Is priceline.com legit? Too good to be true?

[Jordan!]

Going to Santa Cruz via SFO. Put in my price $10 a day thinking.. yeahhhh riggght!

Is this real life?

[getbak]

Yes, totally legit. I've never rented a car through them, but I have booked hotel stays and never had a problem.

The only thing I'd be leery of booking there would be flights because you don't have any control over the times of your flights and/or the connections you have to make to get there.

[Hack&Lube]

Where's the fine print? You have to read that.

Also, don't question the Shat.

[Jordan!]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Where's the fine print? You have to read that.

Also, don't question the Shat.

Fine print is no refunds

[Barnet Flame]

I used Priceline many years ago to get an amazing deal on a flight from London UK to Calgary.

Not sure if they do any bids on flights in the UK now as I remember them stopping it a few years ago.

However, I had no problems and found them to be legit back then, so see no reason why it would have changed.

Congrats on a good deal.

[asifka]

totally legit. I have used priceline many times for both hotels and car rentals. No problems ever.

[WilsonFourTwo]

100% legit.

I actually rented a car for $10.00/day in Calgary a little while ago. Some crazy weekender rate from Hertz or National (cant remember).

I would just double check to ensure that it includes mileage, and how much (if anything) the insurance costs.

BTW.....have fun in San Fran!

[billybob123]

I rented in Hawaii from Priceline, gotta watch the extra fees. Sometimes you can find a car rental directly from the company using discount codes (*legitimate* ones are easily available on the web - use caution using ones you don't know the source of -10-25% off is usually easy to find, plus often if you're on weekend, rent two/three get one free days, or $30 off a weekly rental) for far cheaper because of Priceline's fees.

I used to use PL exclusively for hotels and still do periodically - but seems to be the savings aren't what they used to be (lately I've averaged 25-30% when I used to save 50% or more of retail) that sometimes the savings aren't worth the uncertainty. I'd say 80% of the time I can predict the hotel I get and the price I'm going to pay - it's that other 20% that makes me nervous. $20 per night isn't worth risking winding up in a dump that you know might come up! 50%, sure.

Hotwire is sometimes, quite rarely though, cheaper for rental cars and hotels. Worth looking at for comparison purposes.

[cmyden]

I take it your offer was accepted? Because the screenshot you're showing is just of the offer page. If your offer is accepted, your credit card will be charged. If not, it won't be.

I notice that I can put in an offer as low as $5/day without receiving the following warning:

"Based on recent data, your price has almost no chance of being accepted."

That being said, you can definitely find some pretty great car rental rates in certain major U.S. cities. I paid $16 for a 3 day car rental in Vegas in December from National after all taxes and fees. Not $16/day, $16 total! $5/day for a brand new Mazda.

[blankall]

Priceline is definitely legit. For car rentals, however, like others have mentioned, the base price is not necessarily anywhere remotely related to your actual price at the end of the day.

Right now, with the bed bug epidemic in the USA, I probably wouldn't use PriceLine for many hotel bookings. If there was any chance of ending up in a hotel with bed bug complaints, I'd be willing to use other discounters that provide certainty.

[Titan]

betterbidding.com also helps with some detail and helps to identify hotels.

[opendoor]

I don't really get all the extra fees people are talking about. All the taxes and fees are spelled out before you confirm your bid so it's pretty clear what the total cost will be. If you need things like insurance or to get an extra driver on the rental agreement that will cost more money, but the same would apply whether you rent directly through the company or through Priceline.

I've gotten some pretty crazy deals on rental cars through there like $12 a day in Hawaii or $9 a day in Phoenix (both prices after taxes and fees).

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I don't really get all the extra fees people are talking about.

Recent car rental extra fees they tries to sell us on a trip to Florida:

- Insurance. They said that even though we had rental coverage on our own cars' policies; that it did not cover the PLPD down in the States. Fortunately my insurance broker is a good friend that I was able to text from the counter.

- Return the car "empty" and get a discounted rate on the pre-paid refill. Huge cash grab unless you plan on returning the car on fumes. If the car has an 80 litre tank you pay for 80 litres of gas no matter how much may actually be left. I don't even let my own car get down to fumes; let alone a strange car in a strange city.

- Pre-paid tolls. My buddy decided we should take it. We paid $36 to avoid any tolls; the only toll we faced was the $1 toll to come back into the airport. Worst thing was the Easy-pass lane was the far left of 16 lanes and we had to make a hard right. We paid the $1 anyway.

There were a few other extras they wanted to add on like car seat, GPS, roadside assistance, etc.

[getbak]

Those extras are upsells they'll try to get you to buy regardless of how you reserved your rental though, so they wouldn't be a reason to avoid Priceline.

[GGG]

I love priceline for cars. The only drawback I have found is that you tend to get companies where a short shuttle is required from the terminal rather than the company directly in the terminmal. Not a big deal if you are aware of it in advance.

I paid have paid as low as $7 per day off season Orlando and $12 per day in Vegas. For insurance call your insurance guy before you leave and find out exactly what is and isn't covered but your plan. I have found between my insurance company and credit card I am fully covered. The insurance issues in the states are there regarless of how you book.

For Hotels I use it regularly as well. Only for 3* plus hotels in larger city's as places like better bidding have a good history of what hotel you are likely to get.

The only "catch" with priceline is no refunds or changes. You bought it you own it. You screw up your dates in the computer your fault. Call them 10 seconds after you book -- too bad.

[PIMking]

They and others like them (hotels.com, Orbitz.com, travelocity.com) all set up reservations through my hotel. They pay us like 45-55 for a room and charge the guest about 79-85 when our normal rate was 89. I would tell them it would be best to call a hotel and reserve a room themselves because they could get a better deal.

[csnarpy]

Originally Posted by GGG

I love priceline for cars. The only drawback I have found is that you tend to get companies where a short shuttle is required from the terminal rather than the company directly in the terminmal. Not a big deal if you are aware of it in advance.

I paid have paid as low as $7 per day off season Orlando and $12 per day in Vegas. For insurance call your insurance guy before you leave and find out exactly what is and isn't covered but your plan. I have found between my insurance company and credit card I am fully covered. The insurance issues in the states are there regarless of how you book.

For Hotels I use it regularly as well. Only for 3* plus hotels in larger city's as places like better bidding have a good history of what hotel you are likely to get.

The only "catch" with priceline is no refunds or changes. You bought it you own it. You screw up your dates in the computer your fault. Call them 10 seconds after you book -- too bad.

The way to get around this is to talk to the Hotel. Last year I booked a hotel and put the wrong date. Priceline couldn't change it but suggested to contact the hotel. I did, explained the screw up and they just checked to make sure there was a room available and then switched my booking. It may not work all the time but it did for me.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by PIMking

They and others like them (hotels.com, Orbitz.com, travelocity.com) all set up reservations through my hotel. They pay us like 45-55 for a room and charge the guest about 79-85 when our normal rate was 89. I would tell them it would be best to call a hotel and reserve a room themselves because they could get a better deal.

In some cases yes. But I've also paid $50-60 on Priceline or Hotwire for rooms that go for $150-200 directly from the hotel. I guess sometimes it isn't cheaper than booking directly, but everytime I've used Priceline or Hotwire it's been for less than the standard room rate.

[csnarpy]

Originally Posted by opendoor

In some cases yes. But I've also paid $50-60 on Priceline or Hotwire for rooms that go for $150-200 directly from the hotel. I guess sometimes it isn't cheaper than booking directly, but every time I've used Priceline or Hotwire it's been for less than the standard room rate.

Agreed, we consistently stay at Boutique Hotels that average 250/night and pay 40. I know at Priceline that they pick the hotel and that it's blind. But if you do your research you can basically manipulate the system to pick the hotel you want.

[krazycanuck]

I LOVE Priceline. Used it a couple times for rental cars and everytime I travel for hotels.

It definitely helps to do some research into what hotels you can potentially get for your bid. I use the websites: http://www.betterbidding.com and http://www.biddingfortravel.com You can see what other people are bidding and what hotel they're getting in each individual area.

Also, after your first purchase make sure you check your rewards in your Priceline account before you book your hotel or car rental. I regularly get $10/day towards hotel stays and $4/day for car rentals.