Priceline Hotel: Mandatory Resort Fees Not Disclosed in Priceline;

[swa]

I have been a user of Priceline through BetterBidding.com for several years. A troubling trend is the mandatory resort fees (aka daily fees, convenience fees, facility fees). When bidding through Priceline, it is clear that you agree to pay the additional fees when you click that you agree to the terms, so I am not contesting the legality of the fee, only whether it is a reasonable business decision to continue to use Priceline in light of these fees. The issues with these fees are:

1. Some hotels within a star category have the fees, while others do not;

2. There is no cap on the fees (i.e. the hotel price could be $25, and the mandatory daily fee could be $75 per day); and

3. The lack of final cost certainty in Priceline when bidding.

What I liked about Priceline was my ability to bid, see the total costs, and then decide whether this was a good enough value to risk the uncertainty related to the hotel and its location. The new mandatory fees have now added a new level of cost and uncertainty.

In May 2013 I had 8 nights of hotel stay, and none were booked through Priceline. My reason for not choosing Priceline is due to undisclosed mandatory fees that cannot be ascertained at the time of bidding. Since the winning hotel may or may not have the mandatory daily fees, I must assume, for total cost comparison, that the winning bid will be the hotel with the highest mandatory fees. I then compare this total Priceline cost (bid + Priceline fee + maximum mandatory resort fee) to a direct reservation on a hotel's website using its discounted, pre-paid rate and the ability to generate member reward points. It is possible that the overall hotel stay booked on Priceline may be 5-20% less expensive, however in many cases there is a risk that the overall cost may be more expensive. In every case when I book directly on a hotel web site I can choose the specific hotel location and earn loyalty points. In all of the cases this month, the outcome is that the direct booking is less expensive when comparing the risk-adjusted price.

I do not expect that my few hotel reservations will make that much difference to Priceline's overall profitability. I do expect that others will make a similar risk-adjusted cost comparison and find that Priceline no longer offers a value justifying the risk of blind bidding.

[thereuare]

Nothing new here as this comes up a few times a year...

While the resort fee with PRICELINE is often an unknown, at times it may not be a factor as:

1) even with the resort fee the total rate can be cheaper than booking a hotel direct that does not have a resort fee (ie- if the resort fee is $20 i can often save more than $20 vs. the best rate i can get for a similarly rated property elsewhere)

2) when available i usually bid the higher rated hotels, so in a place like Las Vegas, virtually all the 4* and higher hotels on the strip now charge a resort fee. I don't like the paying the fee more than anyone else, but as they almost all now charge a resort fee it has leveled the playing field.

I have always taken the view that any mandatory fees should be included in the room rate, but this change would need to come at the hotel level, and not at the PRICELINE level. If the possibility of unknown resort fees doesn't work for your needs a given trip, then HOTWIRE may be an option as they do indicate the resort fee before purchase.

PS- there currently is a cap on the resort fee, at $40/day (which can still be a tidy sum relative to the room rate per nite), but fortunately $40 is an extreme value and most are not nearly this high

[randix]

The resort fees are only getting worse, eg higher. Using priceline in Vegas is playing roulette if you are even sorta price conscious. To most folks, the daily resort fees are NOT inconsequential. I use Priceline, but never, never in Las Vegas. It may not be Priceline's "fault", but as a practical matter, it makes the whole idea of Priceline bidding useless. My op.

[thereuare]

My comment above wasn't that the resort fee is inconsequential, but rather that (afaik) every 4* and 5* hotel on the Strip now charges a resort fee, so if bidding 4* or 5* on the strip it becomes a moot point since it's not as if you can book a 4* or 5* hotel on your own without a resort fee. This wasn't the case before Caesars/Harrahs started to charge a resort fee, but now that they have, it should be expected to encounter a resort fee when staying on the strip.