Priceline Hotel: Hotel in NY, November 09

[19Chris83]

Hi,

I'm sorry to ask this stupid question, but I didn't find the answer yet: How much is the fee when I bid with priceline or hotwire on hotels? Are there fees when my bid was not accepted?

Thanx

[g-man]

Priceline and Hotwire are slightly different.

With HOTWIRE, if you "bid", you will definitely get the hotel for the price stated ... plus taxes and fees. After deciding which hotel you want, you click on the "Continue" button. That takes you to the next screen. On the left side, you are shown the amounts (rate per night, number of nights, number of rooms, subtotal, taxes/fees and a grand total). You can continue from there to enter your payment information and you'll have your room(s).

There is no separate fee to "bid" because HOTWIRE doesn't use that business model. You are always successful at "winning" a hotel.

With PRICELINE, you select a zone and star level and then enter your bid. The next screen shows you information similar to Hotwire. If you choose to continue, you would enter your payment information (if you have not already saved it with Priceline). The next step is the major difference between PRICELINE and HOTWIRE. Priceline searches for a hotel in the zone(s) you selected at the price you want. If it finds one, you have just reserved and paid for your room(s).

There is also no separate fee to bid on PRICELINE. If your bid is successful, some part of the fees that were previously shown to you go to Priceline (I believe it's around $7). If your bid is not successful, you are not charged at all.

[19Chris83]

Thank you very much for your detailed answer!

[thereuare]

This is a good thread as well: I've Never Used Priceline or Hotwire Before.

If you need help with an upcoming stay please post the details of your trip on the board and we'll try to help.

[19Chris83]

Hi,

I am going to bid on a hotel for a week in NY at the beginning of November and of course I already checked the very useful Priceline-maps. Now, I have two questions:

1. Is my impression correct that stays for about a week are by trend more expensive than one-night-stays?

2. And does anyone know how busy the hotels in NY are usually in the first week of November?

Regards,

Chris

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts / questions for this stay in this newly merged thread.

Full week stays are sometimes more expensive since they cover more room nites, and the chances of one/some of those nites being more expensive than usual increases vs. a shorter stay... higher hotel direct rates on a given nite usually means a higher than usual bid is necessary as well. So in short, it's not the fact that the stay is longer which may increase the bid amount needed, but moreso that the chances of getting a full week stay where all the nites have low rates decreases just given the timespan covered... if you were able to find a week where rates were low and remained constant for each nite of the week, then that stay shouldn't be any higher than if you had just bid for 1, 2, or 3 nites of those same dates.

November (Fall) is typically an expensive time in NYC... what are the actual dates of your stay? What is your maximum budget per nite before taxes and fees?

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

[19Chris83]

Hi,

I think all time of the year is an expensive time in NYC. :-)

I need a room from Nov 3 to Nov 9 and I hoped that I could get one for about 100$ per night incl. taxes and fares. The hotel does not have to be a three or four star hotel, a simple one would be OK (and I know that I can't expect too much for the money).

I tried bids of up to 91$, in all star categories and for all parts of the city except Broklyn and Long Island City.

Regards,

Chirs

[thereuare]

I would be careful bidding some of the lower rated hotels in NYC... while some may be fine and perfectly acceptable, there are others that may not be, and with PRICELINE you can't choose which type you will get.

I'm doubtful that $100 is going to be enough for this complete stay, do you have a back-up plan should you continue to be unsuccessful?

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