Travel on a Budget: Getting the Most from Priceline.com
The two biggest budget busting expenses on any trip are travel and lodging. There’s not much anyone can do these days about the price of gasoline but depending on the destination there is on exceptional way to save on lodging: priceline.com. The key to using Priceline, however, is knowing how to get the best deals possible. I’ve been turning to Priceline for years to get incredible deals on lodging. More than once I’ve slept in a three-star hotel for twenty bucks a night. On a recent road trip with my family lasting eight days that covered over fifteen hundred miles we managed to spend less on lodging than on gasoline. It can be done.
Unlike every other online travel site, Priceline offers the unique ability to “name your own price.” This option is where the true savings are. There are risks, of course. There’s no guarantee you’ll get high class service or four star accommodations; you probably won’t. You will get an acceptable room for a price that can’t be beat. Sometimes you’ll be pleasantly surprised with where you wind up.
The first thing to remember is that last minute works better. If you’re planning on traveling to Houston next month wait to try Priceline a day or two before. Priceline offers hotels the opportunity to fill empty rooms but no hotel is going to give away a room at a very low rate when there’s the chance it’ll be booked. The best deals We’ve gotten were times we dialed up before noon for a room that night. Twice I managed to get a three star for twenty bucks. If you’re worried about not getting a room, reserve one at a reasonable rate ahead of time and be prepared to cancel if you can get a last-minute Priceline deal.
The one thing you can count on sacrificing with a Priceline deal is convenience. If you want a low rate don’t expect to be next door to major attractions. But driving a few extra miles is very much worth it if it means thirty bucks a night as opposed to seventy-five. Moreover, don’t expect to find a Priceline deal outside a major metropolitan area. It could happen but it’s not likely. We paid $25 a night for nice rooms in Memphis and St. Louis but $50 for a less-than-one-star room in
Mountain Home, Arkansas where Priceline deals couldn’t be had. It’s also unlikely you’ll get Priceline to bite extremely low offers in resort areas. Remember, no hotel is going to discount rooms it can keep filled at their rack rates.
Do some research, learn about the city you want to visit before going to Priceline. This will pay off when you begin trying to tweedle a low rate from a Priceline hotel. Priceline’s system gives very few options but one of them is choice of area. Knowing which areas to begin with and which ones are the best alternatives provides added flexibility in “negotiating” your price. Study a metro map, learn where the major freeways are. You might even want to explore other travel sites to see where the major hotels are concentrated. They are usually located in the most popular locations. If you want to get really technical you could research where low-income areas are maybe by looking up addresses of thrift stores or less expensive apartments and noting what areas they are located. More than once we’ve stayed in a hotel that is still nice but is unfortunate enough to be located in a neighborhood that has gone down hill. None of the locations were unsafe, just not the ritzy part of town.
When you’re sure of the dates, have researched the city and know what you’re hoping to spend, it’s time to go online. Choose the Hotel option at Priceline. On the next screen enter the city and dates. Don’t choose the “Name your price” option. Just click “Next.” You’ll be given a listing of hotels and discount prices. Print the page or make note of the prices. There’ll be a collection of rates and areas. Houston, for example, lists rates from $40 for a one-star to over $200 for classy digs. This will give you an idea of what might be available. Sometimes these rates are good. Usually, though, you can get a much better rate, half what you see on this page.
Once you’ve noted these rates and locations, it’s time to choose the “Name your price” option. When you do you’ll be given a list of locations with a map. Here’s where the finagling begins. Some areas are remote. Others are close to downtown. Houston, again, lists places as distant as Conroe, nearly fifty miles from downtown Houston.This is where it pays to know freeways. For a weekend getaway Conroe might be a good choice. If you’ll be traveling during rush hours, it’s a very bad choice. Go back and look at the price list from the previous page to get an idea where the best possible rates might be had. Choose two or three areas, never all of them.
On the next page you’ll be asked to name your price. If retail prices are shown they will always be higher than the rates listed earlier. Start with what you want to pay, but be reasonable. I always start with twenty or twenty-five bucks. Put the amount in, enter a name (the same name as on the credit card you’ll use), and choose a “Quality level.” If you’re going low you won’t get a five star. Best to choose a one or two. Choosing a higher level does offer more options to negotiate later, though. The next screen will give the full costs including tax. Make a note of the tax rate so you can figure it in if you have to make more than one try. There’s also the option of travel insurance. It’s a very good idea to take it out if there’s any possibility at all you won’t be able to take the room. It does, however, tack five bucks a night on the cost. Don’t miss the “initial” box at the bottom. It’s a good idea to actually read their terms and conditions, too.
Sometimes you’ll get a screen saying the rate is too low, you’re unlikely to get it. If you get that page you’ll note the “retail” amount listed is far above the rates given before you chose to name your price. Just skip the page. You’ll go to the credit card page. This is your last chance to make sure everything is correct. The web page says: “Please remember, once you click “Buy My Hotel Room” your request can not be changed, cancelled, or transferred and refunds are not allowed.” They mean it! You do have some flexibility if you bought the insurance but either way the card will be charged right then. Make sure you have everything right!
You probably notice there are no options such as double beds or children. Priceline’s “standard” is a single room, one bed, smoking or non-smoking. That’s it. Keep that in mind if you’re taking children or traveling with someone you don’t want to share a bed with. This is a drawback of the Priceline system. It can be a problematic one if you don’t plan for it. Some hotels will allow switching to a double, some won’t. Some want to charge for the change. There’s nothing in the Priceline agreement that says they can’t do that. Another thing to note is that there’s no guarantee of amenities, either, such as a pool, etc.
When you click “Buy My Room” it’s almost like feeding a slot machine. To borrow a phrase, Priceline is like a “box of chocolates,” you never know what you’re going to get. You might not get anything. More often than not your first try will not get a room, especially if you put in a low amount. If you get a room then you’re on your way. If not, you’ll be asked to make changes and try again. Almost never will you be able to jack up the price a little without changing something else. Now it’s time to play with the options. Try adding another area or two. If you’re planning on more than one night, change the dates. Try entering just one night instead of two, or two instead of three. It’s a gamble but almost always you’ll be given the option to stay additional nights for the same rate. Two nights at twenty bucks is still far less than one night at seventy-five so staying only one night and loosing the other is still a bargain in the end. I’ve always gotten a good deal by slowly adding in more areas, fiddling with the dates (just be sure you have the date you have to have listed!), and inching the price up a little at a time. With patience and perseverance, you’ll get a good deal.
One thing you cannot do is go back and try the same choices again after you’ve been turned down. If you have credit cards with different names and other information you might be able to try again but as a rule it’s a one-shot deal. You have to wait a period of time before trying again so be sure you do all your dealing the first time.
Now, let’s assume you’ve managed to get a room for thirty bucks plus tax. Not bad at all. So what next? You’ll get a page describing the location. Sometimes you will find yourself upgraded and placed in a very nice hotel. Other times it’s just a room with a bed. On our last trip we wound up in extended stay hotels. Services in those are limited but they’ve always been acceptable rooms. Extended stays are the least likely to allow switching to double beds. Almost always they want to charge for the second bed if they have them. The advantage of extended stays is that they have kitchens. We’ve saved a lot by fixing a few meals in the room. Sometimes the upgrade takes you to a really fancy hotel. Once we got a room in a five-star for less than fifty bucks. Our mini-van looked out of place among the Mercedes, Hummers and Jags in the parking lot. The room was well stocked with goodies but charged insane prices for them. Four dollars for a liter of water! The hotel also charged ten dollars a night for internet and even a premium for local phone calls. And the “rack rate” for the room was over two hundred bucks.
The last thing to keep in mind is that Priceline is not geared for traveling with children. We traveled with five once, though, most of them small, and were frowned on a bit but never turned away. If you are traveling with children make provisions for them to sleep. We always carry air mattresses and sleeping bags in case we can’t get double beds when we take our own three with us.
Priceline is always an adventure in itself. It’ll save you a lot of money if you do it right, giving you pocket change to pay for all the expensive attractions you are planning to visit. No matter if we’ve wound up in a bare-minimum one star or a fancy four star, we’ve never felt slighted by the rate we pay. Even the fanciest hotels made us feel welcome. It may not be something some people consider but it is important to note that getting a room at a really low rate has never led to less than equal service.
When I or my family travels we always have our eye on the bottom line, trying to stretch every bit we can out of every dollar. Priceline has been invaluable. We’ve only used the service for hotels, however. Even at the lowest rates, air fare for five or cruise rates are over our budget. There are reports that Priceline is not as useful for airfare and that the flights involve red-eyes or lay-overs. The point, though, is to save money not get the most convenience. If money is no object, don’t bother with Priceline. But if you’re traveling on a budget, the small sacrifices of convenience are very much worth the discounts to be had through Priceline’s very low rates.
