General Priceline Question

[angiemom]

I would like to bid on Priceline for a certain star level hotel in a certain city. However, I also want to make sure I have a reservation for the dates I need. If I make a reservation I can cancel at a hotel and priceline offers that same hotel...if I successfully bid can I cancel my original reservation and keep the priceline booking? or is it not possible to get a priceline bid reservation where you already have another reservation?

[cruising grandma]

I would like to bid on Priceline for a certain star level hotel in a certain city. However, I also want to make sure I have a reservation for the dates I need. If I make a reservation I can cancel at a hotel and priceline offers that same hotel...if I successfully bid can I cancel my original reservation and keep the priceline booking? or is it not possible to get a priceline bid reservation where you already have another reservation?

 

 

You should be able to do that.The booked hotel would have a different confirmation # that you would cancel. Check out biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding for lots of useful information before bidding on Priceline or accepting a hotel on Hotwire. I bid all the time and never prereserve a hotel....never had a problem even a week out....just make sure there isn't some big ballgame(superbowl) or convention in the city on the dates you need.

[megr1125]

I think you mean, can you (for instance) book a room at the Bicayne Bay Marriott on marriott's website, then try bidding on PL to see if you get something?? And then presuming you win the marriott, go cancel the direct booking???

 

Yes...PL won't know that you have other bookings...we always recommend that you make some sort of cancellable reservation then try bidding...just make sure that your 'back up' ressie is actually able to BE cancelled, and pay attention to any conditions...

[Fattony]

If I understand correctly, you want to make a reservation directly with the hotel and then, later on, perhaps bid through Priceline to get a lower cost (e.g., when your plans are set) and cancel your original reservation. Right? You're worried that all hotels in that class will be sold out? You won't know for sure whether you got the same hotel through Priceline until you actually bid. And then no cancellation, of course. You might get an entirely different hotel. As noted, some sites such as Betterbidding.com can give you an idea of what hotel you MIGHT get, based on what other people have gotten, but there are, of course, no guarantees. Be sure to check the map on the Priceline site. Some of their geograhic areas are pretty wide. In some cases I've used Hotwire instead, due to both the price and the geograhic desitnation (e.g., in Anchorage we wanted to avoid ending up out at the airport, and Hotwire had a downtown Anchorage designation while Priceline's Anchorage deisgnation included the airport). Betterbidding also gives indications on Hotwire hotels. I've seen, on Betterbidding, people complaning about getting the worst rooms when a hotel has seen they've bid through a discount site, but I have not run into this. By the way, Priceline and Hotwire use different star ratings (a hotel that's 4-star on one may be 3-star on the other).

[Knight17]

I would check the hotel lists on Betterbidding.com for both Priceline and Hotwire for the area you are looking to stay. This will give you an idea of the possible hotels you could win via Priceline or possibily identify a particular hotel on Hotwire if you run a search for you date(s) on Hotwire. Its difficult to say when the best time to bid on Priceline or make a purchase on Hotwire. The time your dates are definite would be the earliest you would want to make a purchase since your purchase is non-refundable. Its very possible to get a good deal on either service months out. If hotels are projecting a slow time and probable vacancies, the hotel(s) may give rooms to sell through Priceline and/or Hotwire months out. You can continually check the Hotwire listings or make "low" bids on Priceline. You can also check betterbidding for prices that have previously been won to give you an idea on price - but it all depends on rooms being available. If a big event is going on in that area on that date, you may not get a great deal. If you first make a cancelable reservation, you can cancel it at anytime one you secure a hotel (even if the same hotel) through Priceline or Hotwire.