jmw

Hilton Ontario 6/19/04- Priceline booking. Checked in at 5pm and got a room next to the elevator on the 6th floor. I couldn't hear anything from the elevator so I decided to unpack. After an evening's worth of activities outside of the hotel, I returned and turned on the TV just before bed to find that reception looked like it came from rabbit ears. The rest of the room is OK although the AC may be loud for some. No airport noise. I slept well. Got the Sunday newspaper delivered. Because of the TV, I think I got a dreaded "Priceline room" again. I would be a lot more mad if I needed to relax with the TV. $35 + taxes/fees = $45.42. I will probably not bid this zone again unless there is bonus money involved to mitigate the risk of getting this hotel with its Priceline rooms.

Bid today 6/17/04 for the night of 6/19 Bid $30 for 3* Ontario, PL offered to rebid for $8 more but declined Bid $34 added West Riverside as a free rebid, rejected Bid $35 for 2.5* Ontario, got "upgraded" to 3* and got the Hilton Ontario Airport Check-In Date: Saturday, June 19, 2004 Check-Out Date: Sunday, June 20, 2004 Hotel Name: Hilton Ontario Airport 700 North Haven Avenue Ontario, California 91764 909-980-0400 Your Offer Price: $35.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $35.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $10.42 Total Charges: $45.42

was hoping for the downtown Marriott or Hilton for my buddy. Oh well.

It needs to be in the city for this one. I prefer not to be surprised on this trip with questionable botiques and 3* so I like to stay at 4* too. If I could accept airport (and by implication 3*), I know I can easily get sub Motel 6 prices.

I agree I needed to make an apples-to-applies comparison. $90 (PL) vs. $125 (Hilton) after taxes/fees. I know to some people the bennies aren't worth a lot, especially if breakfast is skipped. In this case, breakfast, 0.5 WN credit, and 1400 Hilton points are worth $20 to me. That leaves about $15 for the worth for stay credit and upgrades, which I would pay for if that was offered to me. So a $72 PL bid is really pushing it. As far as avoiding the Saturday nite checkin problem by adding a day, that would make my PL cost $180 which is a lot more than the conventional booking. As you can tell, staying an extra night doesn't do anything for me. I was really hoping I could do PL for this, since I enjoy staying at nice places for Motel 6 prices. :) I'll keep trying 65 in case I get lucky.

I'm going for May 15 (Sat) for one night. I have a $110 cancellable backup at the Hilton SF with Hilton Honors Gold amenities (e.g. breakfast, stay credit, upgrades, etc). Today I bid 35,40,45,50,55,60,65,68,70, and 72. I have not run out of free rebids yet :) but at $90 after taxes and fees, the savings are getting small. It is Bay to Breakers weekend. I'm also thinking the Saturday nite checkin problem is killing me since a successful bid of 65 was posted today on TOBB. I'm thinking of just bidding 65 and 70 over the next few days in hopes that it will hit. Is that the best course?

Beav, You are cutting the deadline too close. Those terms and conditions are built in so Hilton can find a thousand ways to weasel out. The 72 hour deadline is ambiguous if you booked 4/27 for 4/30 check in. I would reserve some other date and put in a second claim or you might totally lose out on this.

I test the Hilton guarantee quite a bit since the program began. They Fedex a $50 gift check for every valid claim. They probably do not like me. :) But at least this guarantee has kept me away from Priceline a bunch of times since Hilton has always honored the deal when I catch them. This is a good deal when the non-Hilton site's rack rate is below $100. You can get Hilton Honors points and perks on a stay with PL rates after accounting for the gift check. Above $100 or so, I pretty much pass on the deal even if I see a valid claim. Except at the beginning, the amount of work is similar to researching bids and free rebid zones and actual bidding on PL. It is worth the work just like bidding with PL.