Now I KNOW how priceline makes it's money...

[jfulcer]

Of course, they lined me up with a hotel in Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) for a good deal. It was a good deal below what I was able to find myself, and I'm a good searcher.

So when I checked out, I paid cash for a few phone calls I had made, and they gave me a receipt for it. The receipt also had the room as paid for by Priceline.

Not only do I know that Priceline used a 'Mastercard' to pay for the bill (and the last 4 digits of the card), they paid the hotel a full $20 less than what I paid priceline, PER NIGHT.

That's $60 over our 3 day stay. sheesh, why do they need to charge me the service fee if they're making a killing like that???

 

[house_of_princesses]

why do they need to charge me the service fee if they're making a killing like that???

First, they don't NEED to, they want to. Second, they do it because they can!

 

[Jakk]

You paid a price for a service. You said that the price you paid to priceline was a good deal below what you would have been able to find and you are a good searcher. Sounds to me like everyone wins. You paid less than you would have, priceline sold a room and made some money, the hotel sold an otherwise unoccupied room!! Don't see what the problem is.

 

[Cindy B]

You got lucky to even find a room in Sandusky with Priceline. I checked www.biddingfortravel.com and quite frankly, it reported very minimal sucess with Sandusky.

Which hotel did you wind up with? I couldn't find anything cheaper than $75 for Mem. Day weekend, so we just wound up at Breakers Express.

 

[PandyPaws]

sheesh, why do they need to charge me the service fee if they're making a killing like that???

...ummm, because their Corporate Headquarters are right here in Norwalk, CT and real estate here costs a fortune??

 

[nuke]

Someone was going to make that money. Either the hotel if you booked it directly to them, or Priceline. Since you paid less than you would have booking it direct, I don't see what the problem is. Companies are in business to make money.

 

[jfulcer]

Oh, it's not that it's a problem, it's just more of a window into how Priceline can afford to pay Captain Kirk for those ads.

We actually got the Clarion Hotel, right next to Sandusky Mall. We went through a whole bunch of iterations for hotels/costs/etc before this one hit. I dunno if it was just close enough to the date, or what. We booked it about 2 1/2 weeks out from our trip.

I was happy with my price, and they made some money on the deal, so everyone won, IMHO. Priceline just won more than I thought.

I also thought it was interesting that they paid with a Credit Card, but I guess that must be the easiest way. I wouldn't want to have to check that bill at the end of the month.

 

[nuke]

Priceline doesn't always make $20 on each hotel room. If you figure out the tax that Priceline charges you, you can see what they paid for the room. It's usually only $5-7 less than your bid.