Priceline/Hotwire

[janetz]

How many use these two sites and can you share your experiences?

Looking at places to stay for a few days before our cruise on April 2nd, in FLL.

 

Found a great place on Airbnb near the beach but have never use Airbnd so we are hesitate there also.

Thanks ahead. :)

Edited August 12, 2016 by janetz

[JohninDC]

Did you check the sticky at the top of this board with recent winning bids posted? :confused:

 

I've used Hotwire occasionally over the years. For assistance with both sites I would do lots of homework on www dot betterbidding dot com -- hotel identification, winning bids, strategy tips, etc.

[iluvcruzin]

It is way too early to use Priceline or Hotwire for an April stay. Go with a cancelable reservation for now. Then about a month out start bidding.

 

Like mentioned above there is a sticky on the thread. betterbidding site and bidding4travel have historic wins.

[BlueHerons]

It is way too early to use Priceline or Hotwire for an April stay. Go with a cancelable reservation for now. Then about a month out start bidding.

 

Like mentioned above there is a sticky on the thread. betterbidding site and bidding4travel have historic wins.

 

It's not too early to bid for April. The prices will only go up the closer you get because it is peak season.

[janetz]

Thanks everyone. I am watching the express deals on Priceline. :)

[iluvcruzin]

It's not too early to bid for April. The prices will only go up the closer you get because it is peak season.

 

We are talking 8 months out for April. I would never bid on Priceline this far out.

 

I don't see any good deals for March yet. Express deals have been the same for a few months. I went with valuetrips for a cancelable reservation at the Hyatt Place as a backup. It was much cheaper than any of the Priceline express deals.

[janetz]

We do have the Hyatt reserved just in case. :)

[BlueHerons]

We are talking 8 months out for April. I would never bid on Priceline this far out.

 

I don't see any good deals for March yet. Express deals have been the same for a few months. I went with valuetrips for a cancelable reservation at the Hyatt Place as a backup. It was much cheaper than any of the Priceline express deals.

 

Spoke to Mayor Jack Seiler yesterday for quite a long time about hotel occupancy (he is a regular in my husband's restaurant). He said we are having record occupancy and hotels are posting record quarters.

 

You may not find any good deals in March.

 

I am speaking specifically of a location I know quite a bit about.

 

Again, it is NOT to early to priceline a good deal for Fort Lauderdale in April.

Edited August 16, 2016 by BlueHerons

[macaroni]

It is not too early to bid on Priceline or use Hotwire...set a limit....just don't bid over what you want to pay....keep trying until you get something at your price...I always bid up to just below what I could get direct with a hotel. I have gotten better deals doing it early, but you never know....know your areas and rating...we always go with a 4 star and it usually works out well for us. You have to be somewhat flexible as you don't know what hotel you will get, though by going to betterbidding.com. it can help you with an educated guess...

[janetz]

Thanks. I knew it was not to early. We have used Hotwire but it has been awhile. :)

[myfuzzy]

I used to use those websites all the time, got a good or even great price at a hotel which I usually wouldn't look at because I couldn't afford it. I like paying for as much of my travel plans ahead of time, but, the disadvantage is you have to pay in full at booking, which could be many months, even over a year out, with some types of bookings non refundable, transferable or changeable.

 

Actually last year,we had a 10 night cruise and we had booked a hotel in Hollywood Fl for 5 nights post cruise, for at least 6 months before I was trying to tell DH, for the price we are paying for the hotel, we would be better off staying on for the next 5 night cruise. Fell on deaf ears, until, during the 10 night, HE gets this great idea, "why don't we stay on for the next trip" didn't I tell ya. Luckily we could cancel our reservation from the ships computer. If we had done the "brokers" we couldn't have done that.

 

Life happens, so lately we have been booking directly with the hotels, which do allow cancellations up to 24 hours in advance.

Edited August 16, 2016 by myfuzzy

[iluvcruzin]

Spoke to Mayor Jack Seiler yesterday for quite a long time about hotel occupancy (he is a regular in my husband's restaurant). He said we are having record occupancy and hotels are posting record quarters.

 

You may not find any good deals in March.

 

I am speaking specifically of a location I know quite a bit about.

 

Again, it is NOT to early to priceline a good deal for Fort Lauderdale in April.

 

Not sure who Mayor Jack Seiler is or what he has to do with Priceline or Hotwire deals.. but I do know how both of these work.

 

Right now the prices are inflated on both these sites. Bidding won't result in a great deal except maybe a few dollars less than Express Deals. Regardless of the location many people cancel reservations a week or 2 out. No matter where I go, holding out seems to work for me. Even in a place like New Orleans which can be more difficult than Ft. Lauderdale to land a good deal. Timing and patience is the key.

 

Express deals showing now for March are no better than using a corporate/promotion/discount code for a cancellable reservation in the Ft. Lauderdale area.

[BlueHerons]

Not sure who Mayor Jack Seiler is or what he has to do with Priceline or Hotwire deals.. but I do know how both of these work.

 

Right now the prices are inflated on both these sites. Bidding won't result in a great deal except maybe a few dollars less than Express Deals. Regardless of the location many people cancel reservations a week or 2 out. No matter where I go, holding out seems to work for me. Even in a place like New Orleans which can be more difficult than Ft. Lauderdale to land a good deal. Timing and patience is the key.

 

Express deals showing now for March are no better than using a corporate/promotion/discount code for a cancellable reservation in the Ft. Lauderdale area.

 

I'm so glad you know how priceline works.

 

If you don't understand the relationship between the Mayor of a city like Fort Lauderdale and tourism you have probably need to rethink giving hotel advice.

 

South Florida is not like any other destination. We have such demand for accommodations that during peak times they sell out.

 

If you wait until a month out in South Florida, you take a good chance that there will be little to nothing left reasonably priced.

 

This is all actually a moot point because the OP has said they understand that they should not wait.

[iluvcruzin]

I'm so glad you know how priceline works.

 

If you don't understand the relationship between the Mayor of a city like Fort Lauderdale and tourism you have probably need to rethink giving hotel advice.

 

The topic is Hotwire/Priceline question. Same advice applies to you in that you are a local and odds rarely if ever used this these sites for booking in Ft. Lauderdale. If you have, share your experience. Otherwise it's just an opinion.

 

I'm happy to say that I've never had a problem using Priceline or Hotwire one month out regardless of the timeframe including Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

[IndyCapt]

My son got the Intercontinental Miami (Oct 8-10th) on Hotwire today for $104/night plus taxes/fees...pretty good deal for a very nice hotel.

[BlueHerons]

The topic is Hotwire/Priceline question. Same advice applies to you in that you are a local and odds rarely if ever used this these sites for booking in Ft. Lauderdale. If you have, share your experience. Otherwise it's just an opinion.

 

I'm happy to say that I've never had a problem using Priceline or Hotwire one month out regardless of the timeframe including Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.

 

You would be wrong thinking locals don't book hotels here. We do all the time.

 

I use hotwire constantly in Fort Lauderdale and Miami to book friends, family, and myself in hotels.

 

A prime example was the SBW&FF last February. We had tickets to the burger bash and I wanted a hotel in South Beach. The cheapest thing I found on hotwire was $289. When we were given the tickets in October, I could have booked several things on Ocean Drive for around $139. I waited and they were double.

 

My girlfriend's bachelorette was last March at The W Hotel and I was in charge of booking the hotel rooms. I had to book conventionally because we wanted the specific hotel. When I originally looked sometime around December, the rooms were $400 per night. By the time I actually made the reservations in February, they had gone up to $600 for a basic hotel room.

 

I believe that counts as waiting on booking for peak season five months out and screwing myself.

Edited August 21, 2016 by BlueHerons