Why Is Priceline Cheaper Than Booking Directly With Hotels?

Booking travel can be confusing, with so many sites and options to choose from. Priceline is one of the most popular online travel agencies, known for having prices that are often much cheaper than booking directly with hotels.

But why exactly is Priceline able to offer lower rates than hotels for the same rooms?

Reasons For Priceline Cheaper Being Cheaper

There are several key reasons Priceline is able to secure cheaper rates, including:

• Priceline Has Buying Power as a Major OTA

Priceline is one of the largest online travel agencies (OTAs) in the world.

As an OTA, Priceline partners with hotels, airlines, rental car companies, etc. to sell travel services online.

With the high volume of bookings Priceline facilitates, they have significant buying power to negotiate discounted rates.

Hotels want to work with major OTAs like Priceline because they provide a huge source of bookings and revenue. To be listed and promoted on a site like Priceline, hotels are often willing to give lower rates compared to their direct booking rates.

The increased exposure and bookings Priceline provides make it worthwhile for hotels to offer cheaper prices.

As a major OTA, Priceline can leverage their size and booking volume to negotiate the best wholesale rates that individual travelers wouldn’t be able to get booking directly.

• Priceline Sells Off Unsold Hotel Inventory

Another reason Priceline can offer cheaper rates is that they are often selling unsold hotel inventory. Hotels have a certain capacity and room allotment available each night.

Once a night is approaching and a hotel has empty rooms still available, they are willing to accept lower prices to get some revenue from those rooms.

Priceline partners with hotels to sell their unsold inventory at discounted rates to help fill rooms. This allows hotels to make some money from rooms that would otherwise go unoccupied and generate zero revenue.

Travelers booking on Priceline close to their travel dates can find great deals on hotel rooms that hotels are struggling to fill. The tradeoff is having less certainty about the exact hotel brand/location until after booking.

• Name Your Own Price Can Get Lower Rates

Priceline’s Name Your Own Price tool allows travelers to bid on hotel rooms in a city for specific travel dates. This reversed auction model means travelers can name their price and potentially get hotels for much cheaper than published rates.

With Name Your Own Price, Priceline doesn’t reveal the exact hotel until after you book and pay. But you can designate general location and quality level to match your preferences.

By bidding low but still reasonable prices, you can sometimes score significant savings.

For example, if you bid $75/night for a 3.5+ star hotel in the downtown area, Priceline might accept your bid and assign you to a nice hotel that could normally cost $150+/night when booked directly.

The opaque nature of Name Your Own Price allows for big bargains.

• Priceline Has Exclusive Private Rates

In addition to getting wholesale rates from hotels, Priceline also negotiates exclusive unpublished rates that you can’t find anywhere else.

These private discounts are another way Priceline can offer cheaper prices than what you’ll find booking directly with a hotel.

The unpublished rates are still for legitimate hotels you’ve heard of.

Priceline simply has negotiated special pricing in exchange for selling a certain allotment of rooms.

Hotels are willing to work out these exclusive deals as another stream of bookings and incremental revenue.

By booking through Priceline’s unpublished rates for partner hotels, you can access special pricing and savings not publicly available. It’s a win-win arrangement for both Priceline and hotels.

• Priceline Charges No Booking Fees

Unlike some other major OTAs, Priceline does not charge any booking, service, or administration fees when you make a reservation. This helps keep the overall prices lower compared to other sites that tack on various fees.

For example, Booking.com charges anywhere from $15-$30 or more in service fees for hotel bookings. Expedia also typically adds around $20+ in fees per hotel booking. By not charging booking fees, Priceline’s upfront price is usually more affordable.

While Priceline’s actual room rates may still be the same as Booking.com or Expedia, avoiding the fees they add on makes Priceline cheaper overall on final price.

• You Can Stack Coupons and Discounts

Priceline routinely offers coupon codes, discounts, and other promotions to help lower rates even further. If you take the time to hunt around, you can often stack savings from promo codes on top of Priceline’s already low prices.

Some current promotions Priceline is running include:

• Up to 60% off Express Deals
• $25 off $250+ hotel bookings
• 5% off select hotels with Mastercard
• Earn rewards points for future bookings

Combining coupons with Priceline’s Name Your Own Price bids or special unpublished rates allows you to maximize your savings. The final price can end up much less than booking directly with hotels.

• Priceline Has Greater Flexibility with Third-Party Bookings

Often when you book directly through a hotel website, there are rigid cancellation policies and change fees. Priceline’s third-party bookings tend to have greater flexibility to modify or cancel trips when needed.

Many Priceline hotel reservations let you cancel with no fee up to 24-48 hours before check-in. They also frequently allow free date or property changes, as long as it’s at least 7 days before arrival.

With hotels, cancellations or changes often come with hefty fees or penalties. The more flexible policies at Priceline make it easier to adjust travel plans as needed.

• Priceline Provides One-Stop Travel Booking

In addition to hotels, Priceline offers discounted pricing on flights, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, and more. The ability to bundle various travel components into a single booking can lead to further savings compared to booking each piece separately.

Priceline makes it simple to book complete trip packages, allowing you to easily compare bundled deals vs individual pricing. Bundling multiple elements like hotels, flights, cars, etc. into one reservation often brings down the total cost.

Beyond just lower prices, Priceline also simplifies trip planning by handling several components of your travel through one website.

• Loyalty Discounts and Rewards Benefits

Priceline has a rewards program that allows members to earn points on eligible bookings. Points can be redeemed for discounts on future reservations.

As a loyalty member, you also get access to exclusive member-only prices that may be lower than the rates available to non-members. Existing members may see cheaper deals on Priceline compared to first-time users.

Additionally, being a regular Priceline customer and making repeat bookings from your account can sometimes unlock preferential pricing. Loyalty definitely pays when it comes to scoring the best deals on Priceline.

Is Booking Through Priceline Reliable?

With Priceline consistently offering cheaper rates compared to hotels, is booking through them reliable? Can you trust Priceline to deliver a high-quality booking experience and handle issues that arise before or during your trip?

The short answer is yes – Priceline is a reputable site that millions of travelers use each year to book affordable hotel stays and other travel services. Here are a few reasons you can rely on Priceline:

• Established company: Priceline is a stable, established online travel company founded in 1997. They have an extensive track record as an OTA.
• Valid deals from real hotels: The discounts you get on Priceline come from legitimate hotels. While specifics might be opaque until after booking, Priceline partners with major hotel chains you recognize.
• Protected payments: Priceline processes all payments through secure encryption. Your financial information is safe when booking.
• Flexible policies: As noted earlier, Priceline offers reasonable cancellation and change policies to alter plans as needed.
• Customer support: Priceline has 24/7 customer service by phone and email to address pre-trip planning questions or assist during travel if any issues arise.
• Member satisfaction guarantee: Priceline’s Best Price Guarantee ensures you get the lowest rates or they’ll refund the difference. Their Promise to You helps make things right for members if bookings don’t go as planned.
• Traveler verified: Priceline is rated excellent on third-party review sites like TrustPilot, with 80%+ of reviewers describing positive booking experiences.

While pricing is opaque in some cases until after purchase, Priceline shoppers can book confidently knowing they are a reliable travel booking platform that delivers great hotels at excellent values.

Also Read: Reasons For Duluth Hotels Being So Expensive.

Can You Trust Priceline for Hotels?

For travelers who are new to Priceline or accustomed to booking directly with hotel chains, the question often arises – can you trust Priceline when it comes to hotel bookings?

While scoring cheap deals on hotels is appealing, it’s understandable to feel unsure about providing your payment information to reserve a hotel room when you don’t know the exact property name and details until after booking.

Here’s what travelers need to know about how Priceline handles hotel reservations:

• Reputable national brands: Priceline partners with all the major hotel chains you already know and trust – Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Wyndham, Choice, Best Western, and more. While the specific hotel name is unrevealed until you complete booking, you are guaranteed a legitimate hotel.
• Real-time inventory: Priceline pulls inventory directly from lodging partners. When you make a reservation, it’s instantly confirmed with the actual hotel to guarantee your room.
• Accurate star ratings: The star ratings you choose (3 stars, 4 stars, etc) accurately reflect the hotel class you’ll get. So you know the general quality level of accommodations to expect.
• Secure payments: Priceline processes all payments over 256-bit SSL encryption. Your financial data is securely transmitted and protected.
• Backed by guarantees: Priceline’s Best Price Guarantee promises you’ll get the best rates on hotels. Their Peace of Mind Guarantees offer compensation if issues come up with your booking.
• 24/7 support: Priceline has a customer service team available by phone or email 24/7 to assist travelers before, during, or after trips.

While you can’t see the exact hotel name during the checkout process, Priceline provides assurances you’ll get a real reservation at a legitimate hotel matching your preferences. Their savings, guarantees, and support provide trustworthy hotel booking experiences.

How Come Priceline Is So Cheap?

It’s quite common for Priceline shoppers to be amazed at how cheap hotel rates are compared to other sites and booking directly with hotel chains. Travelers are often left wondering – how is Priceline able to offer such low prices consistently?

As covered earlier, Priceline is able to secure discounted pricing in several ways, including:

• Bulk buying power – Priceline gets special wholesale rates based on their high booking volume. Hotels provide lower prices in exchange for Priceline delivering loads of bookings and potential guests.
• Unsold inventory – Hotels give Priceline reduced rates for unused rooms approaching stay dates to generate some revenue from empty rooms.
• Private rates – Priceline negotiates unpublished promotional rates that undercut publicly available prices for hotel partners.
• No booking fees – Unlike some rival OTAs, Priceline does not charge service fees, making the upfront prices more affordable.
• Bundles – Packaging multiple elements like flights and hotels into a single booking produces additional savings compared to booking individually.
• Promotions – Routine coupons and discounts lower rates. Name Your Own Price opaque bidding also facilitates cheap offers.
• Rewards – Loyalty membership unlocks exclusive discounted member prices and earns points to redeem for future savings.

Also Read: Comparison of Medjet And Global Rescue Travel Insurances.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Final Thoughts

Thanks to this combination of bulk purchasing power, unpublished deals, bundled offerings, and special promotions, Priceline consistently delivers amazing prices across hotels, airfare, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, and more.

Next time you’re searching for travel deals and come across ultra-low pricing on Priceline, you can appreciate the many factors that allow them to undercut competitors and offer cheap rates that catch shoppers’ eyes.