המדריך (החסר) לפרייסליין

מאת דפנה בוסטון

Priceline is best for hotels and car rental. I never used them for flights because you never know what you’ll get…

As for hotels and cars you CAN’T go wrong. It is absolutely stupid to book hotels any other way… (IMO…)

Here are so steps and tips that might help you get the best for less.

  1. Do your homework:

Before you even try Priceline, go to to get “a feel” for the prices of the hotels in the area. See how much it costs per night for the area AND dates that you are planning to travel. Write down those numbers…

  1. Where?

Priceline lets you choose the area. For example, these are the options for New York, NY.

Improve Your Chances - Select 2 or More Areas Below:
/ Lower ManhattanArea Details
/ Midtown East Area Details
/ Midtown South Area Details
/ Midtown West Area Details
/ Upper East SideArea Details
/ Upper Midtown - Central Park South Area Details
/ Upper West SideArea Details

NEVER choose all the options on your first try. If you know of 2-3 areas that will be good for you, choose only 1-2. The reason is that if you don’t get your price, Priceline lets you try again only if you change one of your selections. Considering that you probably wouldn’t want to change the dates of your stay, you could still change the Area, or in your case add areas. Changing the price is not considered modifying your selection!!!!

  1. Quality ratings

Don’t be afraid! The star system here is not what we’re used to… To most people, 2 or 2 ½ stars are perfectly fine. You will never get a dump…

Some examples for 2- 2 ½ star hotels are:

NY - Broadway Plaza Hotel, Days Inn - New York (Midtown), Quality Hotel on Broadway, Quality Hotel Times Square etc.

Boston - Doubletree Club Hotel Boston Bayside, Holiday Inns, Best Westerns, Hampton Inn Boston/Cambridge, Residence Inn etc.

LA - Holiday Inns, Best Westerns, Comfort Inn Los Angeles, Ramada etc.

/ / 5-StarLuxury /
/ / 4-StarDeluxe /
/ / 3-StarUpscale /
/ / 2½-StarModerate-Plus /
/ / 2-StarModerate /
/ / 1-StarEconomy /

Keep in mind that hotels are not rated exactly the same way on Priceline and Expedia, but close enough to be able to estimate prices. Also, not all cities have all ratings.

If you’re are a skeptical person… stay safe and choose 3 stars. In some cases it would be too expensive. For example in NYC. You always need to evaluate the place and the people that are traveling with you.

If you can afford the 4 and 5 stars, you might as well call the hotel directly and make a reservation.

  1. When to start?

If you’re planning a vacation way ahead of time it might be too early to get your hotel, but never too early to try. I once booked a room a month ahead in Boston for 3 nights (The Park Plaza Hotel for $60/night.) In other cases I booked it just days (and once hours) before. This is sometimes hard to do with kids…

Remember that you can start the whole process again every 72 hours, so start early, you got nothing to lose.

  1. How much?

Good question…. You already know approximately how much per night (expedia), you can try around 30%-40% of that price. Now, I know some of the veterans will say “No way.” Well, yes way… My experience includes Philadelphia,Miami, Boston, Kansas City and LA. In multiple visits I got $170-200 hotels for $50-65. Be a little more generous in NYC though…

If you follow the other steps, you have some room to play around. If you don’t get it, add an area and raise you price by $10.

  1. Priceline is trying to help you…

Yeah right…Sometimes when you submit your request, you’ll get a statement that says:

Top of Form

Based on past priceline customer requests for hotels in this area, your offer price of $50 has only a small chance of being accepted.
If you call hotels directly you should expect to pay an average price of $165 per night for a 3-star hotel in the New York City area. With priceline you can save up to 50% off of the average retail price.
Remember - our partners will only accept one request for the same star level, city area and dates in a 72 hour period. So if you need a specific zone or star level - be sure your first offer price is your best price!
Suggested retail price for a 3 star hotel in New York City:$165
Name Your Own Pricesm</SUP< small>:
Per Room, Per Night ($USD)
/ $.00
Bottom of Form

DON’T BELIEVE THEM!!!! Don’t change your request…

  1. Israelis or not…

Have multiple accounts on multiple computers!

If I don’t get something (after a few tries) and I don’t have 72 hours to wait, I use another computer in which I have a different account (and also use a different credit card, those bustards are smart…)

Summary

All my tips are tied together. The more you use it, the better you’ll get.

All tips are based on my personal experience. The reason I decided to share this with you is not because I work for priceline (which I don’t…) but because I like other people to have this great feeling of leaving a hotel that you just paid $50 for and seeing the sign that says $199 per night…

Feel free to contact me by e-mail or instant messages if something is not clear.

Daphna Boston