How priceline works?

[Bal Singh]

I have a query about Priceline which hopeflly someone will know the answer.

For example:

For a particular zone, Hotel A is willing to accept $50, Hotel B $75 and Hotel C $100

If I bid $80, will I definitly get Hotel B (nearest price) or could I also get Hotel A?

Thanks.

[Colfax]

PRICELINE doesn't reveal their inner workings to the public, but the "common wisdom" (which might or might not be true) is that you would get Hotel B in the scenario you described.

The problem is that when you're bidding you don't really know that Hotel B has given inventory to PRICELINE at $75. If they haven't, or if their Priceline rate for that day is $81 instead of $75, then you'd win Hotel A for $30 more than you needed to pay.

[dahammer]

I understand that hotels will often load multiple price points into the Priceline system so as to maximize revenue