Frank F. Matthews wrote:
wrote:
[snip]
I haven't found good hotel deals lately. And it is in places I
used to find great ones. My last two bookings have been through
hotwire, not priceline. I suspect priceline is more interested in
their fixed price market line these days.


I guess that we have another example of a failed business strategy.
They must want to be another of the many hotel & car brokers.

Well, they haven't exactly failed yet. They are "evolving".
But quite outside of the semantics, the travel business in
general has been changing for the last 10 - 20 years and
the "middle men" be they travel agents, "bucket shops" or
booking agents have been trying to adapt. "Discounters"
always have a problem in that if they are too successful,
they'll cause a shift in the market and the larger
market will move towards their prices. There is a market
for "travel assistance" basically in the sense of sorting
out the large number of choices and rates that exist.
It's not all that clear that there is a profit in it.