Priceline guide discussion area

pcg2001

Another question: I used the package configuration to get a feel for the available hotels and possible order with which these might appear on the name-your-price. Will the zoning match? For instance the hilton metropole London shows up on the package area as Notting Hill but on betterbidding it shows up as regent's park (moved from notting hill).

Thanks in advance again.

littlestar1981

Help!

Am trying to use Priceline to get a hotel in London, read the guide, feel OK in placing a bid, but what does this mean?

[FONT=geneva,helvetica,sans-serif]Check-In Time:[/FONT][FONT=geneva,helvetica,sans-serif]Guaranteed late night arrival[/FONT]

Does that mean I can't check in til late at night??

dmg24

littlestar1981 wrote: »

Help!

Am trying to use Priceline to get a hotel in London, read the guide, feel OK in placing a bid, but what does this mean?

[FONT=geneva,helvetica,sans-serif]Check-In Time:[/FONT][FONT=geneva,helvetica,sans-serif]Guaranteed late night arrival[/FONT]

Does that mean I can't check in til late at night??

It means that if you don't check in until late, your room will still be available! Are you sure you are ready to commit to booking?

blindman

pcg2001 wrote: »

..............
Do you have any experiences where this halfway rule of thumb was not applicable and you were able to get the room for less?

On very rare occasion this rule of thumb does not apply.
I have never seen this in London.


Have you looked at the rate that Hotwire is giving?
What are the rates from the hotels web-site?

Maybe there is one night that has a high "normal " rate so you may have to split your bid to get a lower PL rate?

As you say you have a cancellable back up so you have time to wait to see if prices drop.

December is of course Xmas shopping !

blindman

pcg2001 wrote: »

Another question: I used the package configuration to get a feel for the available hotels and possible order with which these might appear on the name-your-price. Will the zoning match? For instance the hilton metropole London shows up on the package area as Notting Hill but on betterbidding it shows up as regent's park (moved from notting hill).

Thanks in advance again.

The betterbidding list is made up from other bidders information which can be out of date.

The PL package information "should" match the opaque bidding side, though quite a few hotels on there do not partake in the "opaque" bidding.

pcg2001

Thanks blindman, your educated guesses are valuable indeed in this matter :beer:

I have looked at the websites for some of these hotels, namely the hiltons which start at about £99 non-refundable. I have converted these to 160USD and made a mental note not to bid over half of that. I have stopped bidding, I think I will wait until 1 week before, check the chains availibility and prices, the packages on priceline, hotwire to see if it is worth bidding again. I might re-start the bidding then. I know this is Xmas shopping weekend, so I might be out of luck in terms of bargains. Another thing I noticed is that for 4 star it is difficult to get less than 100$ accepted, which for this occasion is too much for me.
Splitting the bidding: for 3 nights, I won't risk staying at different hotels... It's a Fri, Sat, Sun, so my non-educated guess is Sunday night could be had cheaply but not the other ones.

And yes, the zoning from priceline for transparent hotel stays and packages seems not to match the opaque list in betterbidding. It's a shame more people don't report their winnings so that those wonderful lists can be updated for everyone's benefit.

blindman

pcg2001 wrote: »

Thanks blindman, your educated guesses are valuable indeed in this matter :beer:

I have looked at the websites for some of these hotels, namely the hiltons which start at about £99 non-refundable. I have converted these to 160USD and made a mental note not to bid over half of that. I have stopped bidding, I think I will wait until 1 week before, check the chains availibility and prices, the packages on priceline, hotwire to see if it is worth bidding again. I might re-start the bidding then. I know this is Xmas shopping weekend, so I might be out of luck in terms of bargains. Another thing I noticed is that for 4 star it is difficult to get less than 100$ accepted, which for this occasion is too much for me.
Splitting the bidding: for 3 nights, I won't risk staying at different hotels... It's a Fri, Sat, Sun, so my non-educated guess is Sunday night could be had cheaply but not the other ones.

And yes, the zoning from priceline for transparent hotel stays and packages seems not to match the opaque list in betterbidding. It's a shame more people don't report their winnings so that those wonderful lists can be updated for everyone's benefit.

How did you get on ?

pcg2001

blindman wrote: »

How did you get on ?

I never reported back because I decided to drop the priceline approach since the prices were a bit too high for what I wanted and as the time approached prices in the Hiltons (which was what I was aiming for in the areas I wanted) increased. I eventually booked a refundable rate elsewhere (which I later cancelled since I had to cancel my london trip ). For this reason I was glad I did not book with priceline. But the experience of bidding and researching will be useful in the future and I am eager to try London again!

blindman

pcg2001 wrote: »

I never reported back because I decided to drop the priceline approach since the prices were a bit too high for what I wanted and as the time approached prices in the Hiltons (which was what I was aiming for in the areas I wanted) increased. I eventually booked a refundable rate elsewhere (which I later cancelled since I had to cancel my london trip ). For this reason I was glad I did not book with priceline. But the experience of bidding and researching will be useful in the future and I am eager to try London again!

This is the thing with PL, you have to be 100% sure the trip is on and at times it's cheaper to book elsewhere.

The research experience etc is invaluable IMHO.

dmg24

blindman wrote: »

This is the thing with PL, you have to be 100% sure the trip is on and at times it's cheaper to book elsewhere.

The research experience etc is invaluable IMHO.

I am hoping they will be nice to me if BA decide to strike!

I'm sure it will be ok, I can talk my way out of most situations ...