Hotwire or Priceline

[zoicca]

There seems to be a lot of Priceline fans on here. Is it just me... I have to confess I would much rather buy from Hotwire than Priceline. there just seems to be too many rules and risks with Priceline.

 

[Lucky4me]

I would agree with that statement, except if you learn about Priceline and bid correctly, they are consistently priced lower than Hotwire.

 

[swilshire]

I've used both and been happy. I use Hotwire when I'm more concerned about specific amenities, such as a kitchenette. If I just need a place to sleep and clean up, Priceline is cheaper.

Sheila

 

[TrustedTraveler]

I'm a fan of both Hotwire and Priceline and agree with both the above responses.
I usually check both, but when it comes to the best deal, especially with rental cars, Priceline always wins. We've found some amazing deals and have never been disappointed.

 

[Detailor]

There seems to be a lot of Priceline fans on here. Is it just me... I have to confess I would much rather buy from Hotwire than Priceline. there just seems to be too many rules and risks with Priceline.

I think of Hotwire as the easier system to use because a fair amount of information regarding amenities is disclosed up front. But the trade-off is that you pay more, when compared with Priceline, for that information.

Priceline requires more research - primarily, I use www.biddingfortravel.com but www.betterbidding.com is good, too - to determine what hotels in various zones are accepting different levels of bids but, as other posters have mentioned, you can get hotel rooms for less (sometimes significantly so) using Priceline than through Hotwire.

If you make the effort to learn how to use Priceline to your benefit then you can significantly reduce many of the risks associated with Priceline.

Dick Taylor

 

[DOOM1001]

I was a long time Hotwire user and a recent Priceline user.I always used them along with Betterbidding.com.One day the hotel I was used to getting on Hotwire stopped showing up so I switched to priceline,I used it twice and was satisfied,but on my last two trips I tried to get a 2.5 star hotel,knowing the 2.5 star hotels in the area are very good and I would be happy with them,instead the last two times I tried for the 2.5 star hotels in that particular area I got "UPGRADED" to a 3 star hotel which is not as good as the 2.5 star hotels I would have gotten.Makes me think it's a way to make people feel they're getting a better deal when in fact the 2.5 star hotels are better.By them doing this "UPGRADE" it makes using Betterbidding pointless with them.I'm off Priceline and switching back to Hotwire.

 

[zoicca]

I would agree with that statement, except if you learn about Priceline and bid correctly, they are consistently priced lower than Hotwire.

Thanks for all the comments. I recently discovered www.hoteldealsrevealed.com which is another great "helper" website.

We got a hotel without a pool for a recent trip to Seattle. My wife was not impressed, but I saved a lot of money. Oh well, lesson learned. I now know when to use each of these sites... it really depends on the circumstances. My myself on business trips, I'll take whatever is cheap. For more leisure travel, I need to have certain guaranteed amenities.

 

[wdwnomad]

I actually like Last Minute Travel better. Their prices are much better than the hotels themselves, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I like LMT because if you do your research you can figure what hotel you are getting. They have pictures on their website. The pictures are stock photos from the hotels so if you know what your hotel looks like then you can figure out what hotel it is. Another way to figure out the hotel is pretend you are booking it then add an activity to your reservation. When you go to the summary page the hotel name appears. Another reason I like LMT is that most hotels have a cancellation policy so you can get a refund.

 

[davinakb]

I actually like Last Minute Travel better. Their prices are much better than the hotels themselves, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I like LMT because if you do your research you can figure what hotel you are getting. They have pictures on their website. The pictures are stock photos from the hotels so if you know what your hotel looks like then you can figure out what hotel it is. Another way to figure out the hotel is pretend you are booking it then add an activity to your reservation. When you go to the summary page the hotel name appears. Another reason I like LMT is that most hotels have a cancellation policy so you can get a refund.

Hadn't heard of LMT really. How does it work??I'm used to PL - hadn't really seen impressive 'deals' on HW esp. after the research. Guess I just know the PL tricks, always better for highest level. As another mentioned sometimes you know of good 2.5/3* hotels .. but b/c they are good, they don't have to PL, and the upgrade isn't a deal. FWIW.

 

[Paging Tom Morrow]

I actually like Last Minute Travel better. Their prices are much better than the hotels themselves, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I like LMT because if you do your research you can figure what hotel you are getting. They have pictures on their website. The pictures are stock photos from the hotels so if you know what your hotel looks like then you can figure out what hotel it is. Another way to figure out the hotel is pretend you are booking it then add an activity to your reservation. When you go to the summary page the hotel name appears. Another reason I like LMT is that most hotels have a cancellation policy so you can get a refund.

We used LastMinuteTravel last year and did a ton of research attempting to figure out which hotel's pictures were being represented. Unfortunately for us, some of the rooms at Buena Vista Suites are identical to those at Caribe Royale. We booked thinking that we were going to get Caribe Royale and were initially disappointed when we got Buena Vista Suites.

I would still use LastMinuteTravel, but when we determine what hotel we think it is, we will ensure there are no sister hotels in the same area.

 

[jsgrand0]

I actually like Last Minute Travel better. Their prices are much better than the hotels themselves, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. I like LMT because if you do your research you can figure what hotel you are getting. They have pictures on their website. The pictures are stock photos from the hotels so if you know what your hotel looks like then you can figure out what hotel it is. Another way to figure out the hotel is pretend you are booking it then add an activity to your reservation. When you go to the summary page the hotel name appears. Another reason I like LMT is that most hotels have a cancellation policy so you can get a refund.

found it! cool..knew hotwire used to be like this, but they fixed it!

 

[Daisydd77]

Priceline requires more research - primarily, I use www.biddingfortravel.com but www.betterbidding.com is good, too - to determine what hotels in various zones are accepting different levels of bids but, as other posters have mentioned, you can get hotel rooms for less (sometimes significantly so) using Priceline than through Hotwire.



Dick Taylor

I LOVE Betterbidding .com!

 

[marybaby08]

For Last minute travel there is a trick .....

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=112137

Follow the instructions it works like a charm..

 

[pigletto]

I just booked with Priceline. I have yet to have a bad experience. The only thing I have to do is call ahead of time and make a request for a room with two beds because they only guarantee a room for two. I also research all the mentioned tip sites before starting to bid. I have never had an issue with getting a bad room, or getting two beds. However, I only use it for a few nights and I only bid on three to four star properties.
We needed a hotel for our last night in Orlando the first week of March. Our flight home is very early and we wanted to sleep close the airport.

I won the Orlando Airport Marriot (3.5 stars) on my second bid of 55 dollars. With taxes it is 67.00 Canadian. I will call in the morning to confirm the reservation and request the room for four. The cheapest I found for that room elsewhere was 189 on sale on Expedia for the same night, so overall I saved over 70%. I am quite pleased with the result.

 

[atoady1]

Ditto, I like priceline,

 

[kiki02]

Ditto, I like priceline,

Just used hotwire. Was not a good deal at all. Very disappointing. (disney area/ universal)

will try priceline next time.

 

[ranman1973]

I just booked with Priceline. I have yet to have a bad experience. The only thing I have to do is call ahead of time and make a request for a room with two beds because they only guarantee a room for two. I also research all the mentioned tip sites before starting to bid. I have never had an issue with getting a bad room, or getting two beds. However, I only use it for a few nights and I only bid on three to four star properties.
We needed a hotel for our last night in Orlando the first week of March. Our flight home is very early and we wanted to sleep close the airport.

I won the Orlando Airport Marriot (3.5 stars) on my second bid of 55 dollars. With taxes it is 67.00 Canadian. I will call in the morning to confirm the reservation and request the room for four. The cheapest I found for that room elsewhere was 189 on sale on Expedia for the same night, so overall I saved over 70%. I am quite pleased with the result.

My kids had to sleep on the floor once in San Diego, and the hotel didn't have a pool. My wife was grumpy with me.

 

[pigletto]

My kids had to sleep on the floor once in San Diego, and the hotel didn't have a pool. My wife was grumpy with me.

I can see her point
Well, when I have called in the past it's never been a problem. Plus, if we don't get two beds it will be a King bed. My husband and I and our youngest would fit just fine in a King and we always bring an air mattress in our luggage because the kids often don't want to share a bed. So for one night we're covered.