Bidding for hotels vs straight thru hotel website

[klfrodo]

OK,,, see lots of post talking about all the savings by bidding,,, however,,, what are the downsides by doing this rather than just paying rack rate via the hotels website?

Curious minds want to know.

[CruiserBruce]

Got to pay upfront, perhaps many months in advance, prior to even knowing what hotel you get.....

[DanJ]

Using Priceline, you only are guaranteed room for 2 people, which is an issue for those with families. Also, with sites like PL, Hotwire, etc, you are more likely to end up with the less desireable rooms locations if that matters.

[Keith1010]

As noted above you commit yourself to the bid and you cannot cancel it and you may not end up with a good room. For many this all works out very well as indicative from the number of people who use it. My neighbor uses a bid site for many of his trips but uses them when he is very familiar with the properties. In short, where he can pretty much figure out what they are bidding on from the get go.

 

I prefer to book hotels directly. I usually try to lock in a reservation at a hotel right away and then I watch prices and if the price goes down I obtain the lower price and if it goes up then I am already locked in.

 

Keith

[drd-aus]

For me it depends on where I am going - if I work in the Houston area then I bid $90 on PL in the Galleria area and get the Intercontinental or Hotel Derek but going into Ft Lauderdale with my wife on vacation then I am going to book direct to ensure I get the best location. If you can tolerate some ambiguity and are flexible in location then go ahead and bid.

[swigso]

If you know the area it helps.

For example a 4* in Hollywood Florida

,near Port Everglades will 90% of the time

give you the Westin Diplomat, you may also

get the Crowne Plaza and I think the Marriott is

now also 4*s.

Do some research on Better bidding it has lots of help and advise.

[klfrodo]

If you are a member of a Hotel chains membership club, do you still receive any and all membership benefits (points, upgrades, club access,etc) that you would normally be entitled to?

 

What if you have problems along the way? Do I speak directly with the hotel? or do I need to go thru the booking agent?

[frito58]

I guess for us , an we only have 2 so its easy its always the HUGE savings of booking through a 3rd party , I have no loyalty . I may use priceline . or hotwire which I prefer because I can go to betterbidding and know what hotel I am getting , so no guess work and save money at the same time . Have been looking at Last minute travel because of people on here :) thank you , its about same as hotwire you can figure out the hotels that are not named if you do your homework and once again big savings and you know exactly where the hotel is located. I cant rememeber the last time I booked a hotel directly even when its just a local thing for a quick get away or any kind of travel , if I am beach traveling Bookit or expedia seem to even do better than direct booking . But I am retired and have lots of time on my hands lol.

[JohninDC]

If you are a member of a Hotel chains membership club, do you still receive any and all membership benefits (points, upgrades, club access,etc) that you would normally be entitled to? Points - almost always no. Upgrades/club access - maybe; depends upon how crowded the hotel is and maybe your status/level.

 

What if you have problems along the way? Do I speak directly with the hotel? or do I need to go thru the booking agent?

 

If you have problems with the hotel not honoring your pre-paid reservation you call the agency (always a good idea to check with the hotel to verify your reservation a few days ahead of time; much eaiser to resolve this in advance instead of while you are at the front desk with bags).

 

If your plans change you can't cancel with Priceline and Hotwire - you've paid for the room even if no one sleeps in it. If you need a room for 4, sorry - you've paid for a room for 2; now you get to buy another room at the walk up rate.

Do your homework before you buy! Good luck! :)

[DanJ]

Hotwire does allow booking for 4 on it's site, and will only return hotels that fit that criteria - I should have clarified that earlier. We didn't get any points from the Crowne Plaza for our Hotwire booking. We have no status in their system so I can't say anything about those benefits.

 

Another thing I just thought of is long term parking. Usually this is only offered through their website and not the discount site. If you want to park your car at an airport or port area hotel for the duration of your vacation, you generally can't get those packages through Hotwire or Priceline. I found last winter that the Hotwire discount for a Detroit airport hotel wasn't enough to make paying for parking separately worthwhile compared to booking the park and fly rate through the hotel website.

[eandj]

I use one of the handful of really good discounted sites when...

 

....I don't care about location of room in the hotel or room views.

...I know our plans won't change.

....There are just two of us, so no matter what room we get bedding is not an issue. Especially with PL.

 

.....If it's a new city, I have studied the area well and done enough research on biddingfortravel or betterbidding that I can almost guarantee which hotels are likely. If there is even one hotel in that list that I REALLY don't want, I won't use PL. That's the site with the least clues to identify the hotel.

 

 

If it's a particular hotel I really want, I look to Lastminutetravel, easyclicktravel or bookit first. As they are the places where I can be assured of the hotel. If it's an ocean view, suite or other particular amenity I am definitly looking for, I will book thru the hotel or traditional sites.

 

This weekend I saved 46% on a hotel thru hotwire for a quick get away. Great room, view and the hotel we wanted. So yes...it can be a great value. It's important to know that the savings can vary on place and time of year. This hotel wasn't in Florida in February.;)

[melligene]

Been reading this thread (sort of). Booked a room at Sleep Inn in Dania, Fla. for $99.00 tax included...smoking room, first floor, king bed, breakfast, etc. for our pre-cruise stay. Post cruise stay.........$10.00 less...same room scenerio. Why beat yourself up when you can get a guarentee like this...??

[frito58]

Been reading this thread (sort of). Booked a room at Sleep Inn in Dania, Fla. for $99.00 tax included...smoking room, first floor, king bed, breakfast, etc. for our pre-cruise stay. Post cruise stay.........$10.00 less...same room scenerio. Why beat yourself up when you can get a guarentee like this...??

 

And thats fine quick and easy if thats what you want . I prefer to stay closer to the port and to be able to do something the night before , sometimes come in 2 days early. Looking at going near Bayside and those hotels are expesive if you try to book offf their websites. Our Daughter did what you did and was quite happy caught a shuttle to he port next morning its all in what people like . Like I said I have time on my hands anyway like the challenge lol and the fun of getting a $300 plus hotel for less than a $100 per night.

[setsail]

Of course you... can... cancel your resi with any of the bidding sites. No one forces you to use the room. LMT will give you some $ back with 3 days notice, PL will not. If you have to cancel for a valid reason and have TI you are fine there.

[CACkles]

If you are a member of a Hotel chains membership club, do you still receive any and all membership benefits (points, upgrades, club access,etc) that you would normally be entitled to?

 

What if you have problems along the way? Do I speak directly with the hotel? or do I need to go thru the booking agent?

 

You do not accumulate any points or other rewards benefits when purchased through the prepaid sites. However it can pay to show your loyalty card because some places will upgrade you to a better room at no extra charge.

 

I have used Priceline for nearly every hotel reservation for the past 10 years. We are a family of 3 and only once did we have a problem with sleeping arrangements. The hotel only had rooms available with one king bed, but they kindly gave us a rollaway at no additional charge. They were not obligated to do that.

 

As far as the previous poster's question "why beat yourself up," in September we were able to stay at the 4* B Ocean immediately across from the beach for less than $50/night. I am usually in the 2* to 3* budget, so PL lets me spend the same or less for a 4* hotel. Because of that I'm rarely disappointed. On the other hand, if you have 4* tastes, it is a riskier proposition. You might not like the hotel you get.

 

One time some friends had an unacceptable experience at a Ramada. They complained to the hotel who agreed to refund Priceline. Priceline then refunded them. So you can try to work any issues out with the hotel first, but can appeal to PL if you don't get satisfaction. No guarantees that they will resolve it though.

[eandj]

Been reading this thread (sort of). Booked a room at Sleep Inn in Dania, Fla. for $99.00 tax included...smoking room, first floor, king bed, breakfast, etc. for our pre-cruise stay. Post cruise stay.........$10.00 less...same room scenerio. Why beat yourself up when you can get a guarentee like this...??

 

Obviously I think, maybe I'm wrong, that people check rates on the web site or call the hotels directly to get a rate so they know what the going rate is before bidding. And I would guess if the hotel is running a price one thinks is fair for a particular stay, they'd go ahead and book thru the hotel.

It's when one sees a savings of 40+% or more on the deluxe hotels and resorts, that it really pays off. Hotels like Sleep Inn and La Quintas don't have the profit margain to offer those kinds of fantastic deals on PL, HW or LMT.

 

I don't see it as work to research. I love when I can find a special place to stay knowing the person in front of me at the registration desk paid a heck of a lot more than me for the same room. Kind of starts my stay on a big plus.:D

[eandj]

If you are a member of a Hotel chains membership club, do you still receive any and all membership benefits (points, upgrades, club access,etc) that you would normally be entitled to?

 

?

 

PL states in their booking term that you cannot earn points for hotel clubs. However, we always ask the clerk at check in if she/he would credit our club account. Only once were we turned down. Just got a couple nights credit on our Hyatt plan with no problems this past month. We figure just depends on the service rep you are dealing with.

[DanJ]

PL states in their booking term that you cannot earn points for hotel clubs. However, we always ask the clerk at check in if she/he would credit our club account. Only once were we turned down. Just got a couple nights credit on our Hyatt plan with no problems this past month. We figure just depends on the service rep you are dealing with.

 

On further reflection back to January now, and our Hotwire stay at Crowne Plaza Hollywood, I think there was something on my Priority Rewards statement about credit for the night but no points earned, if that makes any sense. I did produce my card on check-in, and they gave me a couple Starbucks coupons, and allowed us an hour later before check-out (which we were gone before the normal checkout anyway).