Priceline Hotel: 4* Las Vegas (Strip) Monte Carlo

[normlspeed]

First bid of $51 was accepted. Bid 4 stars on the strip.

12/12/06 to 12/14/06 including fees comes to $120.39

Monte Carlo Resort and Casino

3770 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, Nevada 89109

702-730-7777

Then I looked at the hotels website to find their own rate is $49.95 a night for a total of $108.89

Oh well, hope we like it.

[normlspeed]

Hmmm, looks like we could have had the spa, food, and play for less still.

$25 for food, the spa, and the casino each day for a total of 79.90 through the hotels website. Now I'm kicking myself.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

Priceline has a "Best Rate Guarantee" so if you email them you can probably get a $22 refund:

$102 (your bid)- $80 (hotel direct rate) = $22

You have to contact them within 24 (or 48, i forget) hours of your winning bid and finding the other rate. Since the other rate is not the first which appears on their site on a search for your dates, i'd give them explicit instructions on how to look-up the rate.

Good Luck... if you pursue the refund let us know how it goes.

[normlspeed]

The "Best Price Guarantee" applies to the rate for room nights only. Promotional packages, deals, or bundles that may include additional amenities such as parking, meals, entertainment, etc. are not eligible.

So the cheapest rate (for the Spa, Food, Play)wasn't eligible for a refund, but I did get $11.49 (which included some taxes) back after an easy five minute phone call to 1800 PRICELINE. The rate difference was only $1.05 from what I paid, but she said it would have been 53 something with tax. I didn't argue.

Thanks for the tip. Love the site!

[thereuare]

With the way they word it, they are within their "rights", but i don't think that is the intention of the rule. IMO, the intention was to protect against the following (ficticious) example:

Assume a hotel offers "room and parking" for $125/nite, where typically parking fee is $25/nite. If you bid $120, had to pay for parking at $25 (bringing your total out of pocket to $145), the above rule prevents you (rightfully so) from getting a refund.

Likewise, given your situation above, you couldn't say that the $40 room rate is actually $15 when you include the $25 food credit and try to make a claim against the $15 rate.

As your 'claim' above is not including the food credit and is looking at the room rate only (ie- you're not asking them to throw in any of the other 'perks' nor deducting their value from the room rate), i would think that the 'spirit' of their guarantee entitles you to a refund. With that said, their customer service, which has gotten better, is still far from perfect, and trying to get them to honor the $20 may not be worth the effort :)

Enjoy your time in Vegas.