Priceline bidding from abroad and question on extra charges

[coness]

Hi,

Myself and my girlfriend will be travelling to the US in February from Ireland, staying in Chicago and New York. If you'd be so kind, I was wondering if someone could confirm the following ideas I have about bidding on priceline and hotwire. Many thanks.

1/ If we were to use the 'name your price' option on Priceline, I could place an offer with a friend's American credit card and not have to present this card at any point when checking in or staying at the hotel. Nor would the person named on the card have to be present. All I would have to do is name them as the name on the card but then fill in my own name and my girlfriends as the guests when filling out the details on Priceline. We will, however, need to present our own credit card (not connected in any way to the booking credit card) and ID on check-in.

Is this idea I have correct?

2/ I'm a bit worried about the additonal/extra charges that I've seen vague references to on this website. If I book a hotel from hotwire that's offered for $89 a night, I want the $89 a night plus small taxes and charges (that are displayed up front) to be the final amount when I'm asked for confirmation. I don't want to be surprised with additional charges when I stay in the hotel. Perhaps these charges are only referring to parking charges, internet use etc. that are only charged when actually used? Would I be correct in assuming if I don't use the obvious things like hotel phone, internet, parking, gym, mini-fridge etc. that I won't have to expect any surprise fees?

Thanks again,

Conor

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

ANSWERS:

1) yes, you have it correct... except you can only enter one guest's name on the reservation, so it would be your OR your girlfriend's name (not both)

2) usually the total you pay PRICELINE or HOTWIRE is the total (other than items you choose such as internet, breakfast, phone calls, etc). HOWEVER, depending upon the area, some hotels charge resort fees, and this is usually the 'thorn in the side' for users since these fees (and thus the 'true' total can't be determined beforehand.

With HOTWIRE you may be able to figure out the hotel beforehand (based upon the amenities, star rating, etc) and then do a little research to see if the hotel charges a Resort fee or not (by the way, this fee is charged to all guests, not just PRICELINE or HOTWIRE guests). What areas are you going to as we may be able to add some insight as to whether it's an area prone to resort fees or not.

Also, HOTWIRE has started to add a resort fee range on some properties so you can take that into consideration for your total cost, but i don't think this is widespread throughout their system yet (in fact i don't recall seeing it in awhile) so a lack of this fee range doesn't guarantee that there won't ultimately be a resort fee charged.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[AaronJB]

There should not be any resort fees for Chicago hotels, and I'm not aware of any NYC hotels that have resort fees.

I'd recommend taking the train from NYC to Chicago or vice versa.

[coness]

There should not be any resort fees for Chicago hotels, and I'm not aware of any NYC hotels that have resort fees.

I'd recommend taking the train from NYC to Chicago or vice versa.

Thankyou both for your replies, they help confirm what I was reading up til now. I found no indication of resort fees in most of the Chicago and New York hotels I've been looking at. Also, AaronJB, I would have loved to have heard that months ago! Over here (and most countries I've travelled in) buses are far cheaper than trains, so I never considered a train until recently. It was far cheaper so I chose that route and I'm looking forward to it.