Operating under the assumption that many of the same hotels participate in both Priceline and Hotwire, I've taken to pricing Hotwire before I do any priceline bidding. This technique has become more useful of late as Hotwire has expanded their list of cities. It's hardly scientific, but I have found that I can usually get a priceline reservation for about 10 bucks less than the best rate I see on hotwire for that star level (and I operate under the assumption that hotwire is a little more lenient on their star rankings). This would make some sense, of course, because Hotwire's business model would seem to necessitate some sort of additional markup over priceline's "you've got to guess it exactly right for the lowest price" model. The other useful thing about consulting hotwire is for times when you get frustrated with a priceline bid that, based on previous recorded results, "should" be accepted. If you're not seeing hotwire rates "in the ballpark" of your bid, chances are the inventory is simply not there for the low rates on one or more of your days. Just today, for example, I broke down a multi-day bid on hotwire to see if I had any "problem days" in my earlier unsuccessful priceline bid. Sure enough, I found one day in my intended stay where hotwire had awful rates. I then took that day out of my priceline bid and voila -- bid accepted at the price I wanted (of course, you then have to work your trip around the day you can't get!). Another benefit of consulting hotwire is their willingness to reveal the amenities of the hotels participating. As has been discussed elsewhere on this board, this often helps narrow down the guess of what hotel you're likely to get, perhaps even on a comparable priceline bid. There may also be times when, based on the data hotwire gives you, you would choose to pay a little more to "select" a specific hotel on hotwire. With priceline, you're likely to get the low bidder at the star level you choose -- with hotwire, you get to choose which "unnamed" hotel you want, with the amenity list and customer recommendations giving you some pretty darn good clues. This is particularly valuable in big cities with lots of hotels in a zone or star level. For example, the Atlanta downtown zone has been corrupted by a 3-star Holiday Inn Select when everyone really wants one of the nicer "real" 3-star hotels in that zone. Using hotwire, I believe you could easily "guess" your way to one of the better hotels (perhaps picking a "customer choice" property after reading the reviews?) for a few bucks more than what you could get for the worst hotel for on priceline. Similarly, if you wanted a suite, or a property with a pool, you could choose that on Hotwire as well. Bottom line is that it's an advantage to consult hotwire before placing a priceline hotel bid, and then deciding if and how much you want to bid on priceline.