bturner13 Posted March 6, 2003 Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles6101 West Century Blvd Los Angeles, California 90045 Check-In Date: Thursday, March 27, 2003 Check-Out Date: Friday, March 28, 2003 Your Offer Price: $32.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $32.00 Processing Fee: $5.95 Local Taxes and Fees: $4.50 Total Charges: $42.45 Link to comment
zbenye Posted March 6, 2003 Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 b, you made two bookings for the same hotel for the same price ($32) for consecutive stays. On this one, you were charged $4.50 in taxes, but on the former you were only charged $4.36. Insignificant, but still I wonder why a different tax amount would be charged on similar bookings. Link to comment
bturner13 Posted March 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 Z!Nothing gets by you!! I too noticed that and wonder if taxes have gone up in that area. The Wed 26 Mar 03 Sheraton LAX booking was booked on 20 Jan 03 with tax $4.36. The Thurs 27 Mar 03 Sheraton Lax booking was booked on 05 Mar 03 with tax $4.50. I too noticed that the previous posting by SpitFire20003 was for the same $32 with tax of $4.50. Go figure! :) Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 6, 2003 Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 VERY observant!!Zbenye, i imagine you are aware of this, but i will mention it for others reading... the tax rate is based upon what Priceline paid for the room, NOT the amount of your winning bid. This is why we like to see the taxes posted from winning bids... so that we can see what Priceline's actual cost is on the room, and most likely their cost will be the lowest acceptable price for a winning bid. For more detail on computing taxes to determine Priceline's cost, see this thread: COMPUTING PRICELINE'S COSTGiven that the tax rate for this hotel is 14.05%, it appears that the hotel has multiple Priceline rates, one of which is $31 (4.36/nite taxes), another of which is $32 (4.50/nite taxes). There could be others as well.Great info to know when bidding this zone, so if there are re-bids or time available it pays to bid $31 and then up it to $32 (and NOT higher, as re-bids are usually recommended at prices higher than adding $1). If no rebids available or time, then it would be recommended to just bid 'safer' at $32, and not try for the extra $1 savings. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
zbenye Posted March 6, 2003 Report Share Posted March 6, 2003 Thanks thereuare for pointing out that $4.36 is exactly the tax on $31. With this bit of info, and bturner clarifying that the bids were placed over a month apart, it's probably just a matter of the hotel having raised its rate by $1 between the times bturner made his bids. But then, how dare I suggest that bturner overbid by $1 on his first night... sorry b ;-)I understand that hotels maintain different rates for different room classes, but I doubt this was the case here, what with the rate difference being of just $1 :-) Link to comment
bturner13 Posted March 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2003 Nice hotel with super treatment! I'm a SPG Gold member and this Sheraton Gateway put me on the Club Floor (Free Local Calls) with FRee Deluxe Cont' B'fast and evening reception with a super late 4pm check out!! :) Link to comment
ufauxreal Posted March 30, 2003 Report Share Posted March 30, 2003 bturner13....What is a 'SPG Gold member' and how do you become one???I'm just wondering if it is a good idea to sign up for these types of programs before arriving at a hotel. When I stayed at the LAX Crowne Plaza I was able to sign up for their program (forgot what it was called) as I was signing in.... I got a free newspaper and would have had free local calls... didn't know anyone to call, though :-)JB Link to comment
bturner13 Posted March 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2003 SPG is Starwood's Preferred Guest Program--Hotels like Sheraton, Weston, Four Points, etc. Check it out at SPG.com. Most all hotel Guest Prgrams give some sort of perks like FREE local calls or Club Floor access. Join them all! Often times one won't get points for PL stays but one will get perks and upgrades just for the asking. It has worked for me lots!! Call the hotel directly, not the general 800 central number, after you get your PL bid accepted & have them put your preferred number in the record along with your special request for NON-smoking, 2 doublebeds/king beds, close to elevator, etc! Thanks for asking! :) Link to comment
thereuare Posted March 30, 2003 Report Share Posted March 30, 2003 From this "Priceline General Tips and Tricks", this might be a good read: Join Hotel Affinity Programs I think it's one of those situations where it doesn't hurt, but it could help. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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