Priceline Express Deals similar to Hotwire hot Rates

[Mark01]

I couldn't find any folder/thread related to Priceline's new hotel Express Deals - wondering if we could start one?

Here's some of my experience with Express Deals:

Express Deals are like Hotwire hot Rate opaque hotels. The only difference is there are no customer review narratives like most of Hotwire listings provide (which help identifying the hotel - once mentioned "live DJ in lobby Friday nights" - which I found advertised on the W hotel for that location!).

Priceline Express Deals just show "guest score" ratings based on a scale of 1.0 to 10, but not for every listing.

Most of the time they are a good guide for what to bid. I usually win a bid when I go $10-$25 below the lowest Express Deal rate for that star category and area.

There were times I did not win a bid even though I was bidding higher than the Express Deal rate for the same star-level and area; so I think they are a separate product inventory from the bidding product.

Like Hotwire, you are given bed choices for some hotels, which can have different rates depending on the room type. I have been able to figure out which hotel the Express Deal is by reading these room descriptions, combined with the amenities, star-level and area.

For example, the room description may say "Exec King Pillowtop Bed Sofa Micro Fridge Free", or "1 King Signature Condor Plush Dreams Bed. Kitchenette And Balcony". They keywords are "Condor Plush Dreams" and "Exec King Pillowtop Bed Sofa".

If you go on the suspected hotel's direct website for booking and read their room descriptions, you can often find the exact same wording and thus figure out the Express Deal property that way.

Other keywords that help are spacious, luxury, superior, deluxe, suite, studio, ocean view, 500 square feet, etc.

Thanks,

M

[thereuare]

We considering a few ways to keep track of this information and are already working on some things on the back end to implement, which will wait to implement to see how well received the product is, but in the meantime you can simply post as Priceline wins and mention it was a 'Deal Express' win in your post as well as include the amenities that were associated with the property.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.

[MikeBHR]

It seems as though they only show the guest score rating when it's high, such as above 9 or 8. That makes some sense as low ratings aren't much of a selling point.

My wins have only come $6-$10 below what Express Deals shows, but I'm probably bidding lower star ratings in cheaper parts of the world than the OP. When the Express Deals are already in the $40s, you can only go so much lower with a NYOP bid.

The full price of the hotel is shown as a comparison (here's what you're saving) to the Express Deals price, and finding that number on PRICELINE's regular price list has been as helpful in determining what property a listing might be as the amenities list.

Express Deals has been a fairly good resource for me so far, especailly in an area that doesn't have a lot of wins posted on this site.

[jman1975]

is the star rating that applies to the Express Deals the same star rating as the Name Your Price? in other words, are they the same group of hotels?

[thereuare]

The Express Deals product is too new to make any definitive conclusions, but the star ratings should be the same on each side of their service. HOWEVER, with this noted, the two sides of their service don't pull from the same universe of hotels... considering the three sides of PRICELINE's hotel service (bidding, retail, and express deals) there will be some hotels that only participate with one of the three services, others that participate in two of the three, and others that participate with all three services.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[shakiraa]

Hi admin,

is there a new section that follow up on this PRICELINE EXPRESS deal? thanks.

[thereuare]

Just post in the priceline section of the board... offline we are keeping track of which threads are for PRICELINE EXPRESS and once we determine how it will all be incorporated into the existing board and are able to code it.