Loading...

Hotwire Hotel: 4* San Francisco (USE) Grand Hyatt


BEAV
By BEAV,
in

Recommended Posts

Grand Hyatt

345 Stockton Street,

San Francisco, CA, 94108

Amenities:

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Internet

Rate...........105.00

Taxes/fees....20.64

Total.........$125.64

I needed two rooms, so booked this one through HOTWIRE, the second through PRICELINE for $66. I filed for Hotwire's double-the-difference guarantee against the $66 Priceline room for a refund of $78 off the Hotwire room. I was fairly confident I would get the Grand Hyatt on Priceline (vs the Westin St Francis) due to the fact that we have seen a few Grand Hyatt wins as well as a recently posted win for my travel date (July 26). Also, the Priceline vacation package listed the Westin St Francis at twice the cost of the same package at the Grand Hyatt.

Booked through BetterBidding link to HOTWIRE.

Link to comment
BEAV, That's a great idea to file for the Hotwire guarantee on the 2nd room.

Have you done that before? Can you report back if you get it or if they give you the run-around?

I have done this numerous times with 100% success, and no glitches this time, either (I bought the rooms 3 days ago, just forgot to post them). You do have to do your homework, though, and there is no guarantee when you're dealing with opaque purchases! By "homework" the HOTWIRE display was a match for the Grand Hyatt thanks to the Tripadvisor information. With PRICELINE, there were several recently reported wins at $70 and nothing, lately, for the Westin St Francis. And as I said earlier, the Priceline Vacation packages showed the St Francis at double the price of the Grand Hyatt, which more or less indicated the Grand Hyatt would have a lower Priceline rate for their name-your-own-price product.

Link to comment

Great! I know you have to do your homework and I'm familiar with some of the methods you mentioned.

I don't have an immediate opportunity to try this since I need only one room. I assume you get your PRICELINE win confirmed before you go for the HOTWIRE win...since Hotwire is a litttle less opaque.

I'll need to try this. Thanks for helping me (and all of us) find another way to squeeze pennies in a challenging economy.

Link to comment

Yes, the key here is to need two rooms.

While I've done it both ways in the past, I suspect the best way is to make the PRICELINE purchase first. If you get a different hotel than you were suspecting, you can abandon the 'plan' there on the spot and immediately go back and purchase the second room on PRICELINE. No guarantees you'll get the same hotel for the second room, but that's generally the way it works when you immediately rebid the exact same perameters.

I failed to mention earlier that Hotwire will be unable to verify the rate you paid on Priceline. You have to fax to them your Priceline receipt as documentation of the lower rate. As soon as I submit a claim with Hotwire, I call and ask for the fax number to send my Priceline receipt, with a cover letter explaining it's in reference to Hotwire claim number ###, etc.

You must have a bit of gambling in your blood to do this, and be able to accept the consequences should it come back to bite you!

Link to comment
Need help with your own trip?

Register now, we have a huge community of travel enthusiasts to answer any questions you might have.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account
Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
QUICKQUOTE [X]
PRICELINE & HOTWIRE on one screen!
NOTE: Priceline searches for
DOUBLE OCCUPANCY ONLY
Room %roomN%:
Age of child:
FINDFAST[X]
×
×
  • Create New...