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CHELLOLIVE Nov 15th, 2005 08:55 AM

priceline.com
 
I am probably the only traveler not to use priceline.com or something similar, has anyone any advice? Looking for a place in Toronto...
thanks, michelle

rkkwan Nov 15th, 2005 10:38 AM

Biddingfortravel.com (BFT for short) is the bible for Priceline bidding. Betterbidding.com also has some info. But for a novice, it may be daunting to find a step-by-step procedure, so I'll give you a rundown here.

1. Go to Priceline.com, and punch in Toronto. Use any date.

2. You will find that there are 10 zones (there is a Toronto West, but the box is greyed out, so I didn't count it). Find out which zones are acceptable to you. Click "Area Details" to see exact boundary.

3. Go to BFT and look up the hotel list for the zones you like in the "Canada - Ontario" forum. See if those hotels are acceptable to you. [To read comments on a particular hotel, go to Tripadvisor.com.]

4. Browse through the posted winning bids on BFT to see what kind of prices people are getting for that particular zone and level. For example, you should find that 4* DT (Downtown) are usually around $60. And let's assume that's what you want.

5. Go to a regular hotel booking site like Expedia, Travelocity, or the hotels' own website to see what prices they're offering. Occassionally, you can get prices that are very good on a hotel's own website. If that's the case, forget about using Priceline.

Now, you can decide to just try that on Priceline and bid. Go bid $65 Toronto Downtown 4* and hope you get it.

Or you can do some work, as described below and can possibly save yourself some money and increase your chance of getting a room, by getting what we call "free rebids". [Priceline will not let you rebid for the same zone, same level, same date for 72 hours.]

6. Go back to the Priceline page with all the zones. Click on each box and then "next" to find out what star levels a zone has. For example, first zone is Brampton, it has up to 3 stars. Write it down, hit "previous", uncheck that box, and then do it for each zone.

7. Now, you'll find that Downtown is the only region with 4* properties. Which means you're in luck! All the other 9 zones don't, meaning you can get 9 free rebids.

8. For 4*, minimum winning bids on Priceline is $40. Set a maximum for yourself, based on what you want to spend, and what the hotels' own websites are asking. Let's say you want to spend $80.

9. Since most winning bids are around $60, there's no point it starting too low. So I'll suggest first bid $55. If they reject your bid, then add one of the other zones WHICH YOU KNOW DON'T HAVE 4* and rebid at say $57 or $58.

10. If rejected again, add another zone and $2-3. If you don't get anything, your last bid should be 4* of all 10 Toronto zones for $80. Go back to bid again in 72 hours in that case.

Now, if you want another area, or want to bid 3*, then it's different. Many zones have 3*, so you can't use those for "free rebids". You will therefore have fewer free rebid zones. You need to be more careful in researching the numbers, and spread your bids out wisely.

lucygirl Nov 15th, 2005 11:21 AM

Chell,

Are you from the US or Canada? Priceline wouldn't accept my canadian VISA so I used my AMEX card.

Also, it only accepts US zip codes-so I just made one up.

If you're from the US just disregard above & I'll be quiet now. :)

cmcfong Nov 16th, 2005 04:13 AM

rkkwan, thank you for the helpful tutorial. It is much appreciated.

NorthwestMale Nov 19th, 2005 02:27 PM

I want to underscore just how helpful the above tutorial can be.

I've used Priceline for hotel rooms many times, and never been dissatisfied (other than when some Cdn. hotel tried to charge me the GST (tax), which they shouldn't have - I won that battle)

Anyway, it is good to think of Priceline NOT as something that will "save" you tons of money, but instead it will allow you to stay in 3-star and 4-star hotels for something near to the price you intended to pay for "Super 8" or something.

That makes anybody's trip feel a lot more memorable at the end. Use those instructions and give yourself every opportunity to land a great place.

The single best moment about Priceline is when you win your bid, and then rush to the hotel website to see what the rate would have been otherwise!


rkkwan Nov 19th, 2005 03:01 PM

You guys are very welcomed. Just want to say that I've used, or helped others use, Priceline all around the US, Canada and a few cities in Europe.

Last trip I made to Canada was over the July 4th weekend. I got the Westin Edmonton for US$55 + tax/fees, and Calgary Marriott for US$45 + tax/fees.


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