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Grand Hyatt Hotel
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by Sarah Wernick
WHAT'S THE DEAL?
Many hotels have unbooked rooms. Rather than letting them remain empty, hotels may release rooms at low rates to Priceline. The hotels don't want customers who pay the regular price to know about these very low rates, so when you use Priceline you won't learn the name of the hotel until you've actually paid for your reservation.
How low can the rates get? Some members have gotten a room at the Hyatt for the 2003 conference dates at $75/night, plus tax and Priceline's fee of $6 per stay. Less luxurious hotels in midtown Manhattan cost $70-$100/night before tax and fee. All rooms sold via Priceline have private baths.
PRICELINE ISN'T FOR EVERYONE!
When you book a hotel with Priceline, you specify the dates of your hotel stay, the area and hotel quality level you want, and the amount you're willing to pay. When you're ready to bid, you provide a credit card number. Very important: Your bid is binding; if it's accepted, your credit card will be charged. Only then will you learn where you're staying. If you make a mistake, or if you're disappointed with the hotel you get, you're stuck. There are no refunds.
Priceline can save you a lot of money if you're willing to be flexible - but it's not for everyone and it's not for every occasion. Some cautions:
- Do not use Priceline if you have strong preferences (negative or positive) concerning a hotel for your stay. There is no way to assure that you'll get a particular hotel via Priceline - and no way to avoid a particular hotel. While you might hope to get the Grand Hyatt with a bid for a 4-star hotel in Midtown East, you might very well wind up at a different hotel of similar quality, but many blocks away from the Hyatt.
- Do not use Priceline if you require a room or hotel with special features, such as:
* Two beds rather than one. Priceline guarantees only that there will be sleeping accommodations for two people, not that your room will have two beds. In New York City, it's common for hotels to provide Priceline customers with one bed only - and the bed may be a double, not queen or king size. In other words, if you plan to share the room with someone else, don't use Priceline unless you're also willing to share the bed. You can't even count on sleeping on the floor, since some rooms released to Priceline are very small. That's why they're available.Once your bid is accepted and your reservation is confirmed, Priceline suggests that you call the hotel to express your preferences - for example, to ask for two beds and a no-smoking room. But be aware that the hotel is not obliged to accommodate you. And it may not have the facilities you hoped for.* Extra space for more than two people. Priceline guarantees only that there will be room for two people. Your room may not be large enough for a cot or crib.
* A room that either permits or prohibits smoking. Priceline automatically requests no-smoking rooms, but they do not guarantee that you will receive a no-smoking room.
* Special location, such as a high floor, a room that's near or far from the elevator, or two rooms on the same floor.
* Other special features such as: handicapped accessibility, an attractive view, a bathtub rather than a shower, a swimming pool, an airport shuttle, Internet access, free parking - or anything else beyond the promised amenities for the hotel quality level you select.
Before you bid on Priceline, consider all these limitations very carefully. You may decide that the substantial savings are well worth the risk of minor disappointments. But sometimes it's better to skip Priceline and spend a bit more, so you can get exactly what you want. Again, reservations cannot be canceled. You pay for your room when you bid, and there are no refunds!
LEARNING HOW TO USE PRICELINE
Okay, let's say you want to use Priceline despite all of the above. Doing so effectively requires considerably more effort than booking a hotel the normal way. If you don't want to make this effort, you could wind up spending more money than if you'd booked through a discount service or via a special deal offered by the hotel - and you also could have more hassles.
For starters, go to Priceline - www.priceline.com - and make a practice bid. (See below for detailed instructions.) After that, visit Bidding for Travel www.biddingfortravel.com, an amazing resource that decodes Priceline. They offer savvy (but complicated) advice on bidding, plus message boards with actual bids that have been accepted or rejected. If you bid without this information, you're likely to pay much more than necessary for your room - or to come up empty-handed.
HOW TO MAKE A PRACTICE BID
Before you attempt to book a hotel via Priceline, make a practice bid. You'll go through all the preliminary steps, but stop when Priceline asks for a credit card number. Walking through the process will answer most of your questions about how it works.
You can just follow the screens, which are quite clear, or print out and follow these step-by-step instructions.
* Go to Priceline: www.priceline.comTHE INSIDE TRACK ON PRICELINE BIDS* Select the city you'd like to visit.
* Enter the dates of your arrival and departure, as well as the number of rooms you need. Click "Start saving" to continue.
The second screen lets you select the areas of the city where you'd like to stay. You'll see a list and a map.
* Click on "Area details" to see a more detailed map of each area that interests you. Remember, the hotel you get can be in any location within the area you select. Also be aware that Priceline occasionally changes the boundaries of areas in New York and other large cities, so check each time you bid to avoid unpleasant surprises. The Grand Hyatt is in Midtown East. But it's right on the border of Midtown South and not far from Midtown West. The more flexible you are about location, the more likely you are to get a bargain.
* Check off one area then click on "Next."
The third screen lets you select a quality level for your hotel.
* Click on the links to learn what the star ratings mean and what amenities you can expect at different levels of hotels.
Some areas have hotels at all quality levels; others do not. One of the things you'll learn from Bidding for Travel is how to use this information to make extra bids. (Normally, if your Priceline bid is rejected, you have to wait 72 hours before you can bid again.)
* When you're ready to continue, select a quality level, name a price, and fill in your name. Don't worry! Your bid doesn't count unless you enter your credit card number and tell Priceline to buy your room. Click on "Next."
At this point you may see a screen that warns you that your bid is too low. Priceline will remind you that you can make only one request for a certain star level, area, and dates in a 72 hour period. Or you may be given a counter offer. Once you've become acquainted with the information on Bidding For Travel, you can simply ignore this: low bids by savvy Priceline users often are accepted despite the warning; usually you can get the room for less than the counteroffer.
The next screen asks you to review your request. Be very careful when you're bidding for real - remember that if your bid is accepted, your credit card will be charged and there are no refunds. Double-check your dates. Also be sure to read the important information about Priceline's policies. You will be asked to initial the page to indicate that you understand and accept these policies.
* Initial the page and click on "Next."
Now things get serious. Priceline asks you for personal information and a credit card number. Don't fill in this page now - you're just practicing. But read it carefully. As Priceline warns you, when you fill out this form, and click "Buy my hotel room now," you've made a binding bid. If this bid is accepted, you cannot change or cancel it and your credit card will be billed.
After you're familiar with Priceline, check out Bidding for Travel (www.biddingfortravel.com). There's a great deal of information to absorb, and it can be confusing at first.
The simplest shortcut is to read messages about successful bids. Look for the dates, location, and hotel quality level that interests you. This is the best indicator of which hotels have released inventory to Priceline for particular dates. But remember that you may get a different hotel with an identical bid.
If you decide to ask for bidding assistance from the Bidding for Travel staff, read their Hotel FAQ first and fill out their form - if you don't, they will not answer your question. The FAQ requires some study. Also, you'll need to do some preliminary research on standard hotel prices for the dates and area in which you're interested. That information tells the staff how much inventory is likely to be available: If hotels are lowering prices, they probably have many vacancies for those dates; if prices are high, they're probably nearly full, in which case they won't release rooms at low rates to Priceline.
One more tip from Bidding for Travel: Always join the free frequent traveler plans at hotels. You won't get frequent traveler credits for your Priceline stay, but you may get other useful perks, such as free phone calls, free coffee, or even a room upgrade.
Finally, two important requests:
I hope you will go to Bidding for Travel not only for additional help with Priceline, but to use their link to place your bid. This takes a few seconds and costs you nothing, but gives them a small commission, which they deserve for providing this remarkable service. If you're reading this, you are benefitting from everything I've learned from them.
Also, if you book a room at the Grand Hyatt via Priceline, be sure to tell Brett Harvey (execdir@asja.org) so she can notify the Hyatt. ASJA receives credits toward a free room night for each room booked by a conference attendee, even if the reservation is made through Priceline.
GOOD LUCK!
ASJAA • A Times Square, 1501 Broadway, Suite 403, New York, NY 10036, USA A • A (212) 997-0947