Priceline Hotel: 4* DC (White House-Downtown) Capital Hilton

[chrisallenod]

If a bid is placed and more than hotel has set an "acceptance price" below the price of the bid, how does Priceline decide on the hotel that is assigned to the bidder??

Furthermore, if a bidder enters a bid price that barely meets an acceptance price of a "better" (higher acceptance price) hotel and exceeds by a larger amount the acceptance price of a "lesser" (lower acceptance price) hotel, will the bidder end up at the "better" hotel?

Example:

Hotel A acceptance price: $70

Hotel B acceptance price: $90

Hotel C acceptance price: $110

If a bid is placed at $91, is the bidder more likely to be assigned to Hotel B while the rooms at Hotel A are "saved" for future bidders who may bid between $70 and $89? Likewise, will a bid of $111 land you at Hotel C?

In most cases, I imagine this makes absolutely no difference. My question comes in part because of an assumption that may not be valid: that Hotel B will truly be better than Hotel A. I suppose there are many variables that may cause a "better" hotel to enter an acceptance price lower than a "lesser" hotel.

If anyone knows how priceline makes these decisions (my guess is randomly), I would be very interested in finding out. Thanks in advance.

[thereuare]

You bid is accepted at the hotel with the highest rate equal to or lower than your bid price... so in your first example the hotel won would be Hotel B, while in your second example the hotel won would be Hotel C.

However, your assumption that the hotel with the higher rate will be 'better' is flawed as the minimum opaque price accepted by a hotel has little relevance to the hotel's "quality". As well, hotels can, and do, offer multiple rates for the same nite.

See this thread for more details: Don't Bid Higher For a Specific Hotel

[chrisallenod]

Thanks. I have read the board a few times and have gathered very useful information.

I should have put this in my original question, but does your answer hold true if all of the hotels are equally rated?

[chrisallenod]

First Bid:

White House-Downtown-$70-Rejected

Second Bid:

White House-Downtown, Arlington-$80- Rejected

Third Bid:

White House-Downtown, Arlingtonton, Springfield -$90-Accepted

All bids were for 4* only

Total for 2 rooms, 1 night:

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $90.00

Subtotal: $180.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $33.78

Total Charges*: $213.78

Capital Hilton

White House - Downtown

1001 16th Street Nw

Washington, District Of Columbia 20036

202-393-1000

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win and thank you for sharing it with the board.

Enjoy your stay.