Dary_Kroger

....oh and don't try to re-bid in a different zone for the same dates. A message will pop up saying you already have a hotel for those dates and you'll simply have 2 reservations. Pre-paid. If you really, really, really want to get out of it, book the other hotel and simply don't show up to the 1st. And then call your bank and explain your case. It'll be like you paid for something and didn't receive the item and they might be willing to refund it. I've actually done that once when a hotel wanted to take $100 incidental in cash and mail it back to me. I walked out and the hotel refused to refund priceline who refused to refund me...so I just called my bank. But I've only done that ONCE, and it's not something that's easily done.

If you sell the room, you could have the person check in under THEIR name...on YOUR reservation. But you have to call the hotel ahead of time and give them permission to check in and the other occupant's full name to check in. This takes the liability and risk out of your hand because the hotel will be using their credit card to hold incidentals. I have done it before, twice. Usually I am flying in to meet a significant other for a weekend vacation and I miss my flight, and they get there sooner but the reservation is in my name. Shouldn't be an issue. But don't mention anything to the hotel about 'exchanging' or renting your room or giving it away or anything like that. Other option, if the hotel has free parking...take it as a lesson learned and stay there. I personally hate staying downtown for the sole reason of paying $15/day minimum for parking...Then you get there and don't have in/out privledges or have to pay a little more for it or park on the street and wake up by 7 am before you get a ticket (i had a rental company charge my credit card for a ticket weeks later as they were getting the bill). Money that I prefer to use on the hotel's breakfast buffet. Then some want to charge $10/day for internet downtown also. And there's less chance of being delayed or missing a flight if you stay near airport also. I'm surprised Priceline won't refund you...or even offer you a 1 time courtesy for a small fee. But that's why I rarely ever book more than 1 day at a time. If you want 2 days you can always just extend it. Gives the hotel more paper work and probably bad for the trees/waste/environment...but it's your convenience on the line.

I've been using Priceline for a bit,and then did some research on it just to get an idea of what other people are saying about it. I then came across a few posts referring people to this site, and here I am. Anyhow, I've been using it for awhile...but now, I'm becoming concerned about whether I want to continue using it, and what are the alternatives. My 1st concern is the guests who used Priceline and then cause a little havoc with the check-in staff. I was at a hotel the other day that I booked on PL. Not sure what the issue was, but it was huge comotion alongside the lines of, "Priceline has your credit card information", and "we're calling the police". Shortly after, the town's police was in the lobby. I'm thinking the hotel was like, "oh no, another priceline customer". The other issue is the choice of hotels lately just haven't been very impressive. Seems like I'm always getting booked into a Holiday Inn or Choice hotels (Comfort Inn). I was particularly annoyed having gotten a room at the Ramada in another state. A 3 star Ramada! The bathrooms were gross! Don't get me wrong, these are nice hotels sometimes...but of all the 3 star hotels that they say you "could get" on their Express Deals page, it's usually Holiday Inn. 3.5 star is often Doubletree rather than Hilton. My issue with those is they tend to be noisy and overcrowded. Am I not bidding enough? I keep it around $35-50 per night on my bidding before taxes. I tend to like Hampton Inn, Hyatt Place, Hilton Garden Inn, Mariott (sometimes courtyard). Do you think some hotels maybe refuse to inventory on Priceline due to the type of guests they 'tend' to attract? Not to say we're all horrible guests, but I'm sure moreso with PL than those who booked through the hotel directly. What do you think will happen if PL guests continue getting a bad wrap? I hate when a hotel says, "You booked on Priceline?" I start feeling embarrassed now LOL. I prefer they say, "your room has already been paid for, all we need is a credit card for incidentals". I've also heard that when you book from Priceline's brother site Booking.com, hotels don't even hold an incidental fee. How does one get around all of it? In my research I also heard people say the best rates can be had when calling the hotel directly and negotiatiing. But even before I used PL, I never had any luck negotiating with hotels but never really did it far in advance. But why would people want to negotiate with hotels when Priceline/Hotwire does that for you already? If I call the Hampton Inn today, they give out the standard rate of the day.

Bid 45, got asked to bid 53, did a re-bid for $47. Total with taxes:$62

When I first started using PL/HW I did notice some unfair treatment. However, as time has gone on they certainly seem to have eased up. Some hotels have mandatory policy for how guest are treated. Hyatt Place has their clerks walk around the counter to give you keys and offer to show you the hotel. However, I try to dress up nicely when checking in and if I stay in a 3+ star hotel I will buy atleast 1 meal, usually breakfast from the hotel even if it's $20 with tip. I like the comment the person said about spending your own money versus a corporate account. I pay all hotels out of pocket...there's people like flight attendents an those who travel for work who don't have to pay anything to stay in their rooms. I don't have that luxury. My hotel spending between November and January has almost certainly exceeded my monthly rent. That's not even paying full price. I also used to suggest cash deposits for incidentals, but I don't bother anymore. However, when going from one city to the next, having 3 holds from different hotels can add up. I recently got a new credit card, and used it at hotels for incidental holds thinking it'd be placed right back after checkout. 2 hotels took 15+ days to return $25...another hotel held $100 for 2 weeks, and it took 4 calls to my bank/hotel to clear it up...only for it to appear on my card again when trying to get a rental car. Waited 7 hours in rental car lobby thanksgiving night to get it reversed.