Priceline and mandatory resort fees

[pfalcioni]

I hope this is in the right place to post this - since I'm a cheapskate who loves to travel I consider saving money on hotel rooms part of my overall budget!

I've always been a big fan of Priceline Name Your Own Price. It usually works great for the two of us, although I can understand it wouldn't be as great for a family since there's no way to know if you'll get one bed or two.

That said, I think I'm done using the Priceline Name Your Own Price system. Why? Because mandatory resort fees and parking fees charged at the hotel increased our room cost by more than 50% the last three times we've used it.

For instance, our most recent stay was at the SeaTac Hilton, bid was $51, rack rate is $97. Good deal, right? Not when you add $25 for parking, which is easily waived if you book direct, and free wifi can be negotiated (regularly $10) if you booked direct and have a Hilton HHonors card. You can't get HHonors points with a Priceline stay either.

So, significantly less of a deal than it looks at first blush.

Actually, I'm not fuming about the price, I'm frustrated because there is absolutely no way with the current Priceline Name Your Own Price model to tell what mandatory fees the resort is going to charge prior to clicking OK and locking in your bid.

You could bid $40, have it be accepted, and then get hit with $40 in mandatory resort fees when you arrive. Or, the resort could be honest and up front and the $40 is all you pay. Meaning that both resorts would be getting the same bidders from Priceline, but the first one is making double the profit. What a rip-off.

Hotwire lists rooms at a flat rate but doesn't tell you the name or exact location. They usually come in 5-20% below the best rate listed elsewhere. So the initial savings isn't as much as Priceline, but they give you the cost of mandatory fees up-front so you actually know what your final price will be for the room. Much more honest.

So, my love affair with Priceline is most definitely over. What about you? Any resort fee horror stories?

 

[kiki02]

used it once and didn't have that somehow. We booked a 3 or 4 star Lbv. It sounds hidden on purpose. Tsk tsk.

 

[Ranger111]

Well, I understand, up to a point.

But, you can almost guarantee that most three stars and above in urban areas (SEATAC) will have parking fees and WiFi fees.

You can usually get around the WiFi by going to the Lobby or hitting the Starbucks nearby

Parking, you kind of just have to assume it's going to be there...And $25 is not bad. Most of the Hiltons I frequent are $32 or so.

 

[disslot]

I only use expedia now and rent rooms I can cancel within 24 hours. Priceline's system is so inaccurate when it comes to those.

 

[pfalcioni]

Well, I understand, up to a point.

But, you can almost guarantee that most three stars and above in urban areas (SEATAC) will have parking fees and WiFi fees.

You can usually get around the WiFi by going to the Lobby or hitting the Starbucks nearby

Parking, you kind of just have to assume it's going to be there...And $25 is not bad. Most of the Hiltons I frequent are $32 or so.

I don't mind the fees so much, I mind that I don't know ahead of booking what they will be.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm frustrated because there is absolutely no way with the current Priceline Name Your Own Price model to tell what mandatory fees the resort is going to charge prior to clicking OK and locking in your bid.

So is the name your own price program a blind program, where you don't know where you're booking?

If so, what about using one of those sites like betterbidding.com ot help you narrow down what you're probably going to be offered? I used that site (or the other one, whose name I cannot remember right now) before. I was bidding on priceline and because of the help there I knew it would either be the Hyatt or Hilton both near the convention center in Anaheim. And so I knew to look for resort fees and parking fees on both of their websites, to see what the actual cost was going to be, BEFORE clicking to accept.

Does that work on the name your own price program as well?

 

[pfalcioni]

Yes, if you actually bid on Priceline - put in an amount you're willing to spend - then you used Name Your Own Price.

Although you can narrow things down quite a bit using Betterbidding.com and other sites, it's still no guarantee. I've had it narrowed down to 2 or 3 properties, only to have the result be something completely different.

 

[anna08]

I've seen some great rates using the app "hotel tonight" - this makes me wonder if it could have the same issue. I have yet to try it - you have to be bold and not have a reservation for a city, but the prices are sometimes amazing for 4 star hotels.

Anyone have experience with fees using this app?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I don't mind the fees so much, I mind that I don't know ahead of booking what they will be.

If you're bidding on a city hotel, you have to assume there will be a parking fee of at least $25 per night and often much more (like the $85 fee at the Marriott Marquis in NYC). You can often park for less money at nearby public garages. Resort fees are always annoying.

 

[kiki02]

I've seen some great rates using the app "hotel tonight" - this makes me wonder if it could have the same issue. I have yet to try it - you have to be bold and not have a reservation for a city, but the prices are sometimes amazing for 4 star hotels.

Anyone have experience with fees using this app?

ah, good post. I was so eager to use the app hotel tonight. finally tried it in orlando a few months ago. WORST hotel i ever stayed in... WORST
and there were fees when I got there. A 'resort fee' for no reason of 8.00 per night which didn't show up on the ressie. This was minimal since it was only 8.00 but there was also parking and wifi fee if you wanted wifi. Ran out of there after one night as fast as humanly possible.

So scummy this stuff.

 

[Lewisc]

You've identified two different issues with PL.

Free amenities such as a free breakfast, free internet or free parking aren't considered by PL. A "bidder" might even prefer a lower rated property with more free amenities. A "bidder" might prefer a different hotel in the same zone. Lower rated hotels are more likely to have those free amenities. Some "bidders" would like a "no upgrade" option when bidding. Free parking can never be assumed. Most of the non-Disney deluxe hotels charge for parking.

Mandatory resort fees distort the bidding. Not an issue if all the hotels in that area charge a similar fee. It is (was) an issue in Vegas when some hotels charge a resort fee and others don't.

PLs present practice is deceptive. A hotel hasn't agreed to your price if they can add an additional resort fee. You have to do your research. Assume you're going to "win" whatever hotel has the highest resort rate in that zone. Include that amount in deciding how much to bid.

The (vast) majority of non-Disney hotels charge for parking, charge for parks shuttles and/or have a mandatory resort fee.