Not everyone is brave enough to use Express Deals by Priceline when booking a place to stay.
By hiding exactly which hotel you’re booking, the platform is able to offer rooms at deep discounts. Customers know the city and neighborhood they’ll be staying in, of course, but they won’t know the hotel name until the booking process is complete.
One travel content creator says finding out that crucial piece of information isn’t actually all that difficult.
In a recent video that has garnered over 178,700 views, Asia (@thetravelingasia) walks viewers through how to get the best of both worlds through Priceline: get the deal while also figuring out where you’re likely going to be staying.
Asia says she has booked four- and five-star hotels for around $50 to $80 per night using Priceline Express Deals.
“People are like so convinced that I’m lying, but I’m not,” she says. “And here’s exactly how I do it.”
According to Asia, the first step is searching for your city and travel dates through Priceline Express Deals. Then you can filter the results to show only four- and five-star properties.
From there, she suggests paying attention to the information Priceline does reveal.
“You’re gonna look at the star rating, you’re gonna look at the neighborhood, and you’re gonna look at the guest score,” she says.
Asia adds that you can also filter by amenities and the specific neighborhood you want to stay in.
Once Priceline gives her a mystery hotel that matches those preferences, Asia says she follows up by searching Priceline’s regular hotel listings for properties with similar characteristics.
“You can very easily see what hotel it is that they’re not showing you,” she says.
Asia then shares one of her previous bookings as an example. Her receipt shows a rate of $92.53 per night, with a total of $281 after taxes and hotel fees for two nights.
She also stitches a screenshot of the hotel’s normal rate: $447.
Asia recalls a particularly enjoyable hotel experience.
“One of them that I really liked was the Sofitel in Chicago,” she notes.
Asia includes some footage from her stay at the Sofitel, as she describes the amenities.
“It was like the most luxury experience ever,” she recalls. “I got my own robe… the bathroom was immaculate… the breakfast was amazing.”
Now, she says she uses the same method every time she travels.
“Priceline is the goat!” she wrote in the video’s caption.
Just like Asia says, Priceline does give customers several clues about the mystery property before they book.
Other customers have even employed online tools to do some more digging and reveal the exact hotel name every time.
However, according to reviewers online, the name of the hotel isn’t the only detail that matters. According to some, there’s a possibility you’ll be hit with hidden fees and, in some cases, end up paying more than if you had booked directly with the hotel.
One Redditor on the r/travel subreddit shared their experience. “BE CAREFUL, it’s a scam,” they wrote. “A shell game.”
They said they booked a room at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne Beach with a full kitchen through Priceline’s Express Deals.
After calling the hotel, though, the Redditor says they learned Priceline had booked them into a standard room with “no views, no fridge, no microwave.” To upgrade, the user says they’d have to pay $100 per night on top of the $117 a night Priceline already charged them. “BE AWARE!!!” they concluded.
There are also plenty of reports of positive experiences, however, such as the ones Asia says she had.
While hidden fees may not make sense for some bookings, in others the discount is so steep you’ll still end up saving money.
“The fees tend to be higher than booking directly through the hotel or other sites,” another Redditor on the same thread wrote. “However, the fees are transparent and you still get a significant discount overall.”
Some viewers said they had tried Asia’s method after seeing her video.
“I just did this and got a 4 star hotel at $85/pn,” one user shared. “Thanks for this.”
Another worried that exposing the trick could eventually cause Priceline to change how much information it gives customers. “Yall don’t keep nothing a secret; they are going to change this!!” they wrote.
A third commenter said another expense has made them less interested in Express Deals.
“I’ve been doing this for years. But don’t anymore bc hotels now charge resort fees,” they said. “If you do Express Deal you can’t look up the hotel to know if there are resort fees or how much their parking is. But I do book all my hotels thru Priceline.”
Priceline nor Asia immediately responded to requests for comment.
@thetravelingasia Priceline is the goat! #budgettraveltips #budgettravel #priceline #5starhotel #4starhotel ♬ original sound – thetravelingasia
