A month ago I bid 40.00 on a three star hotel and got it. Going back to the same place on business in a week. Placed a bid for $35.00 this time to see if I could get it cheaper. Did not get it but a note said I could get it by raising my bid by $9.00. As I did not want any other area, I did raise my bid and got it. My question is if I had bid $40.00, as I did before, this time would I have gotten it at $40.00?

You might have, but there's no way of knowing. Prices and availability vary form one day to the next, and certainly vary for different travel dates.

Those suggested re-bid levels are widely believed to be higher than what's needed to win the bid, and they also do not guarantee a win, they are just a suggestion.

Yes, $40 probably would have been accepted. This subject is discussed in biddingfortravel.com's FAQ, sometimes it takes as little as $1 more to get your bid accepted. Did you have any free rebids in the zone? Always undercut the counter offer.

Does it tell you if you have a free re-bid?

I second travelinwifey's advice to go to biddingfortravel.com to learn about bidding on priceline. You can often get a "free bid" by expanding your area to a location that does not have ANY hotels at a certain level. From what I've seen, the rebid offer is approx. 50% more than what would be accepted (but again, I wouldn't get crazy about $4 either).

Just to clarify, a "free re-bid" is not a PL term. It's a term biddingfortravel uses to explain how to "play" the PL system. PL doesn't allow you to merely increase a bid. But if you add another geographic zone you can also increase your bid. If you are bidding on 3 star hotels, if you had upped the bid to $40 & added a zone that didn't have any 3 star hotels, you have effectively gotten a free-bid. If there are no zones lacking the level you want, it doesn't work.

Thanks guys. $4.00 was no big deal. I just wanted to know for "next time" information