Priceline

August 5, 2009 in Technology/Internet with 8 Comments

I had a “first” earlier this week, one that may surprise folks considering my rep as a tech/internet geek – I used Priceline.com to book a hotel room.

I’ve never really had the occasion to use it in the past, but it did cross my mind to try out for my vacation to the Northeast earlier this month. Since I didn’t know where I was going to be from one day to the next I couldn’t book in advance and it never worked out to do it on the fly.

Because of the amount of traveling and late/early hours I’m going to have this coming weekend (more on that later), I thought it best to save about three hours of drive time and crash Friday night in Lexington. I knew I could get a room at a Motel 6 for $40 but hoped for something even cheaper. The frugal nature in me hates the thought of paying so much for a room if all I’m going to do is sleep for a few hours. It would be one thing if I could relax and enjoy the room, pool, etc. but when all I need is just a bed and shower…

So, after watching a video on how to best use Priceline to get a good deal, I gave it a shot. I started out by looking for 3 star rooms in the east Lexington zone at a price of $25. One at a time, I adjusted the stars and zone while keeping the price under $40. No luck; none of my bids were accepted. Can’t say I was too surprised since the average cost of hotels was well above what I was bidding.

However, once I increased my bid slightly, I hit the jackpot. I ended up with a $109 room at the Lexington Downtown Hotel (a Hilton affiliate) for $40! Hmm, let’s think about this…$40 at a Motel 6 or $40 at a Hilton? I didn’t end up saving any money, but at least it’s a nicer hotel and a great deal, which makes it much easier to stomach.

While it did take some time and fiddling to get a bid accepted, it was worth it and I’m definitely going to be using the site again! Thank you William Shatner! :-)

Have you used priceline.com? What has your experience been like? Have you used any of the other sites (such as hotels.com, orbitz.com, travelocity.com) and gotten any good deals?

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About Chris: Thirty-something, knowledge seeking, information devouring, Christian technophile living in Northern KY seeking to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with my God.


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8 Responses to “Priceline”

  1. Bryan August 5, 2009 at 15:50 #

    I have a free motel, it’s called my car. Better yet, do it in the motel parking lot xD.
    Need to wash up for free? Public restrooms! Though that’ll only work for so long ha.
    It’s been almost 3 weeks since your last shoutbox update!

  2. Chris August 5, 2009 at 18:44 #

    Shoutbox is broken and I haven’t had a chance to figure out what’s wrong yet.

  3. Dan August 5, 2009 at 22:51 #

    So who alerted you to the video?

  4. Chris August 5, 2009 at 23:01 #

    That would be you :-) Should have linked to your post instead of directly to it, so here’s your link:
    http://www.danstaifer.com/2009/08/cheap-hotels.html

  5. Dan August 6, 2009 at 09:09 #

    I’ve done it before too. I just want people to know who I got it from as well. Thanks

  6. Dan August 6, 2009 at 09:10 #

    I’ve done it before too. I just want people to know who I got it from as well. Thanks. I really hope the trip goes well!

  7. Paul C. August 6, 2009 at 11:16 #

    I’ll have to try this out for my next trip. I dabbled on the site before, but never booked with it. I usually default to travelocity or hotels.com and see which one has available rooms and which is the better rate. Different websites get a different number of rooms at hotels. Kind of weird.

  8. Gretchen September 9, 2009 at 07:30 #

    I love traveling and always prefer Priceline to book a hotel room, rent a car and flight tickets.