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Priceline Hotel: 4* Boston Seaport Express Deal won't complete?


clanmcculloch
By clanmcculloch,
in

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I'm trying to book a hotel in the Seaport District in Boston.  There's a Priceline Express Deal for a 4 star hotel for $109.  When I try to book it, I get the following message.

 

Your purchase could not be completed

We apologize for this inconvenience. Pricing and inventory changes often and the deal you selected is no longer available. Your payment method has not been changed.

We appreciate your patience and thank you for using priceline.com!

 

The deal continues to show up under Express Deals.  If the deal was no longer available, wouldn't it no longer show up?  I tried putting in that price for the name your own price deal and it got rejected.  This is an unbelievably good price for those dates and I'd be happy with any of the hotels that have the listed amenities but I can't seem to actually get the deal.  Any suggestions?

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

 

I assume this is the 4* Seaport District hotel (confirm your dates on the landing page) that you're seeing for $109/nite with:

Pets Allowed

Business Center

Restaurant

Free Internet

Indoor or Outdoor Pool

Fitness Center

No Smoking Rooms/Facilities

 

You can try the link above to see if you're successful in the booking, if not, the deal is no longer available and should be removed within 6-24 hours (or the hotel could potentially add additional inventory at this price at which point the offer would then become book-able again).  I would try the link above and if not successful then wait 24 hours and try again. (btw, my guess for the offer above would be the Westin)

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks.  I tried again this morning and I'm still getting the same message.  I didn't realize that it could take that long for a deal to be removed after it started failing.  Sure seems like a bug on their site and is frustrating, but it is what it is.  At least now I know.  Maybe I'll try again later today to see if it's still there in case more inventory appears.  I can hope anyway.  It's just a good price.

 

I was thinking probably Westin also though Renaissance also fits the amenities as I think does the Seacoast.  I would have been happy with any of these. I'm wondering just what kind of offer would be accepted for a 4 star, though I realize I could get the Envoy if I go that route.  That would be ok, though not as good as one of the other 3.  I'll think about the 3 star offer they've got.  It has to be the Element based on bed configuration with kitchen options.

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Without getting too technical this is the best way i can explain it, and it's actually how almost all booking agencies operate...

 

An inventory snapshot is taken every 'x' hours (let's say 1-24 hours, depending upon the hotel market, how often rooms are sold in the area, how often prices typically change in the area, etc, etc).  This snapshot is used as inventory/availability for any given search, and inventory is not checked again until you try to complete the purchase (or until a new 'snapshot' is taken).  This set-up saves on bandwidth, server resources, etc. and still produces a very low 'failure' rate, as an issue only arises when the last room in inventory is sold or the hotel pulls inventory at the current rates.  When a 'failure' does happen the system should take a new snapshot in order to refresh inventory, but it doesn't always work out that way.

 

The above is an oversimplified version but hopefully provides a better understanding of what is happening and why the 'failure' above can occur.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.


Let us know whatever you decide for this stay or how we can be of further help.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I guess I have an additional question.  In the Seaport district I'm only seeing 3 and 4 star hotels but in the name your price options for Priceline 3.5 stars is available.  If I choose that, would I get one of the 4 star hotels since there aren't any 3.5?  There are a couple of 3 star hotels.

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Not sure where you're looking to see only 3* and 4* rated hotels (the 'retail' side of PRICELINE OR the PRICELINE EXPRESS side) but the answer is 'no', you can't make that assumption.  Not all hotels that participate on the retail side of PRICELINE also participate on the bidding side of PRICELINE (and vice-versa) so you can't use the retail side to determine a finite list of what is possible on the bidding (or PRICELINE EXPRESS) side.

 

There are some instances where there are 4* hotels and 5* hotels offered in the zone, but it's believed that there are no 4.5* hotels in the zone and it's assumed that any winning 4.5* bid would be upgraded to the 5* level; however, there is no way to prove this as there could always be a 4.5* that we didn't consider, doesn't appear on the retail side, was recently upgraded/downgraded/added to the system, etc.  The above may be the instance for 3.5* hotels in this area of Boston, but it's more the exception than the rule, so it's not a good assumption to make. (and a better question is why take this risk??  with there currently being 15 re-bid zones available at the 4* level in Boston, why would you need to ever bid 3.5* in hopes of being upgraded to a 4* hotel?)

 

You can also use MAPS and HOTELS.com to see an overview of what is available for your dates at each star rating thru each service, but just as indicated above, the hotels shown on the map should not be considered a finite list.

 

Please remember to return to BetterBidding and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPSandHOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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