Questions about Priceline

[Casey2]

We are trying to book a hotel in Vancouver for our 3 night pre-cruise stay. We are considering trying Priceline. We want to stay in a 4 star hotel in the downtown area. Do you have to check off a second choice? What happens if you don't? Since it is non refundable, has anyone taken out the travel insurance? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

[sredish]

I've used Priceline twice now for hotels and been very pleased each time. You can choose how many stars you want, the neighborhood you want, set the price you want to pay...and wait and see.

 

I used it in San Antonio. We wanted to stay on the Riverwalk in as nice of a hotel as possible. I chose 4 star, Riverwalk area (no second choice), bid $85, and got the Hilton Riverwalk. We had a room on the top floor, river view, and it was beautiful. Would have cost us over $200 because of the time of year we went.

 

I used it for our upcoming cruise departing from Seattle. I chose the airport area (so that we can catch the hotel's shuttle to the airport and pick up the Princess transfer to the ship), chose 4 stars (no second choice again), bid only $60 and I got the Hilton SEATAC. Looks real nice, Tripadvisor.com likes it, and Expedia had rooms there for $140 per night.

 

If your bid isn't accepted by any hotel, then you are out nothing except your time to type in your information.

 

Travel insurance will only help you out here if you are ill and cannot travel (doctor needs to fill out the form they provide), or a family member dies. You can't get out of it just because you don't like the hotel or the area.

 

Good luck!

[aussie jb]

Casey, we used Priceline last year for Vancouver and got the Hyatt Regency - great hotel. Take a look at this webpage and read what other people are getting this year and read their bidding strategies. We got the Hyatt on our first bid of $65, but I believe its a bit harder this year. From what I've read, you can add Delta/Surrey because there are no 4* there.

Anyway, check out what others are doing at the moment.

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddingfrm210

 

good luck!

[mhb1757]

Priceline would be a great choice for Vancouver if you go with a 4* hotel in the downtown region you will most likely get the Hyatt Regency. The Marriott Pinnacle, the Westin and the Sheraton Wall Center also come up occasionally....however I have only seen the Hyatt come up for summer booking dates at this point (others seem to come up more often for last minute bids)

 

We got the Hyatt a couple of months ago for a precruise stay (early June) for $65/night, I would start there....some have hit in the $65 or 70 pricerange, others have not been so lucky....you can always go to Hotwire and put in your dates and select the DT West zone and see what 4* rates are for your nights....they book at many of the same hotels as Priceline and Priceline is usually $6 to 10/night cheaper. So it would give you a ballpark figure of what was likely to work on Priceline

 

There really aren't any loser 4* places in the Vancouver DT area so any place you got on a bid there would be a nice hotel and a good location.

[garycarla]

ditto on Priceline. Go to the link given above.

 

As to travel insurance - that is totally separate from the priceline thing meaning - "How much money to I want to BET on not making the trip?" Lots of threads on insurance from time to time.

[pbk917]

It clearly depends on what time of year you are going. We had been trying Priceline for about 1 month for our pre-cruise stay in July, but had no luck. We kept adding more area's & increasing our price. We wound up trying HotWire & got the Hyatt Regency Downtown for $99.00 per night on the first attempt. We are very satisfied with the hotel selection, price & found HotWire easier to use than Priceline.

[Coadysmom]

We went to Priceline last week and bid $75.00 on a 4 star in Vancouver and got the Hyatt Regency for the night of June 30. Selected Delta as a seondary choice since there are no 4 stars in that area.. Good luck !:D

[noodle]

Yesterday, I bid $60 for downtown Vancouver 4* for May 8-11, 2005. Rejected. I added a freezone (Surrey I believe) and went to $67 and got the Hyatt Regency. Happy with the deal. Good luck to all.

[SEPyle]

Last weekend I tried Priceline for a pre-cruise, 5/19 and my bid was accepted at $73.00. It wasn't quite as easy for 5/19 as it was for noodle, needing just a week or so before. I started at $50 for Dowtown; then went to $55 and had to add an area. I didn't understand this was going to happen, but had read that it's not a problem because if you bid for a 4*, you'll get downtown. I then had to go to $60 and add another area. No luck. I then went to $70 adding yet another area. I was gitting a bit nervous jumping $5 each time, so I went up only $3, adding another area. BINGO, I was awarded the Hyatt Regency! Other sites has this hotel listed for over $200! By the way, I would have had no problem at all with a 3* hotel, however for Vancouver, the problem with bidding for a 3* is that you may get a hotel further away than I wanted to stay from downtown.

 

Hope this detail helps someone get the courage to try Priceline!

 

Sharon

By reading other's strategory, Priceline is really good. T

[noodle]

SEPyle...I do believe that people booking my dates are getting lower rates than people booking your dates and later in the summer. I've seen people posting that later May at $80 is being rejected so I think your deal is right on target. It all has to do with demand.

 

But everyone, make sure that when you add a "freezone" choose an area that doesn't contain any four star properties. There are some in Vancouver, outside of downtown that do have fourstars, so if you choose that area, you may be stuck further away than you wanted.

 

I believe the freezones are Delta, Langley, and Surrey in regard to requesting a 4 star.

[lrn376]

I always go to http://www.betterbidding.com for my priceline and hotwire purchases, as many other offerings that they offer.This forum is very friendly and very helpful. Give them a try, you'll like them.

[Casey2]

Thanks for all your help. I went on Priceline and got the Hyatt Regency for $75.00 for September. I am really happy about it.