The Downsides of Priceline.com

Priceline.com can be a great resource for hotels. I have used it for myself and we use it a lot at work. Now that it has been common practice in the office I am starting to see a bit of a downside to it. The prices are great but that does not come with drawbacks. Here are a few:

• Non-refundable. You pay for the room up front and the money is gone. Does not matter if you actually stay there or not.
• Hidden Fees. I tend to use Priceline to score 3 star or better rooms. I get a good price but internet access can have an extra fee. Not cool.
• No Points. Priceline bookings do not earn points with hotel rewards programs. Not a fan of this at all but I have no choice since I have to do what the work travel rules say.
• No Flexibility. If I want to change my plans or go elsewhere the money is lost. I am stuck with it.

I am not saying that priceline is bad. It certainly has it's place. I am going to look into other options to increase flexibility. If it costs another $10 it can pay for itself over time since I can cancel normal hotel reservations without penalty if I give enough notice. Projects at work can change quickly so I need to be able to adapt without shelling out $100 of the company's money only to have to do it again.

I am exploring alternatives. I would also like to earn some hotel points so I can get more goodies for mylself :)