V-Flyer

I am a great fan of Priceline for the occasional hotel stay, especially if it is relatively unimportant in which hotel I stay and down through the years I have had some great deals. I have only had one really dud experience and one hotel which was classed as 4* I would have considered 3* and it has since been downgraded. I usually link in with the Bidding for Travel website and with judicious use of that site have been able to get more or less the hotel I want. The downside of Priceline is that you do not know which hotel you have got until your bid has been accepted.

My quest this time was an hotel at SFO for the end of my Californain sojourn. In the past I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency and the Doubletree (that's the one that has been downgraded) and was trying to score the Hyatt Regency once more. The alternative would have been the Sheraton, which also would have been fine with me.

I started bidding in April and was getting nowhere fast until today when I successfully got the Hyatt Regency. The best available rate is $229. My successful bid? $60!! Woohoo!

Now if only I could get a similar deal for a LHR hotel

Are you talking about the Sheraton down on Fishermans Wharf...I was highly unimpressed with that place.

I do like BFT though..great little website....which reminds me..need a hotel for Sept..

Originally posted by Scrooge
Are you talking about the Sheraton down on Fishermans Wharf...I was highly unimpressed with that place.

I do like BFT though..great little website....which reminds me..need a hotel for Sept..

No. At the airport. We'll be back late-ish from NorCal so I'm not bothered about being in the city. In any case Burlingame is a nice little town

Oh ok..as I said..the one down at Fishermans sucks..how the heck they charge what they do on the website is beyond me.

Have only used Priceline once, and that was for what turned out to be one of the Westins in Chicago. Really nice hotel, though it was being re-furbished at the time.

Ah, but the bill was slipped under the door the final night - and instead of us being charged the rate we'd bid (which, coincidentally, was also $60 a night!), they'd charged us the full whack. We went to sort it out, and grudgingly they agreed, but also said 'it's way below what you should have paid' - all in a very condescending tone. What on earth it had to do with them, I don't know - presumably, their job is the same, whatever rate a customer has negotiated?

They really were very off, especially when we asked to have some documentation to show we''d paid in full, that the lower rate was correct. They said they couldn't do that, but we insisted we had some form of proof and eventually, they got something cobbled together.

Which was just as well. When we got home, our card statement shwoed we HAD been charged rack rate, so we had to make a couple of calls and fax the thing back at them. Not impressed. [:(]

You normally pay Priceline direct as soon as your bid is accepted and should never have to pay the hotel directly (unless thats a recent change? I've only been using it since last year). Have to agree HL, bidding for travel is an excellent site and I wouldn't use Priceline without it, I have gotten some excellent hotels/rates on Priceline, and its all down to your recommendation in a thread a while back, so thanks:)

Originally posted by Scrooge
Oh ok..as I said..the one down at Fishermans sucks..how the heck they charge what they do on the website is beyond me.

Simple. Location, Location, Location. Too many tourists who have no idea except that FW is the hotest place in the city. HA!!!

Personally I hate the place.

No the location was fine, it was the general condition of the place..and 90%of the staff, I am SPG gold, I don't care if I bought the room on priceline..I am still SPG gold..I wanted the incidentals credited to my SPG account, they said can't be done..I said BS,they said no it's the truth, SPG said BS...

Hell you can walk into and Starwood hotel in the world..buy a drink at the bar..give them your SPG card and it will be credited with the cost of that drink, 'cept at this hotel..they are special ...special as in can't be bothered to hit a keyboard 3 times.

Ok wandering OT...I use priceline maybe 6-8 times a year, I now avoid Starwood properties like the plague, using BFT I can pretty much say I am going to get a Hyatt is there is one in the area..and I will drive 10 mins out of my way to get one over a Starwood.

Originally posted by Attitude23
You normally pay Priceline direct as soon as your bid is accepted and should never have to pay the hotel directly (unless thats a recent change? I've only been using it since last year). Have to agree HL, bidding for travel is an excellent site and I wouldn't use Priceline without it, I have gotten some excellent hotels/rates on Priceline, and its all down to your recommendation in a thread a while back, so thanks:)

I don't recall - this must have been 7 years ago, so the process could well have changed.[|)]

Funny you should mention SFO, Honeylamb because thats one town where I have also been really lucky with priceline.

We managed (what was) the Park Hyatt for $80 a night, and not much more for the Argent. Both nice rooms with good views on high floors.

BTF is a great site, but some of their 4* hotels are a bit dogdy..

Cheers!

Dean

Playas,

I stayed at the Marriott at Vandy in Nashville the other day. Not only did I get a stay credited to my comp-ed Marriott Silver account but also got VS miles credit quickly. Holla!

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
Playas,

Holla!

These are the end times...

GJ

No, it's LOVELY [:p]


Back on topic..Priceline let me down big time this week, I have to go to San Diego next monday, priceline had nothing...I ended up geting a room from Yahoo travel...for less than I was bidding [:I]

I stayed at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf a couple of years ago - and that was on a standard SPG.com rate. I was most unimpressed with the place, and invoked the statisfaction guarantee. I think they gave me 10,000 points or something similar. Still wouldn't want me to stay there again though!

Pete

Originally posted by Scrooge
No the location was fine, it was the general condition of the place..and 90%of the staff, I am SPG gold, I don't care if I bought the room on priceline..I am still SPG gold..I wanted the incidentals credited to my SPG account, they said can't be done..I said BS,they said no it's the truth, SPG said BS...

Hell you can walk into and Starwood hotel in the world..buy a drink at the bar..give them your SPG card and it will be credited with the cost of that drink, 'cept at this hotel..they are special ...special as in can't be bothered to hit a keyboard 3 times.

Ok wandering OT...I use priceline maybe 6-8 times a year, I now avoid Starwood properties like the plague, using BFT I can pretty much say I am going to get a Hyatt is there is one in the area..and I will drive 10 mins out of my way to get one over a Starwood.

What is BFT[:?]

BiddingForTravel.com I think...

What is BFT[:?]

Yes - GreboDB is correct, it stands for BiddingForTravel.com. It's a site where users put up their recent Priceline wins to let others know what is available, where it's available and for how much during a certain period.

Jonathan