Priceline Express Deals

[MarBee]

Question - I didn’t see a Hotwire thread so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place. I have the Hotwire app and the same hotels aren’t available on the app as on the browser? Is this correct or am I crazy? I was about to book a room last night I found on the browser. Went to the app and couldn’t find it.

This is what has been happening to me. I clear my cache and cookies, the app works for a little bit but then will show me at most 3 hotels total. Not 3 blind deals or three Disney hotels- just three total. I’ve deleted and reinstalled as well. It helps for a little then goes back to showing me nothing again.

 

[JJTNY]

Howdy Everyone!

Has anyone happened to have booked a CBR Hotwire hidden deal in the last few months?
I'm curious about how they are handling room assignments on the current batch.

When you get to the choose your room type in this drop, there are often 3 options: "Hotel Chooses Room Type", "Room 1 King Bed", "Pirate Standard View" - that last one pretty gives away the resort, no?

Wondering if anyone has booked using the "Hotel Chooses" option and if room actually was a King, or if successfully added kids later, or if it ended up being a Pirate room?

Have heard from a lot of people booking Coronado, but not many reports back on CBR. Thanks in advance!

 

[nikmasteed]

Hi all, this thread seems amazing and a great way to snag some real value. Sorry in advance if my questions are too general or misunderstanding the strategy-- I'm really just trying to hone a budget for a Nov 2022 trip and trying to use Nov 2021 as a baseline for budgeting.

Target resort is CBR for 6 nights (11/21-11/26 which includes Thanksgiving), where I think I can assume a rack rate range averaging $375/nt. I think I can also assume a 25% reduction off of that ($280/nt) is probably reasonably attainable, but I'd certainly like to do better and this strategy seems like a good way, especially since I think I can be flexible if a deal for that specifically never pops up (or if a better one pops up at a different resort!). Is $225-$250 in the realm of possibility for that week? Not sure if that is something that someone is willing to kindly check what is currently showing, or has any previous experience at CBR that time of year?

We also plan on 6 nights at Poly for the 2nd half of the same trip. I think I saw a few references to Poly showing up sometimes in these deals, but I'm not going to assume anything other than a 25% off rack for my budget.

I'm not the kind of person that tends to actively make adjustments to my reservations once I book, but willing to do it-- I think I will plan on booking my Poly half with a TA later this year once that timeframe is bookable and then the TA can discount watch for me. For the CBR first half I think I can maybe book direct (again maybe later this year) and then cancel if I find a great deal in mid-2022 thru priceline or hotwire?

Sorry again if this strays from the topic too much-- I feel comfortable enough with the amount of effort involved with this strategy to know that I would do it and can pencil a conservative estimate into my budget. I also know that I won't freak out if it doesn't work out perfectly, haha.

 

[JJTNY]

I'm not the kind of person that tends to actively make adjustments to my reservations once I book, but willing to do it-- I think I will plan on booking my Poly half with a TA later this year once that timeframe is bookable and then the TA can discount watch for me. For the CBR first half I think I can maybe book direct (again maybe later this year) and then cancel if I find a great deal in mid-2022 thru priceline or hotwire?

I think the tactic of booking the best regular deal you can find and watching for a Priceline or Hotwire deal that beats it as you get closer is a good one.

Only thing I'd say is holiday hidden rate deals are hit and miss - there have definitely been some surprisingly good deals during holidays over the years, but you'll typically see them less over the big holidays.

 

[CJK]

I'm hoping that some of you experts can help us out. I'm looking at a 4 star hotel on Priceline, Bonnet Creek, 8+ rating (but no mention of number of reviews). It says airport shuttle is included. If an airport shuttle is included, does that mean it has to be a Disney hotel? I'm unsure, because it doesn't mention the number of reviews. Our potential dates are Oct. 29 - Nov. 9th. I'd soooo appreciate your input!
ETA: After clicking through, I see there's an additional mandatory fee AND kids stay free. Looks like it's not a Disney hotel. For interest sake, what non-Disney hotel has a free airport shuttle?
Edited again.....looks like the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek. Do they have a free airport shuttle, or is it a Priceline error?

 

[JJTNY]

I'm hoping that some of you experts can help us out. I'm looking at a 4 star hotel on Priceline, Bonnet Creek, 8+ rating (but no mention of number of reviews). It says airport shuttle is included. If an airport shuttle is included, does that mean it has to be a Disney hotel? I'm unsure, because it doesn't mention the number of reviews. Our potential dates are Oct. 29 - Nov. 9th. I'd soooo appreciate your input!
ETA: After clicking through, I see there's an additional mandatory fee AND kids stay free. Looks like it's not a Disney hotel. For interest sake, what non-Disney hotel has a free airport shuttle?
Edited again.....looks like the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek. Do they have a free airport shuttle, or is it a Priceline error?

I used to keep track of amenities in one of my resort matcher sheets, but there were too many times that Priceline put erroneous amenities on various resorts, plus they'd change up the ones that appeared on the top amenities on hidden deals.

Comparing stars, guest rating, reviews, location and mandatory fees usually gets the job done without amenities.

For the record, if the mandatory fee on the 4* 8-guest deal in BC you saw was $39.38 per night, it was almost certainly Dolphin.
There's really not a lot of Disney resorts on Priceline Express for months now, and if you see them they aren't great deals.

You may be able to find Hotwire Disney resort deals on some the days in your window, but while cheaper than Disney's deals right now they weren't very deep discounts. When I just searched the whole set of dates 10/29-11/09 I didn't see any Disney resorts.

If you keep checking over time, you may see more as you get closer - good luck!

 

[CJK]

I used to keep track of amenities in one of my resort matcher sheets, but there were too many times that Priceline put erroneous amenities on various resorts, plus they'd change up the ones that appeared on the top amenities on hidden deals.

Comparing stars, guest rating, reviews, location and mandatory fees usually gets the job done without amenities.

For the record, if the mandatory fee on the 4* 8-guest deal in BC you saw was $39.38 per night, it was almost certainly Dolphin.
There's really not a lot of Disney resorts on Priceline Express for months now, and if you see them they aren't great deals.

You may be able to find Hotwire Disney resort deals on some the days in your window, but while cheaper than Disney's deals right now they weren't very deep discounts. When I just searched the whole set of dates 10/29-11/09 I didn't see any Disney resorts.

If you keep checking over time, you may see more as you get closer - good luck!

Thanks so much for your expertise! The mandatory fee for the deal I mentioned above does appear to be $39.38, so I guess it is the Dolphin! I think we'll keep watching both HW and PL, and play around with dates. Thanks again for all your amazing help!

 

[LMichelleee]

Except when you delete the previously working but now wonky Disney App and it won't redo


Did the Hotwire charge go through?

Except when you delete the previously working but now wonky Disney App and it won't redownload because it decides that it is now incompatible with your phone. Suggestions?


Did the Hotwire charge go through?

Meant to post an update!

Yes the charge went through. And if in case this happens to anyone else, here's what happened.

Originally booked 2 nights at $68 plus a discount code for ASM. Trip total was $155 and received a confirmation email as well as my card charged. Reservation number didn't work and decided to wait to try again. A week later I remembered I needed to link to the reservation.

After it still didn't work I called Disney who said they have zero record of it and to contact Hotwire. After calling each back and each putting the blame one the other, FOUR HOURS LATER I spoke with hotwire who then secured me Pop with no additional cost to me.

Apparently disney ran out of inventory at that rate (2 days earlier it was $120~/nt) and therefore the reservation was rejected at thier end. Hotwire tried resubmitting but Disney would not allow.

TLDR: Disney ran out of inventory and rejected my hotrate reservation. Hotwire fixed it.

 

[SarahC97]

But I take it that if we're able to link the reservation, then we're good to go? I have a week at CSR through a hotrate coming up in 2 weeks. I have a secret fear we'll arrive and they'll be all "sorry, sold out" even though I have my reservation linked in MDE.

 

[Turk February]

But I take it that if we're able to link the reservation, then we're good to go? I have a week at CSR through a hotrate coming up in 2 weeks. I have a secret fear we'll arrive and they'll be all "sorry, sold out" even though I have my reservation linked in MDE.

You'll be fine

 

[Leigh L]

Extra 12% off in the PLE app

6Q88RR7MB8T

Book by 05/15/2021​

 

[LMichelleee]

But I take it that if we're able to link the reservation, then we're good to go? I have a week at CSR through a hotrate coming up in 2 weeks. I have a secret fear we'll arrive and they'll be all "sorry, sold out" even though I have my reservation linked in MDE.

You're fine. Mine never linked and this is a really rare thing to happen, according to the first CM I spoke with. I've been booking these deals getting Disney resorts at least 30+ times now and this is the first time I've ever had any issue.

 

[tbssenterprises]

I am very late to this party! LOL. Is there anyway I can find a quick tutorial on booking through PLE? For instance, I just looked and there are some location categories such as: WDW Maingate, WDW AREA, and then some actually say Walt Disney World, WDW Disney Springs and WDW Bonnet Creek. Now, I know I don't want Maingate or Area, but would I actually get a Disney hotel if I did WDW, WDW Springs and/or WDW Bonnet Creek? Also, is there a cheat sheet or crash course I can read up on? Thank you so much!

 

[SarahC97]

I am very late to this party! LOL. Is there anyway I can find a quick tutorial on booking through PLE? For instance, I just looked and there are some location categories such as: WDW Maingate, WDW AREA, and then some actually say Walt Disney World, WDW Disney Springs and WDW Bonnet Creek. Now, I know I don't want Maingate or Area, but would I actually get a Disney hotel if I did WDW, WDW Springs and/or WDW Bonnet Creek? Also, is there a cheat sheet or crash course I can read up on? Thank you so much!

Most are in Bonnet Creek. A few in PL are in Disney Springs, like SSR.

 

[JJTNY]

I am very late to this party! LOL. Is there anyway I can find a quick tutorial on booking through PLE? For instance, I just looked and there are some location categories such as: WDW Maingate, WDW AREA, and then some actually say Walt Disney World, WDW Disney Springs and WDW Bonnet Creek. Now, I know I don't want Maingate or Area, but would I actually get a Disney hotel if I did WDW, WDW Springs and/or WDW Bonnet Creek? Also, is there a cheat sheet or crash course I can read up on? Thank you so much!

Unless something changed in the last day since I checked, Priceline is still mostly a dead zone for Disney resort deals, but Hotwire does have a good amount.

If you are a glutton for punishment, you can read back through my last few years of blog posts for various tips on searching.
I try to put a tip or two and examples in each post along with the deals I find for a given period.

Quick versions: All Disney resorts are either in Bonnet Creek or Disney Springs. (There are also non-Disney resorts in each, of course.)
To help identify resorts, you want to compare Star and Guest ratings, location, and review counts (if they are showing) to narrow down the possibilities.

Looking for mandatory (aka resort) fees on a booking are also helpful: Disney resorts do not have them and the others tend to remain the same.
(Although Priceline sometimes randomizes the prices a little because PL is crazy, but that has been rare lately.)

The good news is I have some resort matcher spreadsheets that can help you with that process. Just enter the star and guest ratings, review counts (on the Priceline sheet only) and choose location. It will tell you all of the resorts that match the deal info you entered. Often it is obvious - especially now that only some resorts are open.

Hotwire Resort Matcher

Priceline Resort Matcher

On Hotwire it is often easy to spot the hidden resort even without my handy dandy matcher: If you see a hidden HotRate deal, note the ratings and review counts as well as the crossed out "normal price" on it. Then scroll down the results until you find a non-hidden deal with the same ratings etc and a normal price that is $1 different than the crossed out one. (Very rarely it is off by $2.) That should tell you what resort the hidden deal is for.

Good luck!

 

[tbssenterprises]

Thank you so much. I just discovered that if I read through a description, they give out hints....easy to look up. Thank you and have a great day.

 

[Mollymovacca]

Anyone having issues with Hotwire today? App is telling me my time and date are wrong on my phone. They aren’t. When I try from browser it says server not found! I’m so confused, maybe this is telling me I check too much! Haha!

 

[Leigh L]

Anyone having issues with Hotwire today? App is telling me my time and date are wrong on my phone. They aren’t. When I try from browser it says server not found! I’m so confused, maybe this is telling me I check too much! Haha!

Mine seems to be working ok today on the website and the app.
(I was *this close* to booking a night but the room I saw this morning is now gone and the code I tried typing in isn't valid. That was my biggest issue...of course, it took me a few to realize it was a PLE code )

Did you try rebooting or reinstalling the app?

 

[Mollymovacca]

Mine seems to be working ok today on the website and the app.
(I was *this close* to booking a night but the room I saw this morning is now gone and the code I tried typing in isn't valid. That was my biggest issue...of course, it took me a few to realize it was a PLE code )

Did you try rebooting or reinstalling the app?

No, that was my next move. I cut my WiFi off and the site worked once from browser. But, when I filtered for airport shuttle it was missing in the listed ammenties and Bonnet Creek was also missing. But then it stopped working again and says access denied! But app is still saying check internet connection. I’ll delete and reinstall I think! So so strange!

 

[Leigh L]

No, that was my next move. I cut my WiFi off and the site worked once from browser. But, when I filtered for airport shuttle it was missing in the listed ammenties and Bonnet Creek was also missing. But then it stopped working again and says access denied! But app is still saying check internet connection. I’ll delete and reinstall I think! So so strange!

Ugh. That is so weird. I hope reinstalling works.

I just had an interesting experience. I did book the 1 night I wanted for my DS to add a night and the HotRate was $20 more expensive on the app than the website, usually the better deal is on the app! So the app appears to be working, but I booked on the web.