You may or may not be familiar with Priceline's "Express Deals". Express Deals are discounted hotel rooms that come with a slight catch: you don't know exactly which hotel you're booking until after you've already paid, and they're non-refundable and non-cancellable.
What most people don't realize is that it's actually very easy to figure out which hotel you're booking with a few simple steps:
- Calculate the hotel's non-discounted rate
- Non_Discounted_Rate ~= Discounted_Rate / (100 - Discount_Percentage) * 100
- $297 ~= $232 / (100 - 22) * 100
- Compare ratings
- Compare amenities
For example, I was looking for a 4-star hotel in the Riverwalk Area of San Antonio for this weekend. Priceline had two Express Deals that matched my requirements:
- Hotel 1
- Discounted_Rate = $94
- Discount_Percentage = 20%
- Non_Discounted_Rate = $117
- Stars = 4
- Rating = 8+
- Amenities: Pool, Restaurant, Gym, Internet, Business Center
- Hotel 2
- Discounted_Rate = $232
- Discount_Percentage = 22%
- Non_Discounted_Rate = $297
- Stars = 4.5
- Rating = 9+
- Amenities: Pool, Pet-Friendly, Restaurant, Gym
Hotel 2 was easy to figure out. When I calculated the non-discounted price, >$297, there was only one match: Mokara Hotel & Spa San Antonio.
Hotel 1 was a little harder. There were two hotels that matched the non-discounted price of >$117: Grand Hyatt San Antonio Riverwalk and Hyatt Regency San Antonio.
I clicked the "Details" tab for each hotel to see a list of their amenities to compare with the Express Deals hotel.
Hotel 1 has a restaurant. Only one of the two hotels, the Hyatt Regency San Antonio, has a restaurant.
After just a couple minutes I knew exactly which hotels I could expect to get if I bought an Express Deal. This was handy because I could locate it on the map before deciding to stay at one or the other.
Here's a calculator that will calculate the Non_Discounted_Rate for an Express Deals hotel for you: