FogNoggin

Yellowdog, your reply was extremely helpful and informative. I thank you very much for taking the time. As for your pessimism, no apologies needed. It was exactly the reality slap that I needed. I knew that the PRICELINE system had limitations, I just needed to clarify the downside for myself. Now I can make an educated decision. For my purposes, I'll probably read TripAdvisor for a certain city and call the hotel for best rate. Perhaps I'll try HOTWIRE again if I'm feeling dangerous. :)

Not trying to double post, just confused. Thanks for the correction. :)

A few more questions, Family of 4 likes clean room, free breakfast. Our family of 4 is taking a 2 week road trip across 6 states. We want 2 Priceline, or Hotwire, along the way. We have no set schedule. I have just a few questions to ease my nervousness about all of this... 1. Star rating. We like clean, know brands with decent free breakfast. What star rating gets me this? What's the difference between 2 and 2.5 stars? Is it a pool? We don't like 3 stars because there's no free breakfast. 2. I'm worried about the HUGE difference in quality within a star rating. In my own hometown we have a new lovely Hampton Inn. (Is that 2 stars?) But there are other 2-star hotels in town that I wouldn't go near. Brands such as Days Inn seem to have a huge variation in quality from town to town. I know TripAdvisor is my best friend in finding quality, but that can't be used with these services. You sort of get what you get and are stuck after you pay. 3. Being a family of four, we have the obvious problem with Priceline, getting enough beds in the room. Should I go with Hotwire for this reason alone? Thanks VERY much for all your help. I promise to post my hotel-finding experiences from all 14 nights of our trip.

I've never used Priceline, but I've used Hotwire. We're planning an impromptu trip from NY to WI with no solid plans, no reservations. Essentially, we would arrive in a town, decide we want to spend the night there, and bid on Priceline with my laptop in some parking lot where I could pickup WiFi. Is this done? Can I win and pay via Priceline and show up at the hotel 5 minutes later with the confirmation info still on the screen of my computer? Am I rushing the process?