How do you get a deal with Priceline
 

Planning a trip and thoguht I would try Priceline. I thought it was a "name your price" type organization. When I go to priceline they already have prices displayed. How do you get a deal??

They have both now - name your own price and already discounted prices. You have to go to the "bid now" section which is about halfway down.

Are you just trying to do hotels or car and airfare also?

Before you do any bidding on Priceline I recommend you visit www.biddingfortravel.com to learn the ins and outs. Pay special attention to hotel ratings and locations! For example, your definition of a hotel 'downtown' or 'near airport' may differ from Priceline's.

Thanks vjpblovesitaly!

Just hotel. Car and flight already in place.

I second J62's suggestion that you read biddingfortravel.com first.

How will you know what price to bid? BFT will give you a hint.

First timers tend to panic a bit when their first bid doesn't win anything, so then the next time, they overbid, which is counterproductive.

Please read biddingfortravel.com before making your first bid. :)

Betterbidding.com is another website to help on Priceline bidding. Make sure you understand the concept of a free re-bid, otherwise you're not ready to start bidding. ;)

You need to spend at least a couple of hours researching priceline on www.BiddingforTravel.com and www.BetterBidding.com.

There are no shortcuts.

If you try and skip this, you'll end up grossly overpaying or ending up in the wrong area.

There is a method to the madness.

Also - be aware that the * rating on Priceline may not agree with your evaluation.

Priceline doesn't evaluate the hotels themselves. They work off a questionnaire sent in by the hotels.

IMHO the hotels are usually at least 1/2* or 1* less than many people would rate them as. Meaning - taking anything less then 3* is dicey - and in some areas (do check biddingfortravel) there are bad options that may turn up even at the 3* level.

Wow J62. The link you sent has an overwhelming amount of information. Is it really that complicated to use Priceline?? It seems you would have to use it a mulititude of times to really fiugre it out.

Thanks everyone. It is nice you all agree on doing the research on BFT first. I will keep reading and maybe make an attempt after much needed research.


BTW I did a search on a hotels website like BFT recommended. They didn't have any availablility during the time I wanted so how can I do a comparison like they recommend??

If hotels you are looking at are sold out, priceline will not have inventory.

What city and when? Maybe we can help you.

If the hotel has no availability during the time you're looking it's very unlikely that you will be able to get it on Priceline (which usually gets only rooms the hotel thinks it won;t be able to sell).

Why would any hotel sell rooms at a discount when they can sell all they have at full price?

(At busy times of year Priceline often has practically no inventory - or only those hotels no one wants to stay at.)

What city, what zone and what dates are you considering?

As far as hotels: i have used Priceline many times but only for hotels in areas in which I am familar.For example, I have booked in Chicago suburbs using Priceline because I know that there are no bad hotels in the location I need. I would be fearful booking a hotel in a big city because you may get a low bid accepted but it may turn out to be a dump.
You get what you pay for.

The most important thing you should be informed of beforehand is the going rates of the typical hotels awarded. You should both booking sight and the hotels' websites. Also keep in mind the the rates priceline shows are nothing special, similar rates usually can be found almost anywhere.

From my experience, I usually get rates from "name your on price" anywhere from 25-50% off the lowest price I can find elsewhere. If my bidding price approaches the lowest price, then I won't bother with priceline.

It is not hard to place a bid on priceline, but to be able to finesse the best deals with re-bids, could be a little trickier.

I also just want to add, that make sure you understand the priceline zones. SOmtimes they cover a spread out area and you may end up in am out of the way location.

If you tell us exactly what you are looking for, more specific advice can be given.

Yes, I think we could help with more specifics, exact dates, areas you would like to be located in.

Also the length of your stay can affect what Priceline will have in inventory -- it is pretty good for 1-3 days, but hotels are reluctant to commit to longer stays at rock bottom prices, or have different rates for weekday vs weekend.