Best time to bid on hotel rooms
Feb 10th, 2005, 06:10 AM
#1
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Best time to bid on hotel rooms
When using Priceline, Bidding for Travel etc. Is it best to inquire about your bids well in advance, or do you get the best deals closer to the time a travel (like 1-2 weeks prior) ?
Feb 10th, 2005, 06:37 AM
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Like GoTravel stated it is a crapshoot. There is no way to know. I would second the advice to go to biddingfortravel. Look through the previous bids for the city you are looking for and the dates. You can always try early (72 hour window) and it won't hurt.
Feb 10th, 2005, 07:00 AM
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The rooms that are available on PL are rooms that the hotels have released because they don't expect to fill them through the usual channels. Therefore, a lot of very good prices can be had at the last minute.
OTOH, there have been cases where rooms were booked months in advance but then the season turned out busier than expected and later bids for that period were unsuccessful at any price. The infamous Sheryl of BFT reported experiencing this herself for a NYC booking.
The standard PL strategy is to book the best available cancellable room throgh "normal" booking and keep bidding until you get a PL bargain.
OTOH, there have been cases where rooms were booked months in advance but then the season turned out busier than expected and later bids for that period were unsuccessful at any price. The infamous Sheryl of BFT reported experiencing this herself for a NYC booking.
The standard PL strategy is to book the best available cancellable room throgh "normal" booking and keep bidding until you get a PL bargain.
