Help for Better Bidding on Priceline & Hotwire - Page 11

Priceline Toronto

If you’re like me and want to save on hotel accommodation in Toronto, Priceline is a good choice to consider. In preparation for an upcoming trip to Toronto, I used Priceline Canada for my hotel booking and saved over 64% over regular online travel sites (Expedia, etc), and even saved 22% compared to Hotwire rates. […]

Vancouver Island Hotels Not On Priceline

Ever wonder what hotels are on Priceline? These hotels are some of my favorite on Vancouver Island but you won’t find them on Priceline. Whenever I travel, I use Priceline first. I find that Priceline works best when you do not really care about the hotel you get other than the hotel class and vicinity. However, if you are picky about your hotel, here are five Vancouver Island hotels not on Priceline. It’s a little unfortunate because these are arguably some of the best hotels on the Island. (By the way, you won’t find them on Hotwire either).

Priceline For 3 People

One of the most common questions I hear in the Priceline Forum is how can I book a room on Priceline for 3 people. Although often debated, the answer is fairly straightforward:

Priceline only guarantees the room you book will accommodate a maximum of 2. If you book on Priceline and you have more than 2 people in your party, you are taking a risk and there is no guaranteed you will get a hotel room that accommodate 3 (or more) people.

I find Priceline’s low prices quite alluring. In fact, sometimes they are so low that I have taken a chance on Priceline. I’ve booked a hotel knowing that the maximum occupancy is 2 and taken a chance that I’ll get a room on Priceline for 3 people. I’ve personally done this about a dozen times. In fact, I have 2 upcoming hotel stays that were booked on Priceline even though we are going to squeeze 5 of us in a room.

What’s the worst that could happen if you book a hotel room on Priceline for 3 people or more?

Fort Lauderdale Hotels on Priceline

I’m travelling to Fort Lauderdale and used Priceline to book my hotel stay.  As a strong advocate of Priceline, I want to offer some insider tips on Fort Lauderdale Hotels on Priceline. Although Ft. Lauderdale is fairly large and has a total of 11 Priceline bidding zones, the vast majority of visitors to Fort Lauderdale stay in 1 of 3 areas:  the airport, the beach, or Hollywood.

Fort Lauderdale Beach is a vacationer’s epicentre of the city.  The bidding zone is a long narrow strip along the beach, and wonderful for vacationers.  Note though that although the zone includes the word “beach”, not all properties are immediately on the beach.  You could be across the street or a half block or so away.  There are a couple of “Resorts” in this zone, which I will check out when I’m there, but presumably they are quite awesome.  Slightly lower in the pecking order but still great are the 4-star hotels in the beach area.  A word for the wise…

Hotwire Complaints

People love to complain about Hotwire. You might be thinking that a site like HotelDealsRevealed.com was in support of Hotwire — we are, but we always advocate educating yourself about how it works because purchases are non-refundable. We also want to help travellers save money on travel, and that doesn’t always mean Hotwire. Here are some trips to help you avoid pitfalls and complaints against Hotwire.

How do I cancel a reservation on Hotwire? You can’t. When you book a hotel or other products using Hotwire Hot Rates, you can’t cancel your reservation. When you book, your credit card is charged and there is no cancelation clause. I have a bit of an inside scoop and I’m lead to believe that this will be changing soon. Hotwire will soon open up a very short cancelation window. Nothing confirmed quite yet.

Priceline Lake Tahoe

Using Priceline for Hotel Reservations in Lake Tahoe

I had the opportunity to check out Lake Tahoe Recently. I had been there about 15 years ago, but I was always confused about the various bidding regions on Priceline. This is due to the fact that theLake Tahoe Region on Priceline cuts through two states, Nevada and California. During my time in the area, I made a point of checking out a few of the main tourist areas and purposely visiting some of the better hotels that are frequently found to be on Priceline.

North and South Lake Tahoe – The Popular Priceline Bidding Zones
Lake Tahoe Bidding Zones – Overview: There are 7 bidding zones in the Lake Tahoe on Priceline, covering the main tourist areas in both North and South Lake, as well as some outer lying areas that do not get many hotel bookings (and which I didn’t visit). For casino fans, you’ll want to stay on the Nevada side as there are no casinos on the California side of Lake Tahoe.

Hotwire Hotel Ratings

One of the questions often asked in the Hotwire & Priceline Forum is, “Does Hotwire artificially inflate their hotel ratings?” In other words, is Hotwire maybe a little too generous with the hotel ratings you see on their site. For those who are unaware, hotels you purchase on Hotwire are non-refundable. Therefore it’s imperative to know if the rating is reliable or not. Unlike other sites, you cannot check out hotel ratings and reviews on TripAdvisor before you buy on Hotwire because you don’t know what hotel you’re getting. This makes it all the more important to have confidence in the hotel rating that you see before you buy.

Hotel Deals Revealed – New Home Page

Every so often, a website needs a homepage make-over.  HotelDealsRevealed is working on a new design.  Currently, we are trying out a new look on the homepage.  Have a look at the screenshot below. Homepage Features & Layout The new home page is divided into 4 main sections. The main body of the home page […]

Priceline For Three Guests

One of the lesser known rules about Priceline, when using its Name Your Own Price to bid on a hotel room, is that the room you book is only guaranteed to accommodate a maximum of 2 people. Despite Priceline pointing this out during the bidding process, it is sometimes ignored by travellers who are upset when they arrive at their hotel and the hotel cannot provide a room with enough beds for more than 2 people. Here is Priceline’s official policy:

Hotwire Hotels Revealed

Revealing Your Hotwire Hotel – As you probably know, when you book a hotel room on Hotwire, you don’t find out the name of your hotel until after you have booked. Fortunately for travellers using this site, there is a way to have your Hotwire hotel revealed. Hotwire has been around for well over a decade, and by now most people are familiar with the concept. You pay first (non-refundable) and then you find out what hotel you booked. Hotwire tells you certain information about a hotel such as the general vicinity, hotel rating, and the hotel amenities, but the actual name of the hotel is not revealed until after you pay.

Why does Hotwire not reveal the hotel name before you bid? Essentially, Hotwire sells off rooms for hotels that the hotel themselves cannot sell through direct bookings or other channels. Problem is that hotels want to sell off excess capacity, but they don’t want to frustrate existing customers who reserved at higher rates. Instead, hotels use services like HW where the name is not revealed until after you buy. This is usually a win-win for everybody involved.