Bidding for Travel - Priceline
 

For anyone who uses Priceline.com for travel, they should check out www.biddingfortravel.com<BR>The site posts winning bids for rooms, which allows you to have an idea as to what to bid when you are going to a particular area or are flying. You should also check out www.farechase.com

I tried the site but could not find where the winning bids were posted. If you can help I would be grateful as I would like to get some idea. <BR>All I got was a form asking where I wished to stay and requesting my details i.e. cc etc

At www.biddingfortravel.com, scroll down the page and click on the forum for the location you are seeking.

Question: We are a family of 4. Priceline rules are that only room for 2 is guaranteed. In practice, will we be able to have beds for our children, or do the accepting hotels (especially those 4 and 5-star) tend to have some smaller rooms (for example, with one bed or with twin beds) they use to put Priceline people in?<BR><BR>Thanks.

If you read the boards at biddingfortravel.com, you'll see the question comes up often.<BR><BR>The consensus is understand and follow the rules. Your room can, and often does, consist of a double bed. If you've got more than two people, get two rooms.<BR><BR>You can save a pile of money using priceline by following the guidelines on biddingfortravel. But those guidelines are pretty specific when it comes to room occupancy. Remember, when you bid, you only know what class of property you're after--not the actual lodging.

You really need to take your time to read all the information given at www.biddingfortravel.com before placing a bid. The moderator over there is great, but she gets rather perturbed (and rightly so) when people ask questions that are clearly answered on the board. She (and her assistants) will go out of their way to try and help you though. Just do your part first. Yes, there's a chance you could end up with one bed, especially if you bid for a 2 1/2-star because many of those are extended-stay places which many times offer only one bed. But there's been plenty of times when I bid for other star levels and got one bed. One time I got an extremely nice Hilton, only to be put in the handicapped room which had only a double bed. They only guarantee you bedding for 2 people. But I know one family of 8 who bid for one room anyway, got two beds and brought sleeping bags for the rest. (I'm sure the hotel was not aware of this!) If I were you I'd bid for 2 rooms. Besides, wouldn't you and your partner like a little time alone? :)

Deb, We are a fmaily of 4 also and have used priceline several times. We've never had a problem but I guess that can't be guaranteed. It could be a problem in a city like NYC where many hotel rooms only have 1 bed, although we used it for some visiting family members (we live there) and landed a suite with 2 queen beds and a pull-out sofa. There is no guarantee this would ever happen again. My kids don't like sharing a bed either so whenever we book through priceline, we call the hotel and request a room with 2 beds with a rollaway. We've used priceline sucessfully (for 4 of us) in Philadelphia, Wilmington, DE, Washington DC, Scottsdale (where we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom townhouse!) & Tucson. We always bid on 4* (if they are available at the location). We've gotten phenominal deals so far.

I have used priceline.com many times for air tickets with great success and I would like to try it to bid for a hotel room in NYC in June. Here is my question... The site does not allow you to request a room for the number of people in your party! We have 3, my husband & I plus our 6 year old! Priceline says once you get your lodging it is up to you to call the hotel & let them know the number in your party. I hear so many stories of how small NYC hotel rooms are... this has me a bit nervous in bidding w/ priceline.<BR>Any one out there had luck?