Priceline Express Deals

[JJTNY]

I'm 99.9% sure this is the Dolphin. Is the resort fee included in the taxes and fees or will that be additional at the hotel?

Priceline sometimes shows resort fees as line items and sometimes it doesn't.

Years ago, when they didn't show resort fees at all and if you didn't realize you could get hit for it at the resort. Priceline's terms basically said "tough luck." They seem to have gotten more forgiving - but still confusing when the amount is rolled into the taxes/fees.

I just ran a search on my phone and I would say Yes, the resort fee is included in the amount you are shown.
I found a Swan hidden deal and in my cart I had a "fees due at hotel" line item for the resort fee.
So, in my Swan hidden deal I WOULD expect to pay the resort fee at check in, while is seems like in your deal resort fee is rolled in already.

The cost of taxes/fees in the Swan deal (which includes the PE hidden deal fee) was about 23% of the room rate.
In your image, 23% of $179 = $41.07
If you add the Swolphin resort fee of $45 to that you get $86, which is pretty close to $87.97.

NOTE: Priceline does a very weird thing with Swolphin resort fees:
When it adds it as a line item in the cart (see my capture below) it uses $50.63 for the resort fee.
When it rolls it instead into the taxes/fees amount (which I think yours is), it uses the real current Swolphin resort fee of $45.

 

[esss36]

Sharing a really weird and frustrating situation. I was using the app in hopes of applying AUTUMNTRAVEL (which may have expired overnight). I eventually gave up and booked through the website with a code that showed up in my VIP account. (CSR 3.5 / 8+ / 600 as expected.)

I was ready to book CSR for 12/15-12/18. In the app each day is available (3.5 / 8+ / 600, click through and select king bed). Two of the days only have king available, and the third had a couple of bed options.

When I selected all three days together, 3.5 / 8+ / 600 no longer shows up. Instead, there was a 3.5 / 8+ / 700, which isn’t even in @JJTNY’s search tool (ETA: it’s Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, I think, from the regular listings), and the beds were wrong for CSR.

I tried changing the filter to 1 bed in case the issue was related to bed mismatch, and suddenly AOA showed up (3 / 8+ / 300) and Contemporary (both for 9% off, so not great deals).

Then the app search started saying no hotels available after selecting Bonnet Creek, so I gave up. The website had no issue showing the room I wanted available for the length of stay.

I also noticed that the checkout in the app showed the actual number of reviews (but CSR is 8.6, not 8.0, so that’s not precise).

Attaching pics in case it’s helpful.

Thank you so much for this thread! I didn’t get the most aggressive deal, but it was a useful deal for us.

 

[JJTNY]

When I selected all three days together, 3.5 / 8+ / 600 no longer shows up. Instead, there was a 3.5 / 8+ / 700, which isn’t even in @JJTNY’s search tool (ETA: it’s Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, I think, from the regular listings), and the beds were wrong for CSR.

Well that is super weird. Priceline does act squirrely sometimes, especially when they are changing up deals, but that's a new one.

There is no 700 review count resort in BC or DS, but I did notice today when updating my data for that resort matcher that many resorts had quite different review counts since the last time I updated. However, CSR continues to be 695 reviews. I suppose for an instant maybe PL's system thought it had 700? (That's unlikely though, just thinking out loud.)

Also, sometimes Priceline will sneak in little deal boxes in between results with offers that look like "Here's a different deal you might like", but you have to watch those - they sometimes are outside of the neighborhoods you searched. Pretty rare, though.

FWIW: I just tried to replicate because I'm curious, but when I searched all nights together for your dates I did get regular CSR King room appearing for $226. There were also rooms: 2 Queen $279, etc.

Thanks for the data points, it is always helpful to know what weird things Priceline is doing so we can figure it out!

 

[esss36]

As an update, things are a little better now (no more 1 bed brings up more listings than no bed specification), but the app still won’t show me CSR for a three days. It’s really interesting that it works for you!

I’m still getting that 3.5/8+/700 (definitely a different hotel) and no 3.5/8+/600 for 12/15-18. The 3.5/8+/700 does not show show up when looking at each individual day (those show 3.5/8+/600 CSR, as you noted).

I know you said there’s no 700 count review hotel for BC, but wouldn’t this be Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort? I see that non-ED as 3.5 / 8.9 / 734

Interestingly, if I search 12/15-17 or 12/16-18, both of these rooms show up (attached one of the searches to illustrate).

Definitely always worth checking both on the website and in the app (and incognito) - luckily I had a coupon that worked when not in the app.

Let me know if you’d like to test anything else.

 

[Leigh L]

It's so fun to see this thread so active after the PLE lull.
Fingers crossed for everyone to start finding great deals again!

 

[JJTNY]

As an update, things are a little better now (no more 1 bed brings up more listings than no bed specification), but the app still won’t show me CSR for a three days. It’s really interesting that it works for you!

I’m still getting that 3.5/8+/700 (definitely a different hotel) and no 3.5/8+/600 for 12/15-18. The 3.5/8+/700 does not show show up when looking at each individual day (those show 3.5/8+/600 CSR, as you noted).

I know you said there’s no 700 count review hotel for BC, but wouldn’t this be Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort? I see that non-ED as 3.5 / 8.9 / 734

Interestingly, if I search 12/15-17 or 12/16-18, both of these rooms show up (attached one of the searches to illustrate).

Definitely always worth checking both on the website and in the app (and incognito) - luckily I had a coupon that worked when not in the app.

Let me know if you’d like to test anything else.

My brain kind of glossed over your guess that the alternative resort was Wyndham BC last night!

You are 100% correct on that - and checking again today I see that the review count jumped up from the 564 reviews I recorded when I checked on 9/27 to 734 reviews today. I'll update my search tool data in a minute.

When I run updates every week or four, I try to find listings for as many resorts as possible - Some of the rarer Deluxe Disney resorts tend to show up more often when you search for 1-night so I usually do that first.

WBC didn't show up when I updated yesterday because I forgot to then search for a multi-day window; it and one of the other timeshare-y resorts require a minimum of 2-days booking so don't show up when you search for 1 day.

Also, the number of reviews on WBC has been the same for years - so yesterday's review count jumps for several resorts is unusual and a bit suspicious.

During the pandemic there was one period of time where many of the resorts had review counts jump from hundreds to thousands overnight - then reverted several times over a few months. Hopefully that's not happening again, made updating impossible.

As for all CSR days not showing up for you: I wish I had a magical answer to get that to work!
Trying different browser, apps, incognito, flailing your arms like Kermit the Frog all might help.

On Touring Plans chat there will sometimes be people reporting deals for Grand Flo or CR and I NEVER see those.
Priceline being Priceline, I guess.

 

[Leigh L]

Interesting, I've seen Grand Flo in the past (not anytime lately!) but never never CR. I'd love to see CR garden rooms pop up!

AKL has been disappearing and reappearing for me.

 

[esss36]

Interesting, I've seen Grand Flo in the past (not anytime lately!) but never never CR. I'd love to see CR garden rooms pop up!

AKL has been disappearing and reappearing for me.

I see Grand Flo now for Dec 17-18, but it’s only 9% off so still super pricey ($747 instead of $829).

I saw CR briefly during the weird “1 bed filter shows different listings” evening, but not since (and it also was only 9% off).

I gave up on seeing AKL for my dates, but I would have picked that in an instant.

The two night minimum for Wyndham BC makes perfect sense now!

 

[HappyAsALark]

My brain kind of glossed over your guess that the alternative resort was Wyndham BC last night!

You are 100% correct on that - and checking again today I see that the review count jumped up from the 564 reviews I recorded when I checked on 9/27 to 734 reviews today. I'll update my search tool data in a minute.

When I run updates every week or four, I try to find listings for as many resorts as possible - Some of the rarer Deluxe Disney resorts tend to show up more often when you search for 1-night so I usually do that first.

WBC didn't show up when I updated yesterday because I forgot to then search for a multi-day window; it and one of the other timeshare-y resorts require a minimum of 2-days booking so don't show up when you search for 1 day.

Also, the number of reviews on WBC has been the same for years - so yesterday's review count jumps for several resorts is unusual and a bit suspicious.

During the pandemic there was one period of time where many of the resorts had review counts jump from hundreds to thousands overnight - then reverted several times over a few months. Hopefully that's not happening again, made updating impossible.

As for all CSR days not showing up for you: I wish I had a magical answer to get that to work!
Trying different browser, apps, incognito, flailing your arms like Kermit the Frog all might help.

On Touring Plans chat there will sometimes be people reporting deals for Grand Flo or CR and I NEVER see those.
Priceline being Priceline, I guess.


View attachment 906227

I booked an All Star Sports today for 3 nights in November for $105 per night as an Express Deal. I also used a 5% promo code to make it an even better deal! Thank you for all of your help, JJTNY!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I booked an All Star Sports today for 3 nights in November for $105 per night as an Express Deal. I also used a 5% promo code to make it an even better deal! Thank you for all of your help, JJTNY!

please tell us the dates

 

[Leigh L]

please tell us the dates

I'm not the OP but I can confirm Sports is showing up on various dates between 11/19 - 11/24. Tuesday, 11/19 was $78 ($97 with tax) night when I booked it. The dates including weekends bumped up to the $90-$105 range depending upon the combination of dates.

 

[JJTNY]

I see Grand Flo now for Dec 17-18, but it’s only 9% off so still super pricey ($747 instead of $829).

Be wary of any hidden deal that is less than 12% off - the hidden deal fee will almost always make them cost MORE than the non-hidden deals or even via Disney directly. I tend to only pay attention to hidden deals at least 20% off but prefer to see at least 30% to make the non-refundableness worth it.

 

[JJTNY]

please tell us the dates

The calendar in my September TP Blog post seems to be still holding up for where you might expect to see hidden Disney resorts.

For anyone thinking about a January trip, no hidden deals but you can grab non-hidden Disney Values as low as $80 - and probably nearly the same price from Disney directly with their current Early 2025 discount! (You can of course shave another 5% off on the Disney site by paying with discounted gift cards.)

 

[Pluto777]

Hey folks, anyone ever find a PE or Hotwire deal on Hilton Orlando (Destination parkway)? Or Signia Hilton Bonnet Creek? We are not traveling until the summer though..

 

[jmasgat]

Hey folks, anyone ever find a PE or Hotwire deal on Hilton Orlando (Destination parkway)? Or Signia Hilton Bonnet Creek? We are not traveling until the summer though..

In my recent checking for my trip this week and in January, Signia comes up all the time as "5 star hotel, 8+, 1200+ reviews. It's easy to see if you sort the results by "Guest Rating and # of reviews"

 

[NicoleLarson]

Hey folks, anyone ever find a PE or Hotwire deal on Hilton Orlando (Destination parkway)? Or Signia Hilton Bonnet Creek? We are not traveling until the summer though..

Bonnet is a staple on PE. I can't think of a time when I didn't see it come up

 

[Pluto777]

Bonnet is a staple on PE. I can't think of a time when I didn't see it come up

Thanks, what about the Orlando Hilton though? (It is closer to seaworld)

 

[NicoleLarson]

Thanks, what about the Orlando Hilton though? (It is closer to seaworld)

I don't typically look in that area so I don't know. The website better bidding can give you a better idea of what's in that area.

 

[JJTNY]

Thanks, what about the Orlando Hilton though? (It is closer to seaworld)

Not much discussion about those areas as I recall, so hard to say if that hotel shows up a lot or at all.
But a nice easy trick to spot a hidden deal for a resort is to:

• Search your dates
• Limit your search to the area it is in (Hilton Orlando appears to be Intl Drive - Convention Center), then
• Select Sort by "Guest Ratings + Number of Reviews"

If there is a hidden Express Deal for a resort, it should place it next to the non-hidden listing for the same resort.
Just be sure there aren't multiple resorts with the same combo of Star & Guest Ratings, Review count and location to be sure you have guessed the right one.

I only track the Disney and one UOR area myself, but in those areas there are only a few pairings of resorts that look the same in hidden deals. Can't say if it happens more frequently in the other Priceline Orlando neighborhoods where there seem to be many resorts within them. Good luck!

One last tip: Note that if your dates are flexible and you are changing the search dates to look for hidden deals, EVERY time you change the dates and hit search, Priceline will reset your sort order and select ALL neighborhoods, so you have to manually re-select those each time.

 

[JJTNY]

Ran my random check of Priceline dates - still no GOOD drop of hidden deals after the end of December, but just spotted some Value (suspect Movies) and Coronado hidden deals in February for "9% off" - so, fingers crossed that is a precursor for some actually good discounts to show up at some point. (Could happen, maybe not, Priceline is bonkers.)

WARNING For those who are unaware: You do NOT want to buy a 9% off hidden deal, since the added hidden deal fee eats up the savings and you will pay the same or even more than a non-hidden deal. For a non-refundable Express Deal I want to see the discount be more than 20% off and ideally at least 30% off for it to be worth it to me.