Need Priceline help!! (first-time user)
 

I have decided to give priceline a try for the first time, and I am confused.

My bid was not immediately accepted, so I lowered the star rating. Still not accepted.

I leave on Friday for vacation. How long will it be before priceline "gives up" on me (if it does not accept my offer), because I was trying to have all my hotels set by Wednesday!

Also...It also would not let me change the amount of the bid. So I started from scratch re-entering all my info, and putting in a higher price. It says "duplicate offer" and will not accept it. However, it still appears under "my trips" with the other offer (which I cannot change!)

Am I missing something, or is there something wrong with the Priceline site?

Oh yeah...when I try to change the price, I get the message:

"Please change at least one part of your original request"

I did! I changed the price!

?!?!?!?

You are doing it WAY wrong. Go to biddingfortravel.com and read the Hotel FAQ and how to understand free rebidding. The moderators will give you a price to start at and you must use a bid assistance form. Don't bid anymore ntil you understand free rebids. GL.

Thanks, Travelin...
I did actually look at the biddingfortravel site beforehand...I just want to know this:
If my offer is rejected, am I now free to get a hotel by a different method (other than Priceline?) or does the offer sit out there for awhile to see if there are any hotels willing to accept it? That's all.

Thanks,
S

No one else is going to pick it up. You are free to move on. You really need to pour over the info on BFT. There's a lot of information, rules, hints, to be digested before you try bidding.

You should get a response (acceptance or rejection) from Priceline within 15 minutes, often immediately. You only get one response to each bid -- if it's a rejection, the game is over, there is no further search later.

When PL says to change one part of your original request, it's referring to the zone and star ratings, not the bid itself. You're not allowed to just up your bid in a re-bid, you must add zones or lower star rating.

If a bid for a specific zone/star rating combination is rejected you must wait 72 hours (not 71.5) before you can bid on that same combination again.

Excellent-thanks!

I just wanted to try it to see if I could get a 3* in Copenhagen for $70 (and before that a 4* for $85) but it didn't take either one. I didn't know at first that I couldn't rebid on price right away. Well, they didn't take it, but it was worth a shot! :)

Suzanne, if you bid 3* in Copenhagen, there's an excellent chance you will get the Mermaid Hotel if you are successful. (No other 3* hotel has come up to my knowledge.) My son and I were very happy there during our stay this summer, but some picky travellers might be distressed. See my review at BiddingForTravel -
http://pub210.ezboard.com/fpriceline...icID=235.topic
and also look at TripAdvisor reviews.

Also, note that in my experience, this hotel might not release inventory to Priceline until the day before your stay, so you might succeed at the last minute if you keep trying - but of course there's no way to tell. So you might want to have a cancellable backup (that allows 24 hour or less notice).

Also, the Priceline HK site - http://www.priceline.com.hk - is better when it comes to allowing you to adjust your bid and bid more frequently than Priceline.com - but you can use both sites without conflict. If you check out http://www.betterbidding.com you can get some tips.

Suzanne,
If you are traveling with someone else or have a friend who will let you bid using their credit card, have them set up an account at priceline. Uou can start a new bid without having to wait the 72 hours. I have done this using my husband's email address and a different credit card than the one I use.

If you do that, be sure to clear your cookies or use a different computer.