Okay, by now you have all heard William Shatner talk about Priceline but there is an underlying fear about bidding for a hotel room when you don’t know which hotel you will end up with. I can tell you that I use Priceline and Hotwire regularly and have had wonderful results. The key is paying attention to the general area you want and the number of stars you will accept.
I usually go to Hot Wire and look at how much I can get a 4 star hotel for in the area I am looking for, than I go to Priceline and bid $10 to $20 less than the Hotwire price. If I get turned down a couple of times at the lower price then I take the Hotwire price.
Here are some recent examples where I have stayed:
4 star hotel – The Hyatt Regency in Atlanta $60
4 star hotel – Renaissance Hotel Downtown – $109
3 star hotel – Fayetteville – $40 (this was a business trip so I didn’t care about luxury) my associate had made what he thought was a good deal at the same hotel for $80
Don’t be afraid of bidding or accepting Hot Wire prices without knowing the hotel, trust the stars.
I will start posting my Priceline winning bids on this blog and will ask others who read it and use Priceline to do the same.