How does PRICELINE pick a hotel when you make a bid? I believe they have blocks of unused hotel rooms in a given area and they sell those rooms to you. But do they have only one hotel at a time in a given area and in a given star rating?


It seems like hotels go in cycles when there is a winning bid. As an example, someone bids for 4 stars in the Chicago O'hare area in May and they get the Doubletree hotel. Two weeks later, someone bids a similar price in the same area and gets the same property. The next month, same thing happens and they get the Doubletree. Fourth month, similar bid, same location, and they get the Hyatt Regency Ohare. This seems to be the property that everyone gets for the next few months and then it changes again in a few more months. (This is just a scenario)


(Another example) If I bid $100 for a 3 Star hotel and get it in the Ohare area of Chicago, what are the chances of getting the same hotel on the same dates if I bid the next day?


How does PRICELINE pick which hotel you get when you bid if they have multiple hotels in the same area with the same Star rating? If you bid one price for a hotel in a given location with a given star rating, does it matter what you bid so long as it is accepted? What I mean is, if I want 4 Star, Ohare, and I bid $100 and win the bid and get the Doubletree, and their normal rate is $165/night. Would I still get the Doubletree if I had bid $130 in the inital bid?

It also seems like Priceline has deals with certain chains of hotels that they use more than any other. Do some chains align themselves with Priceline during slow times?

These are somethings I always wondered. Thanks for any info.

The hotel with the closest rate, equal to or lower than your bid price, is the hotel that 'wins' your business... this gives the hotels an incentive to offer their rooms at discounted rates.

So if I know that someone just got hotel X (3Star) with a bid of $60 and I bid $75 dollars for the same criteria, I might get a different (and possibly better) 3 Star?

Do individual hotel participate with Priceline or is it a particular chain?

Its best not to overbid, because the hotel for the person that got it for $60, you might get the same one for $75, which can be foolish. You never know, because you can get a differant place for the same price. Lastly, chains aren't the only ones who participate, because its a lot of times up to the individual hotel. They want their occupancy rate as high as they can get it, because they would rather give you a $100 for $50, than have it go unused, which would be $0.

~JS

See this thread: DON'T BID HIGHER FOR A SPECIFIC HOTEL

That link shed some light on it for me..... I think I have a much better understanding.


My question now is: Is it possible to have two hotels with the same critera and price in the PL computer. Could you have a Hilton and Hyatt in the same area that retail for the same price and have the same price in the computer for Priceline? If all things were equal, which one would you get? Is there any rhyme or reason to that scenario?

Is there a way to find out if a hotel is still in active rotation with Priceline if there have not been any winning bids posted on here in the last year?

Thanks,

Ty

Short of knowing someone who knows the interworkings of PRICELINE (even better than thereuare), there is no way to know which hotels are in rotation. It is though a little easier with HOTWIRE though, since they give you hints.

~JS