Priceline
 

has anyone used priceline while you are traveling, booking just a couple days before?
Thanks for sharing your experience.

Yes, we needed to fly from Portland to Chicago for a funeral and booked a package through Priceline. It was way cheaper to do flight/car/hotel than to even pay for the airline tickets. However, we were both marked for "extra security" on our boarding passes, which we suspected was because we had booked at the last minute, and we missed our commuter flight to Seattle because the TSA idiot missed seeing the three S's in the lower right hand corner and we were turned away at the gate --- had to run all the way back and go through security again! Grrrrrrrrr!

Do you mean use Priceline for hotels at the last minute?

The problem is that you have no way of knowing if you are going to get a good rate, so you would need a backup plan. If you have a backup plan and want to save some money and/or get a nicer hotel than otherwise, why not? Just be sure to cancel your backup hotel.

And of course, be sure that Priceline is a good idea for your city. For many cities in Europe, in many cases, it isn't.

WillTravel,

Yes, last minute booking.
Thanks for the tip of "Plan B" in case price isn't right.

Thanks.

London is the one place that I have found good deals on priceline. Look at Biddingfortravel.com to see what hotels are available and what they are going for. I don't know about last minute but I would guess that the hotels with empty rooms at the last minute would be motivated to fill them.

I just started using Priceline in Europe during the last year....it is true that coverage is not every city in every country...but I had great success in places like Lisbon, Prague, Munich etc.

With the Euro so expensive, often the choice was to pay 200 Euros a night on the hotel site, or pay Priceline a successful bid of $65- $90 dollars...HUGE difference if you are staying a few nights... and if you are in the Marriott in Lisbon, or the Hilton in Prague, or the Marriott in Munich you are getting a top quality room.

Remember to go to biddingfortravel.com and look and see which hotels and which prices have been recently reported as won. You will then know your choices and likely range... then bid once a day (if you are smart you will get several bids per day, read the tips) and in the end, either you will get a cheap room...or then just use another normal site= nothing lost.

I personally like staying in good hotels for a pittance compared to the list price. It does take some time to figure out how it works, and plan a strategy, but it has been great for us.

In the US, I ALWAYS try it first, because coverage is so good.

Bonne chance, Rouss

Thanks Guys,

we have always use them in Europe and getting great prices. But booking well in advance, one to two months ahead. Has anyone actually wining good bids at last minute like couple of three day before arriving at a certain city.

Be sure to look at the areas as defined by Priceline. Many cities have only a few - and some hotels in them can be at the end of hell and gone. If central location matters to you this could be a problem.

I only use it for hotels, never for flights. But for hotels, I have gotten good to great deals in at least London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels within the last year or so. By a good deal, I mean less than $100 for 4-star level rooms. Bidding below 4-star is of questionable value, as you may end up in a clunker, and the discounts won't be as huge. But, less than $100 (closer to $60 in a place like Brussels) for the likes of a Marriott or Hilton will likely not net you even a decent B&B room in any of those cities, so how much better of a deal do you want?

Yes, samuell. I've bid at the last minute several times and have done well. Sometimes it's an advantage to bid a couple of days before because hotels will have a firmer idea of their occupancy short range.

I bid on a 4*USE hotel in SF on a recent Saturday for a Sunday night stay and got the Hyatt Embarcadero for $70. This is not unusual.

As others have suggested, check out biddingfortravel.com for recent Priceline in your city.

Thanks, guys.

I haven't used Priceline for European destinations, but I do use it regularly for USA hotels.

In the USA, the closer to your arrival time, often the deals get better and better. (I have heard that is not necessarily the case in Europe, though.)

In one instance, we had booked a great rate at a swanky four-star San Francisco hotel - and decided we wished to stay over an extra day. The desk clerk was unable to give us the same rate for the next night - in fact the price went up fourfold - so we checked out at noon, went onto Priceline and made a very low bid. You guessed it - we were booked back into the same hotel at an even lower rate than we had had the previous night.

I use Priceline when traveling thru Europe. Sure beats paying the high Euro prices and we've had great hotels but then we always bid for 4* hotels! Do your research and you'll do well.

Also I can never find available hotels in small towns on Priceline but for Munich, Berlin, Lucerne, Vienna and Frankfort we never had a hotel greater than $100.

Yes, I have, and yes, you've been given very good advise here.

My good luck has been in Amsterdam, SF, and NYC, but as others have said, if you're doing last minute, you should have a backup you can cancel, or else, try to get a good priceline bid in advance.

Thankyou all,
Merry Christmas.