I’m sure you’ve heard of Priceline.com with William Shatner as its spokesman. He practically karate chops his way through steep prices on airlines, hotels, and rental cars to offer bargains galore. Earl has a friend who swears by the website, so naturally Earl wanted to try it.
Translation: Earl wanted me to try it for him. The idea was that since we’ve become interested in road trips, this might be a way to keep motel costs down. I understood this theoretically; at the same time, the fine print on the Priceline.com site bothered me. You never discover the name of the motel/hotel chain you’ve made a reservation at until you’ve provided your credit card information and the card has been charged. It’s like Russian roulette with your sleep habits.
On this particular road trip, we’ve tried Priceline.com twice and, if we were baseball players, would be batting .500. Last night we stayed at a lovely Marriott Hotel in Des Moines, IA, at a most discounted price. We had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and rode the elevator to the seventh floor for a great night’s sleep. Tonight, however, we are in a Ramada Inn in Kearney, NE, that has a variety of problems, the least of which is that it is being remodeled. “Wet Paint” signs adorn the halls. There was a restaurant, but it wasn’t open. There was no seventh floor; instead we were in Room 103 with a window onto the parking lot. The television video worked, but the audio didn’t; and neither did one of the lamps.
Yes, it is warm and dry and cheap. And, yes, Earl has rolled over and gone to sleep as I write this. And it cost half as much at the Marriott. But I’m still skeptical about Priceline.com. It seems to me it supports the adage that “You get what you pay for,” regardless of whether you pay full price or a discounted one.
Leave a Reply