Priceline saved me money, how about you?
Last night I used Priceline to book a hotel at the last minute and saved $29 off a $79 room in Grants Pass, Oregon—that’s nearly 37% of the rack rate.
The La Quinta Inn website quoted their basic room price as $79/night. I was reluctant to try Priceline on this occasion because Grants Pass has a high of 2-1/2 stars for their best hotels. There are a lot of lesser quality motels in the area. My concern was that I wouldn’t get the nicer La Quinta Inn that my cousins had scored for $50 by naming thier price on Priceline.com. I had to have high-speed internet access. Would I be as lucky as my cousins, or would I be passed on to a lesser quality hotel down the street without WiFi?
I’m a gambler: I named my price of $50 and selected the highest star rating in Grants Pass (2-1/2) for one night. It turned out that we got the La Quinta Inn and I was able to re-book again this morning extending my stay. My room is clean, the showerhead and water pressure is great, the WiFi is excellent and all standard rooms have a microwave and fridge. My brother got up before 9am and had waffles with his free continental breakfast.
In other Priceline news, my friend recently scored a room at the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas by bidding $50 for four stars on or near the Strip. This Westin typically charges more than $100/night and upwards of $139/night os weekdays.
All these recent Priceline mentions in my life make me curious to hear what deals (or duds) you’ve scored through the site. Anyone ended up in a shoddy Holiday Inn overlooking the freeway lately?
Let us know if you’ve booked a good (or bad) flight, hotel, cruise or vacation package via Priceline. Have you used their PriceBreaker section for last minute deals? The L.A. Times Deal Detectives want to know.
Contact: Priceline.com
Related Los Angeles Times Links:
Posh digs for a low bid on Priceline.com
Niche websites go beyond cheap seats
19 Comments on “Priceline saved me money, how about you?”
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March 21st, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I have used Priceline many times. The best savings were on purchases for flights within a week or so, $2000 tickets for under $400. Sure helped getting my daughter back home on college breaks.
March 21st, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Thanks for the feedback Joe, great to hear.
I spent 100+ nights in hotels across the USA booked via Priceline a couple of years ago while traveling non-stop on assignment. My budget was $75/night (plus fees + taxes), which usually netted me a decent 3-star+ room, but I wasn’t location sensitive.
The biggest duds seemed to often be the Holiday Inns. I’ve got no particular grudge against the chain (well, maybe I do!), but I’ll never forget the moldy pizza and cigarette butts I discovered behind the mattress in Minneapolis while groping around trying to find an outlet for my laptop power supply.
I could go on … but I’ll save my Priceline horror stories for another post.
Anyone else out there felt under-served by Priceline, or other online travel bidding sites?
Yours in rolling the dice for adventure,
~ Andrew, Sr. Editor travel.latimes.com
March 21st, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I have used Priceline twice once in Sacramento and we stayed at a 4 star hotel the Hyatt for $99 per night and then recently in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas trip was last minute and we booked a $250 per night room for $129 night… It was great I will use it every time I travel.
March 21st, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Nearly 50% off rack rate is a great score last-minute in Vegas, Heather.
I forgot to mention BiddingForTravel.com, where the very active user message boards are full of tips + strategies for successful Priceline bidding.
What other sites have people found useful when bidding on Priceline? Anyone use FatWallet.com forums? Or Betterbidding.com (which also covers Hotwire)?
~ Andrew, Sr. Editor travel.latimes.com
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:46 am
Priceline *used* to save me money, but now I find it more exasperating than anything. Perhaps it’s just my market, but I rarely do that well there these days, factoring in the lack of choice and adjustability (and I’m an expert bidder, been using BiddingForTravel and various multiple bid lowball tricks for 10 years+.) These days I prefer to just Kayak reservations unless I”m in a very competitive market (like NYC at offtimes or Vegas.)
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:06 am
Oddly enough I used Priceline recently to score a cheap rental car in Houston. Via Orbitz and direct prices were running $45 and up, and I bid twice, first at $25 and then at $27 and had success. I ended up with National, and at IAH they had an automated checkin kiosk, so the whole rental process only took about 60 seconds. I’m a Hertz #1 and Dollar FastLane member, so I was pleased going outside the box saved some money and didn’t waste my time. Those prices are pre-taxes/etc as well, so the cheaper rental car saved even more because 50% of $45 is a lot more than 50% of $27, or whatever the crazy tax rate is.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:19 am
Thanks for your comments everyone. I love hearing about what worked - and didn’t work.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:03 am
I’ve tried Priceline several times and they’ve been consistent in their offerings. If I am willing to travel at odd times from airports at inconvenient locations and am willing to spend more time traveling because of the multiple stops, I can usually save $$. I don’t expect first class service during peak travel, but my time and effort are worth something.
As far as the hotel thing goes, I’ve done very well on alternate sites and by calling the hotel directly.
On the other hand, I’ve know someone who did ONE good deal out of Priceline, but they had to travel 2.5 hours to get to a particular airport.
It’s really hit and miss.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:18 am
Priceline.com has changed the way my wife and I travel. Whenever we go on a trip, we always book a hotel at rack rate first, and then shoot the dice on Priceline. Doing so has allowed us to travel more, as the cost of accomodations sometimes drop by as much as 60%, and we use the savings towards the price of future trips, or it allows us to stay in better hotels for the same price as a barebones place where all we use the room for is to sleep, shower, and store luggage.. The smallest discount to rack I have received through Priceline has been 30%.
The best deals I have found were for accomodations in Orange County, where we have stayed in the South Coast Plaza Westin for $70 a night including taxes. The rack rate for those rooms were $150 plus taxes, and this was the nicest Westin we have ever seen.
I have never been disappointed by a Priceline booking in terms of quality of the hotel. The only time Priceline came back to haunt me was when the Woodland Hills Hilton originally put us in a room with 2 single beds (I didn’t think that type of hotel room existed in North America), so we complained and got a queen bed instead.
I find the postings at http://www.betterbidding.com really work out when trying to decide the strategy in getting a room in a desired location and star level. Not only are the moderators great in suggesting how to bid, but you also have lists of which hotels have in the past been Priceline participants, so you have an idea of what getting a 4* hotel in New York might get you.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Priceline is fine unless you have to contact them for anything. Their customer service is absolutely horrifying. I purchased their “travel insurance” and called to cancel due to illness- they required a doctors note, etc, etc. I of course never received a refund.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I just had an experience with Priceline, that was very inappropriate. A friend and I book two nights in a hotel to attend a football game. When we got there, we were asked if we wanted to pay an additional $15 for a second bed. Being heterosexual males, we cerainly didn’t want to sleep in the same queen size bed.
I called Priceline and was informed that the agreement states it will accomodate 2 adults. I replied that this doesn’t accomodate two heterosexual male adults. They argued that one bed does accomodate two adults. This arguement went in circles and then I was told that I was instructed to contact the hotel (which is in the fine print). If they couldn’t accomodate us with two beds, I could call Priceline back and have the contract canceled. I asked where in the fine print it stated that I could call them back if the accomodations didn’t meet the need. She stated it didn’t.
How is one supposed to know to do that, if it isn’t stated?
September 29th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I had the same problem..I bid on a room for 50.00 a night for 2 people and noted one is handicap. So I called priceline and asked if we would get two beds because the hotel is saying we have to sleep together even though we are two women and not lesbians. The hotel and priceline refused to give us two beds so I had to pay an additional fee for another bed. The motel which was a dump put us in a room that was on the second floor without an elevator when they could clearly see my friend could not walk. We had reserved the handicap room with two beds at the additional cost and we believe for complaining to priceline (that did no good) we were punished. Priceline is bad if you bid because you cannot cancel a room, a car, a plane..you are stuck without an attorney. Their customer service department act like they care and then do nothing to help resolve the problem. If I could have changed motels/hotels from this horrible dump that put a crippled lady on a second floor without an elevator I would have in a heart beat even if it cost me more money.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:20 am
We use priceline.com several times a year for hotel rooms. All of our experiences have been good. We have had only one hotel that wasn’t really up to par, but we complained to the desk clerk that our room smelled like cat food and sex and she did give us another room. Other than that, our priceline experiences have been terrific.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
I HATE HATE HATE Priceline. I tried booking a hotel in Seattle,WA (4star) for $145. Well they didn’t accept my offer and so I switched it to a 3 star which would have been fine. My husband and I have stayed in a 3 star before in Seattle,WA with no problems. $145 was a little high but I figured they would get you a nicer hotel if you offered a little more. Boy was I wrong. They gave me a piece of crap little hotel that is on the scary outskirts of downtown Seattle, if it can even be considered downtown. And to top it off this hotel offers cheaper prices from their website than priceline does. So I emailed them with my concern and they of course are not going to help me in the least bit. They said their site clearly states that they do not give refunds or change any part of your reservation, but how can they get away with this. Isn’t that kind of LYING to say it is a 3 star hotel when it clearly isn’t or to say you are booking in a downtown hotel and you are on the very edge or not even downtown. It seems fraudulent. Does anyone have any advice for me? I don’t want to pay for this room when it is not what I was promised!!! Any advice would help!!!
yearsleya83@yahoo.com
June 19th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Priceline has ripped me off again.
They stuck me in an Extended stay hotel and said it has a 2 star rating. the place is a dump.
no service
no front desk from 11 to 7
not even an airport shuttle( they are right next to the airport)
This place deserves a 1 star at best.
They don’t even clean the room for stays under 7 nights
As everyone knows who calls priceline to complain they are imperious and rude, no help at all.
Stay away from these people
If they have not burned you yet count your blessings and run
August 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I booked a hotel room through priceline. I was charged for it, and I called the hotel (Sun Suites Of Jacksonville) for confirmation and to advise I would arrive close to 11:30pm. Everything seemed to be in order.
The nightmare. I arrived at the hotel at 11pm on check in date at Sun Suites Of Jacksonville Hotel. I spoke to Marlon, the front desk clerk. He offered to accommodate me to the hotel’s sister property, but that property was sold out as well. He then gave up and asked me to speak to Priceline. I spoke to Thomas (agent #15323) at Priceline who didn’t resolve anything for me. He said “you’re on your own. You will receive a refund in 7 to 10 business days!!” Once I asked to speak to a supervisor, he said that supervisors Jared and Brandy did not want to speak to me and disconnected me. I WAS SHOCKED!! I called back and was told they were closing the call center at midnight, and left me to my own devises in a strange city. After 10 phone calls to other hotels, I learned all city hotel rooms were sold out because American Idol was conducting auditions the following day. I was a horor movie come true!!
Its been days now since I have been trying to secure my refund but so far, all I have gotten is the run-arounds. The whole PRICELINE experience has been a nightmare!! I do not recomend!!
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
would never use Priceline again. When the going gets tough the customer services are not helpful at all. We had booked into Red Lion Inn Astoria. When we got there the receptionist refused to check us in because there was a power outage and he did not know when it would be restored. We explained that our room had been prepaid via Priceline. He suggested we called Priceline and cancel the resrvation. We did so and checked into another hotel; but then at a later date Priceline refused to issue a refund. So the company is dishonest. Today my credit card company has credited me with the cost but it is not over yet as Priceline have 90 days to get back to the credit card company.
April 9th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I was hooked with a priceline cruise offer of a free hotel night with cruise. When I booked my hotel throught the link that they provided it showed my $70 voucher then charged my credit card full price. AND THEY WILL NOT FIX IT, because priceline didn’t give me a voucher, priceline cruises did. I spent almost 4 hours on the phone and they just dont care. I told them to move me to another hotel, credit my credit card or cancel me. the will do nothing. I HATE PRICELINE. Still love shatner. He should run from them.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
We booked three hotels through Priceline on a college visit trip to Oregon. For $50 a night, we stayed two nights at the Hilton in Eugene, Oregon which was great. Then we stayed for $64 at the Monaco in Portland, which was fabulous! Now for the sad story, for $100 on Priceline we stayed at the La Quinta in Ashland - a complete dump! I can’t believe they consider that place to be 2 1/2 stars…it’s dirty, gross and smelly. Trip Advisor rates it #18 out of 19 hotels in Ashland, Or. I thought Priceline looked at reviews when setting up their ratings on hotels. I’ll never bid on anything less than 3 stars again!