realphoebes

Someone suggested I use PRICELINE.COM. I am a 'newbie' to this, but an eager learner. Is there a patient, kind, soul out there who would give me some assistance with this?

Slw

biddingfortravel.com has lots of information. Read the FAQ's. There's really nothing to it, but you need to have a good idea of what prices are being accepted or you will waaay overbid.

GoTravel

BiddingforTravel.com is the best teacher for a newbie.

Read, read, read. There is no easy way around spending time on both sites.

daph

You can get a lot of help if you go to
www.biddingfortravel.com/. It uses Easy Board so wait a few seconds and it will come on the screen. The moderator will help you bid if you read the Frequently Asked Questions first and then use their form for requesting help.

OliveOyl

Do read the FAQs though...she's a stickler on just quoting that statement back at you if you ask something that has been covered there. She's also a sticler if you omit anything on the help request form. Leave nothing unanswered, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to you! lol

I wouldn't say she falls into the patient and kind category--her abrupt and curt replies if you haven't followed her rules to a T can and have turned a lot of people off, but she has good information if you are willing to put the effort into understanding the basics first.

Once you've done all that, if you want to test the waters here before posting there, I'm sure plenty of people here would be happy to act as a sounding board so you don't risk incurring any stink eye.

realphoebes

READ...read......read........you are not a kidding......especially since I am in Canada.
"Stink eye" is a new expresion for me...care to share?

GoTravel

Stink eye is when someone raises one eyebrow at you in an unflattering way.


Also known as an Eyebrow F_ _ _ .

missjanna

another site with advice on bidding on priceline and hotwire is betterbidding.com (which is a little more friendly than biddingfortravel.com. But by all means check both out!!

Note: I actually received a cheaper rate than people had won bidding on priceline. Should I post it on their boards??

Andrew

Sure, tell us: how did you get a cheaper rate than Priceline? By the way, there is a section on BiddingForTravel.com for people who get better deals on Hotwire after a failed Priceline bid.

Andrew

missjanna

It's simple actually....

Called the Omni Shoreham in DC for 11/21-11/23 dates and they quoted me $99 a night for their weekend rate.

I joined their Select Guest program and received a 50% off a weekend stay coupon and was able to apply it to my reservation which brings it to $49.50 a night. (Priceline wins were about $80 a night for the same hotel for this period)

Anyhow realphoebes, as many have said in the past, make a cancellable reservation at a hotel (if you can find one at a reasonable rate!) before bidding just in case your bids aren't accepted!

mclaurie

missjanna you mean you got a lower price through some other means than people were getting through priceline? If that's the case, I'd post it if you want to be nice. Hitler over there may delete your post though

Phoebes if this is for Xmas in Fla., it can't hurt to try Priceline(I think most of the resorts they list would work for you) but I didn't see any winning bids in south Fla for Xmas time-before & after though.

The general concept of Priceline is you select an area (say Miami South Beach) and a star/quality level & make a dollar bid for what you're willing to pay per night. If any of the P'line hotels in that area/level accept your bid, it's yours! No cancellations, changes etc. In theory you don't know what hotel you'll get but in practice it's often easy to tell because sometimes there's only 1 hotel in that area at that level. Since you'd want either resort or at least 4* I assume, there are often only 1 or 2 of these. Reading betterbidding might be a bit easier to understand than biddingfortravel.

Having said all that, I wonder if you can bid on the US board from Canada.

realphoebes

"Stink eye" where you are must be the equivalent of "cut eye" where I am......
However......whatever the eye is.....I am NOT easily bullied. I SO appreciate your suggestions and patience with me.

J_Correa

The basics of Priceline are simple: Pick a city, neighborhood, star level, and enter your bid. If Priceline can find a room to meet your criteria, it reserves your room and charges your credit card. If not, then your bid is rejected and you can try again - either by changing some criteria or waiting 72 hours.

I find biddingfortravel very good for finding out what hotels are availible for different neighborhoods and star levels and what winning bids people have had. Also, the FAQ explain the free rebids and all that.

kodi

Phoebes, Yes, it's a lot of reading on biddingfortravel.com but well worth it!
But I'd like to add an important bit of info. If you are Canadian, be very when you go into bidding for travel that you scroll down to 'bidding glitches and problems' and then go into 'Bidding from Canada". You really must pay attention to what it says about making your address 'look' American and also using Amex or possibly MBNA Master Card. Credit cards affiliated with our Canadian banks will not work. As far as the address, I always enter my correct address, then choose California for state ( CA does stand for Canada doesn't it????).
It is well worth 'learning' Priceline. Good luck.

southerner

Be sure you understand free rebids. I didn't do my homework the first time I used priceline and just got very very lucky that I got a decent hotel at a decent price. Now, I browse biddingfortravel.com daily.
It's a great site, but don't get your feelings hurt if you ask a question and get a reprimand for not doing your homework.