Priceline Hotel: Bidding Assistance - Downtown DC

[chidomes]

Hello there. I'm new to this forum and to Priceline, but thought I would make a go at it during this next trip I'll be taking to Washington D.C. in mid-May of 2013.

I'm looking for a 4* hotel in the White House - Downtown or Capitol Hill areas. I was wondering if I may get some assistance regarding booking this far in advance vs. waiting, a possible bid plan you would do if you were working on this yourself, and the price points you think a hotel during this time period would be at? I'm looking to stay below $140 including taxes and fees, if possible.

For full disclosure, I am 20 years old and my traveling companion will be 20, as well. We are attending a conference in DC but need to book everything ourselves and were wondering if anyone had opinions regarding the minimum age policies of Priceline and the hotel we may be placed at.

Thanks in advance for your contributions and help.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

For full disclosure, I am 20 years old and my traveling companion will be 20, as well. We are attending a conference in DC but need to book everything ourselves and were wondering if anyone had opinions regarding the minimum age policies of Priceline and the hotel we may be placed at.

It could be a problem if you win a hotel that has a minimum age requirement of 21 year old... especially if you win a hotel that has a mini-bar in the room. If you have a front desk clerk that checks your age when you give ID to check in to the room it's possible that they deny you access to your room, and you would have little recourse from the hotel or PRICELINE since their terms do indicate that you need to be 21 years old or more to use their service.

Are you willing to take this risk? If not, HOTWIRE may still be an option as on the detail page of their offers (the one after you click the RED SHOW ME BUTTON (with the price in it) indicates the minimum age to check-in to the offered hotel... you could find/choose a hotel that only shows a minimum age requirement of 18 years old and not have to worry about it.

Typically HOTWIRE does cost a little more than PRICELINE.

Let us know your thoughts on which service you'd like to use, as well as the actual dates of your stay, and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[chidomes]

Well, here's the thing with the hotel's age requirement: after calling up every possible hotel that PRICELINE could give me, there were seven hotels between the White House and Capitol Hill areas that had a 21 year old age restriction and five that were 18 and over. I then cross-checked these ages with HOTWIRE's minimum age that it shows you when you go to the booking page--all said 18 was the minimum. For the hotels that had a minimum age of 21, I specifically asked if they would still honor a reservation put through HOTWIRE as all of their bookings just say you need to be 18. Their response was that they would not honor the reservation from HOTWIRE.

I find it hard to believe that a hotel will deny a guest, but I assume it is possible. If they raised an issue regarding a mini-bar in the room, I would ask them to just remove the alcohol. If there are other reasons, I'd need to play it by ear, obviously. From what I've heard and read, hotels may become more lenient with this policy when they see that you've booked with a major credit card and use the same one from incidentals when you check in. One of the primary reasons why I was concerned enough to ask this question was because of the history of "Priceline discrimination" that some travelers have run in to when checking in. Do you have any other guidance or suggestions on this?

The dates I'll be traveling are May 15-18, 2013. HOTWIRE is priced fairly high right now which is why I wanted to try my luck at getting a good deal on PRICELINE.

[thereuare]

If you're concerned my advice would be to use the service where if you do run into a problem that you are "in the right".

If you book thru PRICELINE and run into an age issue, then you are not in the right since you don't meet the minimum age requirement to use their service and you will have no recourse and are on your own... if you book a HOTWIRE hotel that states the minimum age requirement is 18 years old and then have a problem you at least are 'in the right' since you booked according to the rules as provided by HOTWIRE and they would try to work something out with the hotel or find you another place to stay.

Ultimately it's your choice what risk(s) you're willing to accept. If you'd like to move forward with PRICELINE, what is your desired star rating, zone(s) you're willing to accept, and maximum bid amount?

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