really any problem w/ Priceline and 5?

[Shmee]

I don't dare post this on the "Bidding for Travel" boards, cause I know the response will be "read the FAQ", but I would like your opinions.

Although Priceline only guarantees accomodations for two, aren't most hotels willing to give you a room with two doubles instead. We have three children (8, 6 and 2), and one room will more than suffice for sleeping purposes only. Have many familys have used Priceline for your Orlando vacation? Thanks in advance.

 

[leslieh]

We have used PL several times, and have no trouble getting a double room. I just call after i make the ressie and request two queens, etc. Never had a problem. Four in our family.

 

[DVC California]

You are only guaranteed a room with double occupancy, regardless of what type of rooms the hotel may offer. Any special requests must be made directly with the hotel once your bid has been accepted, but the hotel is not obligated in any way to accommodate the request. It is very important to note that there are some hotels that Priceline uses that offer only one bed in a room, especially when bidding 1* or 2*, but it has happened at all quality levels. This should be taken into account if you require more than one bed.

BiddingForTravel.com - Hotel FAQ No. 1

I posted this not to be rude, but to let you know that Sheryl's FAQ really do reflect a majority of the Frequently Asked Questions and has a lot of good, well thought out answers.

That being said, Orlando is very much a family vacation destination and as such, has a large inventory of 2-double bed rooms. You should not have any problems with this type of request unless it is a very high occupancy season (X-mas, Easter, 4th of July, etc). Five in a room may be pushing it but you may try to request a crib if the two-year old can still fit into it.

Hope this helps, Steve

 

[stlrod]

I am a frequent Priceline user and contributor to the other board. I would not use it with 5. While it may not be a problem, the worry is not worth it. You are guaranteed a room only for 2. Some hotels WILL NOT switch you (I've experienced this at a Marriott Courtyard even when they had rooms with two doubles available.) The Wyndham Palace will put you in a King bed typically and allow you to requext 2 beds. MOWC also put me in King and then switched when I asked. If you were planning on a rollway, some hotels do not have them and others charge a hefty fee. And once (this does not apply to Orlando), the former Ritz Carlton DC had no rooms which would accomaodate more than 3 due to fire codes. I agree with Steve about Orlando, you may very well be just fine. But with all the deals going on right now, I'd go the normal route and look for asuite hotel.

 

[PattiPB]

I am considering trying Priceline for my trip 3/12-16, but I'm a bit nervous since I've never done this before.

The FAQ page - which was GREAT - mentioned not trying to do Priceline too early, but what is TOO early??? When should I attempt to bid for my travel dates!?!?!? If it matters, I'm going to try for the "Resort" area.

Personally, I find those boards a bit intimidating, but that's probably just because I've never used them before. So, any information Priceline users could offer would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Patti

 

[DVC California]

Hi PattiPB -

There are three downsides to early Priceline bidding:

1. If your plans change for any reason (illness, job needs, etc.), you will not be able to cancel or get a refund for your tickets or hotel rooms. Because some things are unforeseeable, it is sometimes safer to only bid 1-3 months ahead of time and not be locked in.

2. Priceline may not yet have the inventory to meet your bid requirements, resulting in failed bids and wasted time. It can be frustrating to bid and bid to only have Priceline respond "We're sorry, but we couldn't find a major hotel/airline willing to accept your offer price." Hotel chains release rooms and airlines release seats to Priceline, based on their own projections of occupancy. Sometimes that's several months in advance, sometimes just a few weeks.

3. Fares, room rates, providers for Priceline winning bids will vary throughout the year. Again, this is based on the inventory that has been released to Priceline at the bulk rate Priceline was able to negotiate. So what you bid and win today for a August trip may be quite different than someone who bids in June for the same August week may receive.

A good example of this is that recently, the Swan and Dolphin were availble through Priceline for $45 + $5 bonus money bidding. This was for stays around the Christmas weeks and first came into inventory near the end of November. However, if you tried this same bid at the beginning of November, before that inventory was released, you might have had your bid upgraded to the Resort level Wyndham Palace. Although the Wyndham is a great resort, it isn't as close to MGM and Epcot as S/D is.

So....with all that information, what do you do? I don't think bidding now for a March trip is unreasonable. In fact, in spite of what I wrote above, I have bid as much as 10 months in advance. (I set a limit for my bids and I'm willing to accept the consequences if changes occur to my travel plans.)

Here is a list of things a Priceline rookie should do:

• Make cancellable reservations at a hotel that your comfortable with, using normal discounts available to you.
• Keep reading the winning bids that are posted in Sheryl's BiddingForTravel.com as points of reference for your own bids.
• Set a dollar limit for your bids (so that you don't get carried away "bidding fever".)
• Use the Bonus Money link to bid, where Priceline will add extra dollars to your bid.

And feel free to ask Sheryl for help in a bidding strategy. The only thing she asks is that you check out the going rates at travel web sites, let her know the maximum you want to pay, and bid her suggestions, to the letter, as soon as possible.

This has gotten a little long but I want to add one more thing. I have saved a lot of money and stayed at some very nice hotels based on the information on Both these boards. Read as much as possible and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Good luck! Steve

 

[pomcoach]

There is a way around this. Have you seen those blow-up beds? We bought one at Walmart, I think it was. I believe the cost was around $30 for a queen. It inflates automatically in minutes. We let the college boy sleep on it, and he had no complaints! Your 2 older kids would love it and play like they're camping out. (I would not get any smaller than the queen, if you plan on the 2 using it.) The 2 yr. old could sleep with you in the King bed. If the hotel is willing to give you 2 doubles, then the 8 yr. old could sleep on the blow-up, or the kids could take turns each night. The blow-up takes up about the space of a large book in your suitcase. It's very light, and it sure takes the worry out of Priceline stays. It deflates pretty quickly too, and you could throw it in the closet or in a drawer each morning. Or you could just leave it inflated. We stayed at the Marriott, and they didn't care about the blow-up. All you would need to take is a fitted sheet and top sheet. The hotel would bring you an extra blanket or pillow.
With the great hotels available on Priceline and the great prices, I just can't see paying conventional prices. We leave in 9 days!!! I bid on Priceline and got a 3* for $25 + the bonus money. We have 5 in our group also. I hadn't thought of the blow-up back then, when I placed this bid in July. So I have 3 rooms per night, but at $25 each, we felt we can splurge a little. Our kids are older and can stay in their own hotel rooms. I say go to Walmart, buy the blow-up, and bid on Priceline for a 4* or Resort.

 

[schwaa]

I did priceline earlier in the week. I got the Hilton in Downtown disney for 3/9-3/14. I called today to confirm the reservation, it was in the computer as a reservation for 2 double beds. They were really nice when I called too. i booked two rooms, I asked to change one of the rooms to a King bed only. It was no problem.

I thought it was interesting since Priceline guarantees only 2 people.

 

[PattiPB]

DVC Cali---Thank you VERY much for all of the information!!! I'm anxious to try Priceline, and since we are travelling without our 3 kids, this is definitely the trip to do it! I'll go back to Sheryl's board, read everything again, and then post a request for a bidding strategy. It would be great to end up in the Resort area for under $70 a night including tax, resort fee. I'll go back again and read, but would you suggest bidding 4* and hoping for an upgrade?

Shwaa---we are going almost the exact same time! What was your winning bid???

Thank you again everybody!!

Patti

 

[schwaa]

PattiPB,

My winning bid was $58. I sent you a PM through here. let me know if you got it.

 

[Patti PB]

Schwaa---Didn't get it yet!

Patti

 

[NancyIL]

There are some hotels that don't allow 5 in a room, and the Hilton at DD is one of them. When I got the Marriott Orlando World Center on Priceline, our room had 2 double beds and a single sofa sleeper, so it would sleep 5. The Swan will accommodate 4 people and the Dolphin 5 - with a rollaway.

 

[schwaa]

PattiPB,

I sent you a PM the other day, did you check your User CP and click on Private Messaging? Oh well. Now I remember reading that the Hilton only allows 4 people in the room. Maybe you should try something else. I'd feel terrible if you paid for the hilton and then you got there and they wouldn't let you stay with 5 people.

 

[Lucky4me]

I wouldn't worry about 5 in a room in Orlando. It also seems like the Hilton comes up only on occasion through Priceline, and if you wanted you could not mention the 5th person upon checking in. The air mattress sounds like a good idea.

The key to bidding Priceline is finding out before bidding what areas you can use as a 'free bid'. For example, you're trying for a 4* so you would check off each area individually BEFORE bidding to see if they had 4* available in that area. If you see the area only goes up to 3* you know you can use that area for a free bid. This works for large citys such as Orlando very well.

I've started a discount travel business and I've booked hundreds of Priceline rooms over the last year and a half with almost no glitches. I've had people with 5 in a room countless times in Orlando. I've also booked up to four rooms at a time. I've also changed a reservation by calling Priceline direct. They will allow you to add on another room or more nights at the same cost without rebidding. You just need to be very nice to the operator, and explain your dilema.

Sheryls site is fantastic for learning, but you are right. She is intimidating and you had better know your stuff before you post any questions. She has been nicer lately but I wouldn't test her!!

 

[DVC California]

PattiPB -

The only 4*'s that have come up are the Swan and Dolphin and that has been very infrequent. So depending on your bid amount and inventory, you may very well be "bumped up" to the Resort level. (This is not a free upgrade, it just means that you bid an amount that would have been accepted at the Resort level anyway.)

Again, learn about bidding incrementally using free rebids (zone system) and set a limit for your bidding ceiling.

Here is RobinB's list of hotels that typically come up on Priceline/Orlando to help your research(I only copied over 2 1/2-'s and higher):

Priceline Hotels in Orlando:

Resort

WDW-area:
Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa LINK
Marriott Orlando World Center LINK
Hilton in the Walt Disney World Village LINK

Universal/Seaworld Area:
Renaissance Orlando Resort LINK

4 Star:

WDW Area:
Walt Disney World Swan LINK
Walt Disney World Dolphin LINK

3 Star:

WDW Area:
Buena Vista Suites LINK
The Grosvenor LINK
Hyatt Orlando (note, on Hwy 192) LINK
Renaissance World Resort (was Doubletree Orlando Resort) LINK
Sheraton Safari LINK
Summerfield Suites LINK
Doubletree Guest Suites LINK
Hotel Royal Plaza LINK

Universal/Seaworld Area:
Homewood Suites LINK
Parc Corniche Resort LINK
Radisson Universal LINK
Rosen Centre Hotel LINK
Sheraton Studio City LINK
Sheraton World Resort LINK
Wyndham I-Drive LINK

Airport Area:
Holiday Inn Select Airport LINK
Marriott Airport Hotel LINK
Renaissance Airport Hotel LINK
Hyatt Regency Airport LINK

Altamonte Springs/Maitland:
Hilton LINK

2-1/2 Star:

WDW Area:
Courtyard Marriott Village (at Little Lake Bryan) LINK
Courtyard in the Walt Disney World Village LINK
Ramada Plaza Gateway LINK
Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort LINK

Universal/Seaworld Area:
Amerisuites Convention Center LINK
Amerisuites Universal LINK
Wingate Inn LINK

Airport Area:
Amerisuites Airport Northwest LINK
Courtyard by Marriott LINK

 

[Gillian]

Don't forget the disclaimer on that list!

"Remember though that this list is NON EXHAUSTIVE and that new hotels can appear ANY TIME"

Happy bidding!

 

[cinlee3]

I actually bought a priceline res. from someone on this board. It was for Courtyard by Marriot at Little Lake Bryan. We didn't transfer the res. just added my name to it. The person who originally made the res had requested a King Room, poolview with a crib. We have five in our family - Me, DH, DS(16), DS(11) and DD(3). When I called the hotel directly they said no problem changing to two queens. I called to verify later that the request was for two queens and they said no - couldn't change original request. Uh Oh, I was a little worried then. I called again and this time got someone to add preference for 2 queens. Called a few days later to check and they still had the king request but this time had preference listed for 2 queens.

When we arrived in Orlando we went straight to MK. I called from MK and they booked us for two queens. Check in was no problem, I even told them I had five in the party. The room was huge and we had plenty of room. DD slept with us in one bed and DSs had the other. We also still had the poolview room which I didn't even care about.

My mother-in-law was extremely worried about us buying someone elses res. but I didn't have any hesitations. This hotel was very, very nice and my kids didn't want to leave to go to the CBR for the end of our trip. They loved the pool, arcade and it was very close to Disney. Practically across the street from Downtown Disney. And to top it off, when we checked out they didn't even charge us the resort fee of $7.50/day. Yippee

 

[w8ting4pooh]

We are booked at the Poly which has a max. occup. of 5 per room. We are a family of 6 but since #6 is a 2 year old, the resort doesn't count him as a 'person' yet.

Do the hotels that allow a max. occup. of 5 also allow an infant?

Thanks!