Experiences with Priceline (cost, rental, hotel, hotels)

[danwxman]

I'm looking into booking a hotel in NYC for around Labor Day and trying to save money... Thinking about using priceline. Does this really work? Anybody have any experiences?

[lititzman2003]

Originally Posted by danwxman

I'm looking into booking a hotel in NYC for around Labor Day and trying to save money... Thinking about using priceline. Does this really work? Anybody have any experiences?

I've used Priceline, Expedia and now Travelocity and I've never had any problems with any of them. Just watch the prices, since they seem to change hourly. Enjoy your trip!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by danwxman

I'm looking into booking a hotel in NYC for around Labor Day and trying to save money... Thinking about using priceline. Does this really work? Anybody have any experiences?

Last week, I took a roadtrip from Chicago to Detroit.

Here are my successful bids on Priceline:

3* Grand Rapids - Holiday Inn Select $34/night
2.5* Grand Rapids - Foliday Inn Express $30/night
3* Novi (Detroit Suburbs) - Residence Inn by Marriott $36/night

As a point of reference, I could have gotten a room at the Motel 6 for $39.95 in these locations.

Visit biddingfortravel.com to learn more about Priceline bidding.

[MAK802]

We've used Priceline for almost every single trip, including all over Europe, and have never had issues. I highly recommend them!

[Green Irish Eyes]

I don't think I've booked a hotel with them, but I have successfully rented cars. In fact, I just returned from a trip (Washington DC area) for which the lowest car rental I could find online was over $90 for the day. My bid was $37, and was accepted, so I saved quite a bit.

[gman5431]

I use Priceline for hotels ALL THE TIME. It is great. You sometimes get hotels that arent that great, but even then you get them for very cheap. Sometimes you get really nice hotels and at half or even less of the rack rate. Priceline charges some tax and fees but its always less than you would pay in addition to the rack rate at the desk so you always save there too. As long as you dont care EXACTLY where you stay, i always think Priceline is the best deal. For instance, i dont use it when i want a hotel right on the beach, but if i dont mind the possibility of being a mile or so away, i use it. Used it in Gulf Shores and was a mile off the beach but for a fraction of the cost. I have never tried it for flights and have only used it for rental cars a couple times and it worked well there too.

Someone mentioned bidding for travel. While this may help some people, to me it is more confusing than anything. I just start bidding and up my wager by $5 each day (they make you wait 24 hours between bids) and eventually i get a hotel in the location i want for a good deal.

G Man

[Mercury Cougar]

Originally Posted by danwxman

I'm looking into booking a hotel in NYC for around Labor Day and trying to save money... Thinking about using priceline. Does this really work? Anybody have any experiences?

Priceline is okay...as long as you don't use the feature where you make your own bid for airfare. Unless you have a lot of leeway in your travel plans, this can really suck, because they arbitrarily assign you your flights.

This means that you could lose as much as a full day on either side of your vacation -- which, if it's a 4 day weekend, could very well turn into a 2-day weekend. Or just as bad -- a 6 day weekend, depending on when they assign you your flights.

[Weekend Traveler]

I usually bid 50% off the price for a similar star level, location and date on the retail sites like Orbitz and Expedia, and most of the time are successful. Just remember, they pick your hotel for you and there are no cancellations and changes. If you need to cancel your trip there will be no refund.

I read a story by a man who worked for Priceline in customer service and he said there are hundreds of people who call them every day and demand a refund when their plans change or they decide they did not get the exact hotel they wanted. Of course they get no where and the person complaining knew exactly what the rules were, but make a big stink and complain on a variety of Internet sites that Priceline is a fraud.

The truth is if Priceline allowed refunds when people changed their mind the prices for you and me would have to be much higher.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Weekend Traveler

I read a story by a man who worked for Priceline in customer service and he said there are hundreds of people who call them every day and demand a refund when their plans change or they decide they did not get the exact hotel they wanted. Of course they get no where and the person complaining knew exactly what the rules were, but make a big stink and complain on a variety of Internet sites that Priceline is a fraud.

The truth is if Priceline allowed refunds when people changed their mind the prices for you and me would have to be much higher.

If they let people change their minds, they would lose the opaque feature of the "name your own price" product. If that happens, most of the major chains will stop using Priceline.

In the last year or so, the customer service for Priceline has been a lot more sensitive to NEGATIVE comments you include on the customer survey. I received some credits when a 2* hotel outside of Nashville turned out to be a real dump (which has been rare in my experience). I recommend that you fill out the e-mail surveys when you receive tehm.

[Buzliteyear]

Priceline is the best thing to happen to travel since the airplane. I have landed killer deals in incredible, resort hotels from Cancun to Vegas.

Do your homework, research priceline strategies, and use Betterbidding.com and BiddingForTravel.com (people post their priceline winning bids on these sites).