Ty Webb Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 How does PRICELINE pick a hotel when you make a bid? I believe they have blocks of unused hotel rooms in a given area and they sell those rooms to you. But do they have only one hotel at a time in a given area and in a given star rating? It seems like hotels go in cycles when there is a winning bid. As an example, someone bids for 4 stars in the Chicago O'hare area in May and they get the Doubletree hotel. Two weeks later, someone bids a similar price in the same area and gets the same property. The next month, same thing happens and they get the Doubletree. Fourth month, similar bid, same location, and they get the Hyatt Regency Ohare. This seems to be the property that everyone gets for the next few months and then it changes again in a few more months. (This is just a scenario) (Another example) If I bid $100 for a 3 Star hotel and get it in the Ohare area of Chicago, what are the chances of getting the same hotel on the same dates if I bid the next day? How does PRICELINE pick which hotel you get when you bid if they have multiple hotels in the same area with the same Star rating? If you bid one price for a hotel in a given location with a given star rating, does it matter what you bid so long as it is accepted? What I mean is, if I want 4 Star, Ohare, and I bid $100 and win the bid and get the Doubletree, and their normal rate is $165/night. Would I still get the Doubletree if I had bid $130 in the inital bid? It also seems like Priceline has deals with certain chains of hotels that they use more than any other. Do some chains align themselves with Priceline during slow times? These are somethings I always wondered. Thanks for any info. Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 The hotel with the closest rate, equal to or lower than your bid price, is the hotel that 'wins' your business... this gives the hotels an incentive to offer their rooms at discounted rates. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Ty Webb Posted April 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 So if I know that someone just got hotel X (3Star) with a bid of $60 and I bid $75 dollars for the same criteria, I might get a different (and possibly better) 3 Star? Do individual hotel participate with Priceline or is it a particular chain? Link to comment
Jason's Storm Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Its best not to overbid, because the hotel for the person that got it for $60, you might get the same one for $75, which can be foolish. You never know, because you can get a differant place for the same price. Lastly, chains aren't the only ones who participate, because its a lot of times up to the individual hotel. They want their occupancy rate as high as they can get it, because they would rather give you a $100 for $50, than have it go unused, which would be $0.~JS Jason's Storm- Making one killer deal after another. With something other than a machete to the head. From the ashes of Friday the 13th Forum, rises Friday the 13th: The Community. A new beginning has arrived. Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 28, 2008 Report Share Posted April 28, 2008 See this thread: DON'T BID HIGHER FOR A SPECIFIC HOTEL Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Ty Webb Posted April 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 See this thread: DON'T BID HIGHER FOR A SPECIFIC HOTELThat link shed some light on it for me..... I think I have a much better understanding.My question now is: Is it possible to have two hotels with the same critera and price in the PL computer. Could you have a Hilton and Hyatt in the same area that retail for the same price and have the same price in the computer for Priceline? If all things were equal, which one would you get? Is there any rhyme or reason to that scenario?Is there a way to find out if a hotel is still in active rotation with Priceline if there have not been any winning bids posted on here in the last year? Thanks,Ty Link to comment
Jason's Storm Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 Short of knowing someone who knows the interworkings of PRICELINE (even better than thereuare), there is no way to know which hotels are in rotation. It is though a little easier with HOTWIRE though, since they give you hints.~JS Jason's Storm- Making one killer deal after another. With something other than a machete to the head. From the ashes of Friday the 13th Forum, rises Friday the 13th: The Community. A new beginning has arrived. Link to comment
Penelope2004 Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 I just saw the above posts, and while I have no proof, I thought it might be helpful to post what I have been wondering as well as a strategy (so far successful!) I used to win a bid on a Marriott brand:I wonder if Marriott hotels are given the right of first refusal? (Meaning that they get to see a bid first.) I googled a lot before I bid my first time on Priceline, and it may be interesting for those interested to google "Priceline" "Marriott" and "preferred partner." They do have some kind of agreement with each other. I don't know the wording of the agreement, but I do know from other online documents that the two somehow have a financial interest in each other. While still a gamble, here is one strategy I successfully used: I looked up on the Marriott site all the Marriott Hotel brands, did a little research on which of those Marriott brands are in which bidding areas in the place I wanted to travel, and bid in those areas. (If there were defined bidding areas close together, and only one had Marriott brands, I would bid in the area that had the Marriott brands.) I first researched (here) past winning bids at those hotels, knew about how much I was willing to bid based on what I wanted, and both times ended up with a Marriott brand. I wanted Marriott because 1) it is all non-smoking, and I didn't want to end up in a smoking room; and 2) from comments on this site, Marriott is comparatively amenable to giving us two beds versus one bed (though not guaranteed!) And while I read that the two hotel groups on Priceline can feature different hotels (ones seen in the "knowing the price and purchasing area" may not be offered in the "opaque bidding area"), I wonder if a Marriott brand hotel is advertised in the direct purchase area, will it also be in the opaque area?I know it states strongly on this site that you should not begin bidding higher. However, if I was correct (unsubstantiated!) that Marriotts are given the right of first refusal, I was willing to begin with a slightly higher bid to obtain a more expensive "suite" level of a two star Marriott Brand, based on my unsubstantiated belief that Marriotts are given the right of first refusal. In Williamsburg, VA, there were two 2* Marriott Brands (that are suite based) in the area I wanted to bid, so I bid a little more with this in mind. I received my preferred Marriott suite, which includes continental breakfast (hot items) and a pool, just what I had hoped for. I knew it was truly a gamble, (I was still crossing my fingers after I sent my bid!) but it was like testing a hypothesis. I also know that if I ended up with something not so great, I would still be spending less. Once again, totally unsubstantiated by any official source - however, I was successful based on my assumptions. If I like the hotels, I will be using this strategy in the future. I would love to see if any one else had similar experiences/thoughts? :) Or am I way off base? :) Link to comment
Will Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 Personally I would never count on that, there is a whole thread on Dont Bid higher for a specific hotel In my post I gave a link to Pricelines patent on the Name Your Own Price technology. Basically if your bid is accepted by >1 hotels, there are a number of tie breaker algos they could use - none that would gaurantee you get the highest priced hotel however. Link to comment
runNgun Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 the hotel who booked the most business year to date with PRICELINE would get the booking if there is a tie...... Link to comment
123slb Posted July 29, 2008 Report Share Posted July 29, 2008 --runNgun--The individual hotel or the chain with the most business year-to-date? And can one research that statistic? Link to comment
runNgun Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 it's between the two (or more) individual hotels that are tied and has nothing to do with the chain. Link to comment
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