Priceline packages as proxy for hotel lists?

[cakobau]

Question for you regarding the creation/expansion of hotel lists:

In the Hotwire hotel lists, you distinguish between confirmed purchased hotels and hotels that appear on the package lists. This is useful, I think, since it seems that a lot of the package hotels do indeed shift over to the confirmed hotel list.

Priceline has packages, too. And a quick perusal of some of their offerings brings up some familiar names. And perhaps some less familiar ones, too... Would it make sense to have Priceline package hotel lists?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

If users want this i could set it up over time, but it hasn't been done in the past because with Priceline you really don't have any control over the specific hotel... we chose to do it with Hotwire since the amenities can often help you target a specific hotel or, at the very least, make sure you're avoiding a hotel in the zone that you may not want.

It's also possible, just as with Hotwire, that not all hotels that participate in the Vacation Packages participate in the Hotel Product.

But i'm always willing to listen to what users want. :)

[cakobau]

In my opinion, it would still be helpful to have such a list. For the same reason that there is a list of won hotels (the regular way) pinned to each Priceline page -- so you know what you COULD be getting, and thus making a more informed bid.

Naturally, having such a list has greater utility for Hotwire purchases, since you have the name, star level, AND the amenities to examine, but I still think that the hotel list itself is useful.

As far as bidding strategy is concerned, I think it's useful to check the Priceline packages for the specific dates that you are interested in, since the availability of particular hotels on these packages signals increased likelihood of getting that particular place. But that's another issue...

I'm willing to help out in the future if need be, by providing lists of hotels that come up for various cities.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the offer to help :)

We'll see if anyone else chimes in on this thread and what they have to say.

In your opinion, should the hotles seen thru the VP be kept in a separate list as they are for Hotwire, or just combine them into the existing list?

[mucsea2003]

I agree that would be a useful feature and it should be in the same list as the actual won hotels, maybe in smaller font Italics to separate them.

I would volunteer to do Seattle, btw.

[cakobau]

Personally, I like the separate list, as they exist on the Hotwire threads, but any sort of "subordination" to the actual, confirmed winning hotel bids would be handy. Either way, confirmed hotels could be moved or elevated from the package list to the "real deal" list.

Whatever would be easier.

Priceline says that there are "over 110 destinations" for which they create packages, so this would not be for every place on the planet. (Not that collecting data for 110 areas is easy...) But some areas overlap: Napa and Sonoma were two separate areas on the package list, but they're in the same greater region in the regular hotel bidding area. FWIW.

This is a great, friendly site, and I'd like to see it thrive. This kind of expansion to the hotel database could really help it, just in my opinion.

Viva betterbidding.com!