Priceline is an online travel agency where you can search for and book the exact hotel rooms and flights you want, or you can use the Priceline Negotiator to “Name Your Own Price” or “Express Deals” to save more on your reservation. To use Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price”, you need to agree to stay at any hotel in your desired area and/or fly at any time of the day on any airline.
Where to find the BEST DEALS on Priceline:
Priceline Express Deals – Save up to 60% off hotels with NO bidding and NO coupon code required! You find out the name of the hotel after you book – but you’ll get to see the star rating, neighborhood, and price before you book.
Priceline Review – Here’s what we really like:
Priceline has a couple of guarantees that we like. The first is the Priceline Express Deal Guarantee which will refund you a whopping 200% of any “Express Deal” booking if you find a lower price (including taxes/fees) up until Midnight before your travel date. This Priceline guarantee covers every hotel booking that was marked an “Express Deal” – which is pretty amazing because these are their most heavily discounted hotels that don’t require any bidding. This is where you will find their current Express Deals for hotels
. For all other bookings (excluding “Name Your Own Price”), Priceline has a Best Price Guarantee
that applies to bookings for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages up until Midnight before you travel, but you’ll just get a full refund (100%) without any additional incentives.
How good are the prices on Priceline “Name Your Own Price”?
Priceline claims that you can save up to 40% on flights, 60% on hotels
, and 40% on rental cars
if you use the Priceline Negotiator to “Name Your Own Price”. So, there are some amazing deals here, but there are some things to be aware of. These bookings are non-refundable and unchangeable (all sales are final, so you cannot cancel your reservation), so make sure you know what you are getting into. The best way to protect yourself is to obtain travel cancellation insurance here. Also you will not know the name of the hotel, airline, or flight times until after you have agreed to a deal – so you need to be a little flexible. However, if your travel plans are solid and you want the best price, this is where to go, especially for last minute travel.
Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” hotel bidding tips:
- Before you start bidding, you want to do a little research. Using Priceline’s regular search engine, find 4-star and 5-star hotels in your desired destination and write down the lowest price you find (exclude lower star-level hotels). This is the price that you want to beat by at least 20%, otherwise it may not be worth it to you. We have heard that the hotels in Priceline’s regular search engine do not necessarily correspond with what they will give you when you name your own price. However, it’s a good indicator of the general hotel market, and now you can begin bidding.
- Don’t bid too low, or you may not be able to bid again for 24 hours. The Priceline rules state that if you lose a bid on a hotel, you are not allowed to re-bid for 24 hours unless you either (1) change your star-level or (2) add an area to your location (each city is broken up into neighborhood/areas). Obviously, you should begin by bidding on the highest star-level available, so that you can go down if necessary.
- Don’t bid on anything less than a 3.5-star hotel on Priceline because we’ve heard that the quality suffers when you go below that point. After you lose a bid on 4-star hotels, you can add an “area” that has zero 4-star hotels, so that you may re-bid a higher amount without really changing anything.
- Keep booking fees in mind, because Priceline will usually charge you one. The “Name Your Own Price” booking fee varies, and is disclosed after you win a bid.
- Some experts recommend bidding 50% less than the “median” rate for your destination to get the best price, but we think that may be a bit steep. See winning hotel bids in top cities here.
Does Priceline have a good reputation?
Compared to other major travel sites that we’ve reviewed here, they also seem to get fewer complaints. Just spend a few minutes reading our travel website reviews to see which travel sites are getting several complaints and you’ll see that Priceline complaints are few and far between. Most Priceline customer complaints come from those that were upset that they were not given a refund after canceling a “Name Your Own Price” hotel reservation. Always keep Priceline’s cancellation policy in mind, if you are unsure about your travel plans, even when booking a published hotel or airfare (not bidding). Their cancellation policy will be shown on the final booking screen. We highly recommend that you obtain travel cancellation insurance here.
Priceline Fees & Cancellation Policy:
- No booking fees on all published airline tickets on Priceline, including most Priceline Negotiator “Name Your Own Price” bookings. Booking fees may apply if you fly more than one carrier.
- Some Priceline Name Your Own Price (Priceline Negotiator) purchases carry a variable booking fee. This is disclosed AFTER your bid is accepted.
- Priceline Name Your Own Price (Priceline Negotiator) and Express Deals reservations are non-refundable and unchangeable.
- Priceline Name Your Own Price (Priceline Negotiator) carries no guarantee that specific hotels, dates or prices are available, that your bid will be accepted, or that you will get savings off of fixed prices. Fixed prices and star levels of hotels do not necessarily correspond with Priceline Negotiator.
- Many reservations are non-refundable if you cancel on Priceline! Cancellation policy varies per booking. Read the individual cancellation policy on the Priceline booking page before you buy.
Protect yourself! Obtain travel cancellation insurance here. – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
*This review including the fees and policy information is based solely on research done by TravelSiteCritic.com, these figures may be inaccurate and are subject to change. Verify policies with the Priceline website before you book. Please be aware of airfare taxes & fees, applicable to any booking that includes airfare. TravelSiteCritic.com is an affiliate of Priceline, and some of the links on this website are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I receive a commission. It doesn’t cost you more money & supports our work on this website. Thank you! Read our reviews disclosure for more info.
WHY NOT USE PRICELINE?? 1. If you want a non-smoking room and you get a smoking room – NO REFUND OR CHANGE. The motel WILL NOT give you (low bidder) the best first choice of rooms. If that is not enough you could get a HANDICAP ROOM…oops dont like it NO REFUND or CHANGE. 2. I recently had a room that was the size of a ships room …the only thing you could do was lay in bed and watch tv.
AVOID PRICELINE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. LOOK AROUND AND TALK TO THE MOTEL YOURSELF. The best price is not always the best deal. There is a lot of things they don’t tell you until THEY GET YOUR MONEY. THAT’S RIGHT YOU DON’T GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
I booked a flight using the name your own price not knowing that you would not be able to confirm the flight before they charged you. They charged me for a time that I could not comply with and I tried to call Priceline and tell them that it was a mistake. They said there was nothing they could do and I tried calling the insurance and they told me the same thing. Not even 2 sec after I was charged I called Priceline. Give me a break. So I lost $150 on a ticket that I could not use because of a system that could use some changes..I will never use Priceline again.
Priceline sucks bigtime. I made reservations from SFO to PHF 3 months in advance. Got the Priceline travel insurance. Month later I get an email they have changed my reservations. Now it is going to be a 14 hour flight to Virginia rather than the 7 hour 30 minute flight, making my arrival 3 hours late for the purpose of the trip. When I called Priceline, they said sorry dude. I explained I had the insurance they then told me to call the insurance plan. I called the insurance plan they said it doesn’t fall in their guidelines … so nothing can be done. I finally called the airlines and they gave me the same flight departure and arrival as before. Don’t get Priceline’s insurance, it’s a rip off. Don’t book through Pricline, it’s a rip off too.
We booked a hotel through Priceline in South Lake Tahoe on a very busy Sat night in July. Upon arrival at our hotel, we had NO reservation. Spent hours on phone with Priceline, they played the blame game, we found our own room and paid $00 more for a hotel that wasn’t worth $230 a night!! Waiting to hear if Priceline will re-imburse us, they state hotel “overbooked” and it was the hotels fault!! What happened to our “booking”????? Never again will we use Priceline!!
Name your price is great if you aren’t an idiot. I have used name your price about a dozen times. It is very specific and there are well defined rules for how it works. If you are not a moron then it is a tremendous tool. I usually stay in hotels for a little over half of the published price.
I read a lot of these reviews of Priceline and come to the conclusion that the most of the people writing them are clueless.
Customers Beware! Priceline has some very unsavory and deceptive policies which I discovered recently. They changed the ratings on a particular hotel that I stay at often. After advertising the “negotiator” image so effectively, I always name my own price to stay at this 31/2 star hotel in downtown Winston-Salem, when I have to go there. Well, priceline isn’t doing business with the hotel anymore and they rerouted me to a 3 star hotel in the vicinity. Instead of telling me what was going on, the priceline customer service agent cancelled my reservation and told me to rebook. He said that 2 nights had been refunded and the third night was being held until I rebooked through priceline. I was told that after I rebook I would be refunded all but $25 dollars. It seemed fair to me so I said ok. I received an email from priceline customer service with the same information. I then found out that there were no higher starred hotels available for the name your own price and so I wound up back at the same hotel again. But I decided to live with it and I emailed priceline the required information to be refunded the remaining amount from the one night’s fee they had with held. It was then that I was emailed with a refusal of a refund saying that I didn’t change the star rating on my hotel and so I couldn’t be refunded. I have tried until I am blue in the face to let priceline know that they never informed me of the star rating change when rebooking. No one listened and no one cared. Priceline has hidden fees and they NEVER return money for anything. Often, they are cheaper by a few dollars…sometimes by cents…but you will wind up paying for that in a MUCH bigger way if you keep using them!
PS. a business is supposed to be consistent about their ability to provide good service. If you go to a restaurant and enjoy it and go back only to find it tastes bad, wouldn’t you warn others? Or want to be warned yourself?
Never use Priceline.com name your own price. My husband and I booked rooms at 4-star hotel using name your own price with travel insurance. 5 mins after we purchased our tickets we went to the hotels website and saw that we could have gotten the rooms from the actual hotel cheaper. Then we had an unexpected emergency come up so I call to find out how to change the dates via the insurance. They could do nothing no refund no changes so we were stuck and lost 430 dollars.
DO NOT USE PRICELINE IF YOU TRAVEL FOR BUSINESS… Getting an itemized receipt from these people not only takes an act of Congress, but a Celestial Virgin and Multiple Magical Unicorns as well. If you need itemized receipts for reimbursement like my company does, please save yourself time and issue, and continue to Priceline’s nearest competitor.
I have used priceline a lot in the past and have been pleased. This past weekend I booked a room in Reading PA, this hotel was rated a 2 1/2 star hotel by priceline, however when we checked into our room, it really should have been rated a 1 star, the room was horrible for a 2 1/2 star. Never going to use pricline again, can’t trust their quality rating for their hotels! Called customer service and that was a big joke as well. Priceline you’ve lost my business!!
BIDDERS BEWARE!!! I have used Priceline for years. Just now I booked a round-trip flight to MIA and upon processing the bid I received an offer to rent a car for $47.00 per day. I bid and won. When that offer was processed I IMMEDIATELY received an offer from Priceline stating the trip itinerary and offering $16.00 per day!! When I called Priceline to ask about their low price guarantee (what a joke!) I was told I was not eligible because the offer was not offered to the public (only the public that had booked a trip) (and is that some sort of “private” public??)
Price line is a joke I have used them to purchase tickets in the past, this time I purchased a one way ticket home from fl to MI through airtran, airtran waved the fees but not price line, with all there fees it cost us twice as much for the ticket home for my sister who had to cancel because of a medical emergency. Price line wanted documentation of the medical emergency so we faxed it to them and they still did not want to waive the the fees that basically wipes out the voucher for the original flight. We talked to three different supervisors who promised to get back with us and they never did we had to keep calling them. I will never book anything through price line again, I will pay the extra money and book through the airline for now on.
I purchased my flight one month ahead and when I received the confirmation e-mail it showed a different day. When I called priceline they responded they cannot help me. I don’t understand why they booked me for the wrong day. Priceline should be responsible for any mistake they make, instead of having the customer service representatives lie to us. I have never had problems with any other site when it comes to purchasing my flights. I would never recommend priceline. Don’t be fooled by them book your flight with any other site except priceline.
We booked a hotel in Boston through Priceline and when we arrived there found out that things were not as they were supposed to be. We looked and booked a hotel that was to have free parking, free internet in the room, mini fridge and microwave. It was also to be waterfront. No water in sight for miles. There was no free in room internet a charge of $12.95 per day and parking was another $32.00 per day but we did not know this until checking out. The only item that was there was a mini fridge that did not keep things cold. The hotel said that Priceline is given the proper information and it is up to them to include it on their site. I just spoke with a Priceline rep. Liz who says not their fault, nothing they can do, it is the hotels fault. This was the second time we used Priceline, the first time they gave wrong information, but the hotel gave us what we were expecting. This is the last time we will ever use Priceline for anything. There customer service people are absolutely no help. The hotel we stayed at wasn’t even worth half the price it cost us per night to stay there. Never again for Priceline
I had used Priceline for over 50 bookings and was pleased. Since I traveled on business and pleasure and just need a clean room without bugs is all I cared about. I would use the two star rating. I now have been told I was lucky because when I got to Florida around Disney, Celebration Suites was their “name your own price”. They told me although I paid in full I now owed another 25% above what Priceline had taken, or I could not have the room. They called it a resort fee, and let me tell you this motel, not a chain hotel, was as far from a resort as you can get. Economy lodge would be a resort if they were. It is a 1/2 star and when I complained to Priceline, their customer service in the Philippines just read from a sheet, then the supervisor read from the same sheet. When I wrote to Priceline corporate they never responded. I will never book through them again.
I just purchased two rooms using Priceline. I had to bid up to $150 to get the rooms. When I checked in, I asked the “anybody” rate. It is $135 and $115 if you show a Costco or AAA card. So, I used a non-refundable, blind system on Priceline to get two rooms that cost me $70 more than the regular rates. So, what’s wrong with this model?
I think the whole Priceline.com experience is a joke.
And no matter which airline flight you purchase through them, or whether or not you buy travel insurance or not, they will NOT refund your money.
And if you get a voucher for another flight you lose almost all of your money regardless with all of their fees.
It’s ridiculous and I guarantee I will never use their service again. I fully intend to spread the word about their poor service.
Bidder’s Beware! Priceline has resorts that overcharge!
I booked a 3.5 star resort for a 2-day stay as part of NameYourPrice, and got a resort that charges $20 a day as ‘resort fee’ and $14 a day for parking. When I requested PRICELINE to change my booking, saying the extra fee is ridiculous, given that I was paying $80/night to stay, they wouldnt. The Customer Care wouldnt transfer me to a supervisor, and said ‘ I would in order to get away from this call’. All this, when I was being very polite and courteous with them.
Stay away from Priceline’s NameYourPrice. They have cheap hotels and resorts in the list that you would not stay in if you knew what you were getting.
The key to using Priceline is to know in advance what hotels your are likely to end up getting. For those of us savy priceline bidders, who know how to work it to our advantage, it’s wonderful. I always bid on 4 and 5 star hotels and know which hotels I may end up with so I just check tripadviser for reviews. You have to know what you are doing before using priceline. I have NEVER had any issues.
I have used priceline for a quite a while, only with hotel booking and have stayed at some of the best hotels in the cities I have visited for upwards of 1/2 the cost. Just this past week my husband and I stayed at the Hilton in downtown Lexington for 45 dollars a night with no problems. You just have to be a bit flexible and realize that you aren’t going to get exactly what you want. For the money saved, I am willing to take the risk.
I booked a hotel room this morning. When I got the e-mailed confirm, I noticed the dates were for the wrong week. Within three hours of booking the room I called, sorry “No changes, no cancellations”. So what am I supposed to do now go to NY twice in two weeks? Priceline sucks.
I Reserved a 4 star hotel for 2 people through priceline. I received a tiny room with a double bed. I’ve never stayed in a 4 star hotel with anything smaller than a Queen sized bed. Priceline’s star ratings are suspect!
Priceline is a sham. I had a timing belt blow on my ride to the airport and both Priceline and Japan Air Lines kept passing the buck back and forth until I gave up and just ate the $600 ticket when all I wanted was a non-peak rescheduling of my flight. Book direct with the airline, don’t waste your time with this William I-Took-A-Shatner BS.
BEWARE of Priceline “name your own price.” I selected “Jacksonville BEACH” area…ended up with a hotel connected to the Mayo Clinic…MILES FROM THE BEACH. I called minutes after realizing my HUGE mistake and all they could say was “no refunds, no changes”…I hope that my $500 mistake will save someone else…be VERY WARY!!!!! I will never use Priceline again!
I was trying to cancel my flight because I chose the wrong dates and I was told by Priceline I had to pay $159 to change the date. In a time like this, companies like priceline should not be taking advantage of general consumers. It was an error and I called in less than 30 seconds after the system confirmed the flight. The website it very hard to navigate and confusing.
Andy Zapata
Priceline are a total rip off. I paid well above a 3 * hotels’ standard internet rate in New York for a 4* hotel. Apparently priceline themselves can upgrade a hotel! When I tried to change it they wouldn’t let me. Even the hotel themselves say they are 3*. In fact it was more like a 2*.
Priceline stinks. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Even when they self admitted an error they wouldn’t refund my money. I have received nothing but a run around from Priceline.
Priceline put me in a bad 3 star hotel when I bid on a four star hotel. No matter how hard I tried to get my reservation changed they refused even when I pointed out well known sites that rated the hotel well below a four star category. Very bad experience. Will not bid on Priceline again.
I bought a groupon to priceline, $40 for $80 ‘priceline dollars’ which, according to the text on the groupon was to be applied ‘after purchase’ – so we bid $45 on a hotel room for 2 nights and my card was charged for the full amount – called priceline and the $80 was applied to the BID, not after purchase – so we wound up essentially bidding $85 per night and thus paying over published rates – despite me calling immediately to inquire about why I didn’t receive my credit in the purchase process they refused to do anything to adjust or change the booking. Miserable experience with their customer service representatives and supervisor. We will never use them again and I hope that Groupon will learn from this as well – I’m sure that we’re not the first to have this issue…the hotels must be loving it!
After numerous calls Priceline finally sent the fax and the hotel agreed to upgrade our bookings.
Priceline.com is definitely one of the worst websites I have ever used. I had selected that I am traveling with children and yet they booked me in Best Western Plus Timber Cove Lodge, Lake Tahoe in a room with a single double bed.
I kept calling Priceline to change or cancel the booking and they simply wouldn’t allow it. I checked with the hotel if they could book me a room with two double beds. The hotel was willing to do so, but all they needed was a fax from Priceline requesting for this. But, Priceline would simply not send the fax. I called up 5 times and each time Priceline would say they sent the fax, but in fact, they never did. The hotel never received anything from them. I asked them if they could send an email to the hotel and cc me on that, they said they wouldn’t do so.
I wish I had used Travelocity or Expedia instead.
Price line hotel reviews are not honest. They choose which reviews to post. The hotel star rating is not accurate. I booked 3.5 stars hotel that appeared to be renovated motel with crappy bathroom and etc.
Here is what Priceline customer service answered me to my question “why my review for the hotel is not online”?
“Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you would like to know why the review posted by you, in regards to your hotel reservation in Atlantic City, NJ, are not displayed online.
When you filled out your survey, we disclosed that your review of your recent hotel stay may be posted on our website; however, we did not guarantee that it will be posted. All reviews are first read by the appropriate department, and then they will decide which reviews to post.”
On bidding tip #1 change “that has no 4 star hotels” to “that has no 4 star hotels OR HIGHER”. They can give you 5 star or resort hotel.
Be careful with Priceline.com!!! I booked a hotel on 9/16/2010 for $343. After that I never received any confirmation emails. Two days later, I called them but was told the booking on 9/16/2010 was not found in their system so I decided to make another identical reservation on 9/18/2010. When I checked my credit card bill two days ago, I saw the booking on 9/16/2010 was charged. Priceline.com refused to issue any refund. Their attitude is :”We made a mistake but you have to pay for it!” Their customer service is a disaster, very unhelpful and rude.
I will never ever visit their website again. They are just a bunch of cheaters.
This is a follow up to my previous review. OK, Priceline did refund me my money for booking me into a hotel with bedbugs. But I did spend a lot of time and effort fighting for it. The last guy I talked to said that the only way I could get a refund was if the hotel was willing to cancel my reservation. He actually called the hotel who denied any bedbug problems. I decided to post my comments on here before sending an email to the Priceline manager asking for a refund. The next day, I called the hotel and they cancelled my reservations with no hassles. I think they were expecting me. I then called Priceline who refunded me with no hassles either. I think they do read these postings. They should have read the previous postings on Tripadvisor and not book people into unacceptable hotels in the first place which would have saved me alot of trouble.
This is my first time booking with Priceline.com and they booked me at ‘Extended Stay Deluxe Ottawa – Dowtown’. After looking at online reviews (thanks to everyone who posted), I discovered this hotel has a bedbug problem. I called Priceline to try to get a refund or at least switch to another hotel but got the run-around talking with four different people and with no ability to talk to a manager or somebody who had any power to fix the problem. Finally, the last guy suggested I send an email to a manager but told me it was highly unlikely that I would get a refund unless the hotel is willing to give me my money back (What are the chances of that?). The guy who wrote the review on Tripadvisor dated Oct 3,2010, said that he got a refund from Hotwire. I will send an email to the Priceline manager and see if they have as much integrity as Hotwire, and will post on here the results.
I was disappointed with these bad reviews of Priceline. Although I found Hotwire’s site easier to navigate, I bid on a 3 star room for $65/nite through Priceline last June on the recommendation of a coworker for two nights on harbor island and got booked in at the Hilton. It is a fabulous area right on the ocean. The hotel is older but had recently been refurbished and the room was really nice. My only complaint was that I was on the third floor facing the parking lot and the bathroom door was cracked and peeling where someone had tried to paint over it. I had a very relaxing stay and the desk staff were very attentive and helpful. Parking was $17 a nite but my coworker had told me so I was prepared. Even with parking it only came to about $166.00 for the two nights.
Booked 3 rooms with Priceline, found out we got 3 rooms with 1 double bed. When I spoke to customer service they said they put in a request but only if rooms are still available when we get there. I haven’t slept in a double bed in years, cannot imagine doing this. I guess we are stuck. nothing we can do about it. Will never use Priceline again.
Yeah, not sure what’s up with all the negative comments. I guess people are really motivated to review when things go bad? Anyhow, we ONLY use priceline when staying in hotels and have NEVER had a bad experience. Once used priceline, only to show up and the reservation didn’t get charged. The guy at the hotel charged me the employee rate (a measly $40!!! for a Hyatt suite, with continental, cooked to order breakfast for our family of FIVE). Our last experience via priceline was up in Sacramento – $55 a night for another Hyatt, continental breakfast, the room of our choice (we got there before the weekend rush so we got a huge room with a living room and king-size bed with an awesome view), and the staff was as friendly as all get-out. I could leave review after positive review. I’ve even used it for a girls night out – 4 of us – at no extra charge, and asked the hotel to get us in a nicer room that could accommodate us all. We were on the 10th floor with a killer view – $60.
I have only positive to say, but I’ve only used their hotel service. Now considering their name your own price for flights but slightly afraid I might get jinxed. =)
Priceline is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with. Services were paid in full and were never provided. I was stranded at the airport for 1.5 hours waiting for transportation that never showed. I called Priceline multiple times and spoke with “customer service” and got the same generic answer. I paid over $100 dollars for a service that was never fulfilled. This is by far the worst experience I have ever had, and will be sure to use legit companies such as orbitz. Completely unsatisfied and in-shock that Priceline cant make things right.
Thanks for the car tip, was considering to bid on Priceline.
Had to reschedule a flight and was given a “credit”, then was charged an ADDITIONAL $180 to use my “Credit” from the previous flight. In essence, my “credit” was useless. Will never use Priceline again and advise everyone I know to never use them!
Priceline customer service is useless. Ask the hotel if you can upgrade to a room with 2 beds, there will be an extra charge, but at least you won’t loose it all. I hope it works out.
Thanks for this comment, Brian. This is good information!
I bidded for a 3 star hotel in Miami Beach. there were 5 hotels in the area i requested. A resort hotel accepted my bid that was not on the map viewer listing. I called Priceline, and here’s the catch. the list they use to get bids doesnt matchup with their online viewing of hotels. So you CANNOT rely on the mapviewer or hotel searcher on priceline if your bidding a hotel. quite simply, Priceline will search the complete exhaustive list of hotels everywhere (not necessarily on their hotel listing).
called priceline and their reps wouldnt budge one inch, no cancellation, no help rebidding without resort, no help rebidding area with only hotels that show up on their listing.
I purchased a ticket for my boyfriend and his account was charged twice (by Priceline and also by LowestFare.com). If anyone has a number that would allow me talk to a human being, i would really apperciate it.
I made reservations via Priceline.com. I had requested 2 rooms that could each accommodate 4 persons. After my price was accepted, I called Ramada Inn Carlsbad to confirm rooms, and check in times. I was informed by Patricia (Associate at Ramada Inn) that Priceline.com only reserved me rooms that accommodated 2 people (each room only had 1 queen bed) and that I would not even be allowed to check in 4 guests per room (Fire Marshall regulations). I then contacted Priceline.com thinking there had to have been a mistake, but sadly I found that there was no mistake at all. This is how Priceline does business . The first associate I spoke to was named Abby. Abby told me that there was nothing they could do for me about my rooms being reserved for only 2 occupants , and that it was my problem if the hotel would not let me check in having 4 people per room. I then asked to be transferred to an associate at a higher up level. I then spoke to Tania and she confirmed what I had already been told by Abby. There was NOTHING Priceline.com would do, and I would likely have to forfeit my reservation plus the $430.00 that had already been charged to my credit card. So here I am out $430.00 for 2 rooms at the Ramada Inn Carlsbad that I will be unable to use and Priceline.com could care less!
Priceline will not help if it is their fault. They take no responsibility for anything that happens and let all of the blaim fall on the rental company, hotel, or airline that is left to try to clean up their mess.
OK –Are we working for the other sites? I have bid on Priceline for years and never had a problem–they even let me out of a winning bid when there was a sickness in the family–they charged me 1 of 5 days I had booked- which I thought was fair as I reneged.
Cars you are better off to use Hotwire –but hotels I have been very pleased Hyatt in Buffalo and New Orleans for $35 Marriot Courtyard in NYC, Sheridan in Toronto for $28 all are 3 stars plus and they treat you the same as a customer paying the 3x you could have paid. Used it at least 20 times without problems—OH ONE—they have very loose area guides—you may not be as close to the area as advertised
We recently used Priceline to book our Hotel and purchased the insurance provided in case something went wrong after reading all the fine lines. When we went to check into our Hotel they refused us because they said we were booked wrong after making sure we added the correct amount of people staying. Then they said they only had one bed per room, which is not what price line booked us we asked for 2 queen beds per room, then they said since they were not going to let us stay they only would refund for one room instead of two which we paid for, we might get back our money in 7 to 10 business days. This was the Candlewood Suites Hotel in Alvin, Texas.
I have used Priceline’s “Name your own price” for a rental cars before and have never had a problem. But recently I encountered a major problem and Priceline has been unable to explain to me what happened.
My flight was supposed to land at 10:30 pm. It was delayed by several hours so I called the car rental company to make sure they would hold my reservation. They said that my reservation would be held for 15 hours.
I arrived at my destination at 1am. The rental car company entered my information into their computer but because it was now technically the next day, the price on the computer kept reverting back to the regular price. We called Priceline and the Priceline representative I spoke to had no suggestion except to cancel the reservation. He also told me that my account would be credited with the full cost of my rental.
There is nothing on the Priceline website that states that if you do not pick up your reservation on the same calendar day it was made for, that it will not be honored by the rental car company. I called Priceline a second time and the representative I spoke to this time claimed that the reservation should have remained active for 24 hours and that the problem must have been with the car rental company. They had no redress fro my situation and could not explain what happened. In addition, my account was not credited with the reimbursement until after my trip ended. So for two weeks they held my money (on top of the month before the trip when they had my prepayment). I will not be using Priceline again.
if it was their fault they would have given you a refund. you probably made an error and didnt realize it.
I used LuxuryLink.com instead of Priceline last week and I highly recommend it. They don’t have all the cheap hotels that Priceline has, but you get a lot more cool stuff on luxury link, like free massages and meals included in your reservation. I’ve used Priceline in the past and was less than happy, and plan to use luxury link to bid on hotels again
BIDDERS BEWARE! the no refund policy extends even to technical difficulties or mistakes by consumers so be very careful. i was told i lost the bid and still charged. even though this was an obvious technical error or fraud the no refund policy is in place so i ended up double booked. I picture their customer service like that on the movie my best friends girl where under no circumstance is a refund given.