Rapid Travel Chai: Hotwire and Priceline - Chicago Seminars 2013

Hotwire and Priceline
Stefan Krasowski
Rapid Travel Chai

Itinerary
Hotwire
Priceline
I hope you aren’t expecting something else 

©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved

What is Your Priority?
Hotels?
Rental cars?
Flights?
Vacation packages?


My Hotwire and Priceline Experience
My travel is 75% international
Rented cars weekly for 2 years of NY-Atlanta commute
Many hotel bookings
Many rental car bookings
No air bookings
No vacation package bookings


Why Hotwire and Priceline


What are Hotwire and Priceline?
Tools to potentially save on travel costs by giving up
certainty, flexibility, status, and miles and points


The Hotwire and Priceline Tradeoff
Why to Not Use:

Why to Use:

No changes, no refunds*

Save Money

Unpleasant surprises*
No elite status recognition*
No miles and points*

*There are always exceptions and luck

Rental Car Tradeoff Hypothetical
When to save $10:

When to not save $10:

Moline, IL car rental

Orlando, FL car rental

Always off-peak

Spring break

No lines

Huge lines at counter

No spouse

Eye-rolling spouse

No children

Screaming children


Need to Know


Why No Deals?
Not every market or trip will have opaque offers


Hotel Star Ratings
Star ratings are subjective and generous by ½ to 1 star
You have limited recourse
Stick to 3-star and above
‘3-star’ Monte Carlo Inns Toronto Markham

My wife has not forgiven me

Getting the Room You Want
Room type – call hotel after booking if you want a king bed
Better room – call hotel with self-deprecating sweet talk
Non-smoking room – yep, call


Photo by Ben Tesch, flickr

The ‘gomike’ slide
gomike on FlyerTalk – Priceline, timeshare hacks & more
Contact hotel programs to add your number to reservation
Charge small incidental spend during stay to your room
Hyatt:
Status often recognized, including Diamond 1k check-in
May get elite stay credit
Marriott:
Status often recognized, including check-in amenity
Others: you may get lucky

Photo by Isabelle Plante, flickr

Hotwire & Priceline Hotels Elite Benefits
You may get lucky
You may get elite recognition
Either way be gracious, not a bozo

“Your bungalow is right this way,
Mr. Diamond Elite…”

Photo by Isabelle Plante, flickr

Fees
Hotwire Hot Rate and Priceline Name Your Own Price™ rates
often loaded with fees
Do not compare per day rates
Do compare total price

Portland 1 day car: Expedia $18/day=$23 total vs Priceline $18 bid=$29.34

Resort Fees
Watch out in frequent offender markets like Las Vegas

“This hotel charges a resort fee of about $25.00 per room per night”


Car Credit Card CDW
Important!!!
To use credit card CDW entire rental must be on same card
Use same card at Hotwire/Priceline purchase AND pick-up


Hotwire


Hotwire
Opaque ‘Hot Rate’ no-bid offers + transparent offers


Hotwire – Transparent Offers
Similar to other travel sites, let’s skip to opaque Hot Rates


Hotwire Hot Rates – Flights
New York – Los Angeles example

Hot Rate


Hotwire Hot Rates – Flights
New York – Los Angeles example:
6 am – 10 pm departure window
Up to 1 connection
Up to 3 hour layover
No one-ways or multi-city
No airline benefits
No credit card free checked bag
…all to save $40


Hotwire Hot Rates – Cars


Rates often not as good as flexible reservation portals
(Costco, Capital One, Chase, etc.)
Guaranteed major agency – but includes Dollar/Thrifty
No off-airport, no one-way
Must be age 25+

Los Angeles weekend Hotwire $57.57 vs Costco $48.12

Pick-up up to 24 hours late – book Sun night, pick-up Mon
(call agency to hold a car on peak times)

Atlanta Sun 10 pm pick-up $63.65 vs Mon 8 am $81.26

Always unlimited miles (important for international)
30-minute grace period on returns
Extensions at agency rates – can be very expensive
All add-ons billed at agency rates
(e.g. Dollar/Thrifty huge toll charges)

Welcome to Newark from Dollar/Thrifty – tolls $17.49/day


Hotwire Hot Rates – Hotels
Princeton, NJ example:


How to identify the hotel?

Amenities &
TripAdvisor rating
provide clues


Check the Forums – Better Bidding

Doubletree is only reported 3.5 star
Amenities match
Look for distinctive amenities (if any)


Other Forums

As with all forums, there is LOTS of drama

Check TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor lists 7 4-star traveler rating hotels available
Only 2 are 3.5-star chain hotels – Doubletree and Marriott

Amenities are same so TripAdvisor is inconclusive

Best guess is Doubletree, possibly Marriott
Either will work, go for it, or try Priceline…


Hotwire – Vacations/Packages
Hotel packages are transparent, choose each component
Except Hot Rate flight + car – no extra savings to bundle


Hotwire – Hotwire Express
Invitation only program ≈ $1k annual spend
Claims to have better service, case-by-case support
Occasional ‘Star Upgrades’ – e.g. pay 3-star hotel, get 4-star


Hotwire – Low Price Guarantee
48-hour guarantee for identical booking
Hotwire refunds the difference


Hotwire – Cancellation/Refund
Air & Hotel:
No official exceptions – consider trip insurance
Car:
Flight delay exception for 24+ hours delay

You can always plead your case


Hotwire – Cashback
Discover – 5% on car, hotel and packages (not flights)
Chase – 1 extra pt/$ except packages and cruises
Big Crumbs – 1.4% except flat $1.40 for regular flights
Others come and go


Hotwire Questions?


Priceline


Priceline – Transparent Offers
Similar to other travel sites, let’s skip to Name Your Own Price®


Priceline Name Your Own Price® – Flights
Similar terms to Hotwire:
6 am – 10 pm departure window (US), international anytime
Up to 1 connection
Up to 3 hour layover (US), international 75% < 3 hours
One-ways but no multi-city
No airline benefits
No credit card free checked bag


Priceline Name Your Own Price® – Cars


Priceline Cars - General
Rates often 10-30% lower than Hotwire
Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National only
My experience is most often Avis
Rates not always available – change search parameters
No off-airport, no one-way
Always unlimited miles (important for international)
Extensions and add-ons at agency rates
Drivers under 25 allowed for additional fees

Priceline Cars – Bidding Strategy
Example: Wilmington, NC Aug 23-25, midsize car
Step 1: Get a baseline at Hotwire or others:

Hotwire $17.95/day, $57.84 total

Step 2: Book a flexible backup

Costco $66.42

Step 3: Priceline Lowball Test

Enter a lowball bid and click “Choose”


Step 3 (cont): Lowball triggers “low chance of being accepted”

If you don’t get this screen, you are starting too high

Step 3 (cont): “Previous Page” and step up the bids


Step 3 (cont): Priceline Sweetspot when goes to offer page

You’re not done yet!


Step 4: Bid around Priceline Sweetspot
For short, economy rentals, $1-$2 under often works
Longer rentals and bigger cars can widen the gap
Can be more aggressive depending on lead time

Needed car next day so bid $16, final price $54.36 with Hertz

Priceline Cars – Re-Bidding
Same trip wait 24 hours to re-bid
Can immediately re-bid for different car type (up or down)
Compact may be same price as economy
Change return date may allow re-bid (e.g. Tue 6 am, then
try Mon 11 pm – you get the car for 24-hour days)
I generally find 1-2 weeks out is good time to bid


Priceline Re-Bidding Hack
Warning: use at your own risk
Enter the wrong credit card security code
Or enter a low balance Visa/MC/Amex gift card


Priceline Re-Bidding Hack
If bid is accepted you get a processing error

If not accepted, no processing error
You can enter correct number or abandon
Priceline does not (yet) hold customers to the purchase

Priceline Multiple Accounts
Companion can work for hotels
Companion may run into additional driver fees for cars
Can try to have multiple accounts (use at your own risk):
Register a different email address
Don’t repeat exact personal info
Don’t use same credit card
Don’t use same computer & connection
Or different browser + VPN to switch IP


Priceline Name Your Own Price® – On Hold
Sometimes bids go to pending

Go to account to check offer status
If not accepted, start to re-bid with new search

Priceline Name Your Own Price® – Hotels


Priceline Hotels – Where to Use
Use where the zone is targeted and fits your needs
Use when you do not need a specific amenity like a pool
Use when transport situation works for you
Use when companions are easy-going


Priceline Hotels – Where to be Careful
Mumbai is 1 zone – have you ever been in Mumbai traffic?


Priceline Hotels – Bidding Strategy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Compare market rates
Research Priceline zones
Research winning bids on forums
Prepare bid strategy – write it down!
Go for it


Example: Providence, RI 11/1-4
Step 1: Compare market rates


Step 2: Research Priceline zones

I only want Zone 5 – Providence Downtown

Step 3: Research winning bids on forums

Not many recent data points

Step 4: Prepare bid strategy – identify available stars by zone
Zone 1: 1-3 star
Zone 2: 1-3.5 star
Zone 3: 1-3 star
Zone 4: 2-2.5 star
Zone 5: 2-4 star


Step 4: Prepare bid strategy – target 4-star in Zone 5
Bid 1: Zone 5, 4-star
Bid 2: Add Zone 1, 4-star
Wait, what? Zone 1 has no 4-star
Priceline let’s you re-bid
Only Zone 5 has 4-star hotels
5 zones = 5 bids for 4-star


Step 4: Prepare bid strategy – what about 3.5 star?
Zone 2 has 3.5 star
I don’t want Zone 2
So can bid 5, then 1, 3, 4
Increase each bid in increments


Step 5: Go for it
For each star add zone one by one
For each new star start new search to reset zones


Priceline Hotels – Be Organized
Be organized and write down zones by name not number
(zone numbers disappear in re-bids)
This can get complicated – Atlanta has 23 zones!


Priceline Hotels – The Bidding Traveler
The Bidding Traveler does the work for you


Manual mode provides good step-by-step walkthrough


Automatic mode takes your credit card and will purchase


Priceline – Hotel Express Deals™
Similar to Hotwire Hot Rates

Frequent sale offers


Priceline – Hotel Express Deals™


Priceline – Hotel Freebies℠
Fun way to search – from free nights to spa credits


Priceline – Vacation Packages & Cruises
Nothing special, no Name Your Own Price®


Priceline – Rewards Bonus Cash
Public and targeted offers appear from time to time
Cash added to bids, e.g. hotel $75 bid + $5 bonus = $80 bid


Priceline – Low Price Guarantee
24-hour guarantee for identical booking, refunds difference
‘Big Deal Guarantee’ for Name Your Own Price™ and
Vacation Packages: difference + $25 + $50 off next
2-night or longer Vacation Package


Priceline – Cancellation/Refund
No official exceptions – consider trip insurance
Possible flight exception for schedule changes

You can always plead your case


If you think some silly metal credit
card is a conversation starter…


…get the Shatner card!


Priceline Rewards Visa Credit Card
5x on Priceline bookings
(except 1x on cruise bookings, non-Name Your Own
Price® car reservations, and hotel reservations designated
as Pay When You StaySM)
1x everywhere else
Old accounts have 2x everywhere else – no current offers
10k sign-up bonus (requires $1k spend) = $100 cash rebate
No annual fee
Issued by Barclays

Priceline – Cashback
ebates – 1%-5% by type, except 1st/biz flights
Chase – 1 extra pt/$, except 1st/biz flights
Others come and go, try Big Crumbs and topcashback


Priceline – Best Airfare Option?
Priceline getting good at replicating ITA Matrix fares
Complex itineraries often need Hipmunk to price in Priceline
Receive all airline benefits
Chase UR 1 pt/$ plus Priceline Rewards Visa 5x = 6%+


Priceline – Airfare Example
New York – Moscow: United + Lufthansa + Swiss
Hipmunk can only price it correctly on Priceline


Priceline’s Other Websites


Kayak
General purpose travel meta search


agoda
Asia-based hotel bookings


hotelroom.com and hotelsbycity.net
Yet more hotel bookings – nothing distinctive


Booking.com
Great for mom and pop hotels and small towns
Especially strong in Europe


Priceline Questions?


Thank You
rapidtravelchai.com
stefan@rapidtravelchai.com
@rapidtravelchai


Rapid Travel Chai: Hotwire and Priceline - Chicago Seminars 2013

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