Re: Priceline lower minimum bid to £15 for hotel r

blindman

This may be just for Hotels in UK (or a marketing ploy as I never believe what PL tells you)as the minimums are stated below:

From the Bidding for Travel site

Priceline has set minimums at each quality level by which they will not even consider your bid if it is below their self-imposed minimum. Those minimums are:

1* $15;           (£8.00)
2* $18;           (£10.00)
2.5* $20;        (£11.00)
3* $25;           (£14.00)
Boutique $25; (£14.00)
4* $40;           (£22.00)
5* $55;           (£30.00)
Resort $40.

I have added the £ value at todays rate.


Hotel I got in New Orleans in Nov 2003

You got your price of £15 for a 2-star hotel room.

Fairfield Inn New Orleans Airport  
   
Check-In Date: Monday, 10 November 2003  
Check-Out Date: Tuesday, 11 November 2003  


Hotel I have booked in Phoenix AZ for Dec 2004
You got your price of £19 for a 3-star hotel room.

Hilton Phoenix Airport  
         
Check-In Date: Sunday, 26 December 2004  
Check-Out Date: Monday, 27 December 2004  

Still very good value, but this smacks of 'rip off Britain'

Forgot to ask:

Did the e-mail mention anything about 'bonus money'
I'm holding off bidding until I see a bonus.

Ta

aircub

No bonus mentioned im afraid.

Only once have i seen a bonus that is they add £10 onto your bid, was never sure if it made any difference to the bid... ::)

aircub

oops... :P

Managed to delete my starting thread when trying to update it with a £10 free offer.

Go to new topic i have started

http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Travel;action=display;num=1090265833;start=0#0

kilo_2

This may be just for Hotels in UK (or a marketing ploy as I never believe what PL tells you)as the minimums are stated below:

From the Bidding for Travel site


I have added the £ value at todays rate.


Hotel I got in New Orleans in Nov 2003

You got your price of £15 for a 2-star hotel room.

Fairfield Inn New Orleans Airport  
   
Check-In Date: Monday, 10 November 2003  
Check-Out Date: Tuesday, 11 November 2003  


Hotel I have booked in Phoenix AZ for Dec 2004
You got your price of £19 for a 3-star hotel room.

Hilton Phoenix Airport  
         
Check-In Date: Sunday, 26 December 2004  
Check-Out Date: Monday, 27 December 2004  

Still very good value, but this smacks of 'rip off Britain'

Forgot to ask:

Did the e-mail mention anything about 'bonus money'
I'm holding off bidding until I see a bonus.

Ta

Excuse me if I have misunderstood you, but I do not see how the above examples equate to rip off Britain. Those are minimum bid values not expected winning bids.

Nevertheless unless things have changed recently there hasn't really been any official minimum bid values for priceline UK. Those values belong to Priceline US which operates somewhat independently of Priceline UK

blindman

Priceline are trumpeting that they have LOWERED their starting bid for hotels to £15.00. Don't know if they state at what Star level that equates to.

My example showed that I have previously (almost a year earlier) been successful in getting a hotel for a lower price, so a slightly misleading quote I believe?

I don't have a comprehensive list of successful bids for UK and at present haven't the time to research the lowest successful bids through PL USA but I bet the Hotel rates in USA are lower by far.

So I believe we in UK are being charged more for Hotel stays. Hence my quote of 'rip off Britain'

I also did say that it's still a bargain.

PL USA does operate independently from PL UK but I think they are the same company...

aircub

Priceline US & UK are the same company, but allow operations in each country under their own currency.

The prices that Blindman got were from Priceline UK, but for US hotels.

I must admit the best savings I have had have been for US hotels, the best I have had for the UK is £30 at Birmingham which I use regularly, so yes we do get ripped off a bit, but that reflect the high price we normally pay for hotels. :-[

They are now adding £10.00 to your bid see thread http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Travel;action=display;num=1090265833

Here is the original posting that may expalin more how Priceline works
http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=Travel;action=display;num=1087971352

hope this helps
aircub

kilo_2

Priceline are trumpeting that they have LOWERED their starting bid for hotels to £15.00. Don't know if they state at what Star level that equates to.

My example showed that I have previously (almost a year earlier) been successful in getting a hotel for a lower price, so a slightly misleading quote I believe?

I don't have a comprehensive list of successful bids for UK and at present haven't the time to research the lowest successful bids through PL USA but I bet the Hotel rates in USA are lower by far.

So I believe we in UK are being charged more for Hotel stays. Hence my quote of 'rip off Britain'

I also did say that it's still a bargain.

PL USA does operate independently from PL UK but I think they are the same company...

Like I pointed out priceline UK have not had any minimal bid values. Priceline US have had minimal bid values. It is no con..if you bid lower than these your bid will not be accepted. So if they say they have lowered their minimal bid values then you have to take their word for it...they have nothing to gain by stating this if it does not apply.

Yes Priceline UK and US are owned by the same company but they run somewhat independently - at least officially. So they may have slight operational differences.