation date, one week before the reservation date and the day before the reservation date. For airlines I check their website and gte the confirmation and ticket numbers and for hotels, I call the hotel directly to make sure the room has two double beds and is non-smoking.