This USA Today story provides a good introduction to Priceline. (I’m quoted in the piece.) With hotel rates and occupancy as high as they’ve ever been in some major cities, Priceline has seen less inventory and higher rates… but still occasionally some incredible deals, as the spread between Priceline rates and otherwise-available rates is even higher.

I’ve personally moved away from Priceline for much of my travel over the past several years, in large measure because I’m addicted to the upgrades and other benefits of hotel loyalty programs, but for city stays where I don’t really value a suite Priceline still offers a real bargain, especially for multi-night stays and bookings involving more than one room, where the savings multiply. And I’ve probably made about 80 Priceline bookings a year for other people. I save them money, and I pocket the 3% cashback from Fatwallet. 🙂

Leigh Witchel has a lot of posts on Priceline including step-by-step tutorials on Priceline.