Even though I've travelled a lot I've never used a site for bidding for hotels (I tend to prefer B&Bs and book directly typically). However, this time I'm just looking for one night, so thought I'd go with a hotel; I'm a newbie to Priceline and was thinking I might try bidding for a hotel for Fort Lauderdale in December to see if that would result in savings. What is your philosophy for placing a bid? In terms of getting deals, is it better to do so CLOSER to the date or to place a bid a good deal in advance or in your experience, does it not matter?

First, try Hotwire to get a handle on the general low pricing for that area. Gives you some idea of the range.

and read up at www.betterbidding.com to learn how to not overbid. re-chcek all your info because once you click "buy my hotel" and it is accepted, no whining.. it is a done deal.

You can get a good idea f what hotels participate and what have been the recent winning bids there. Do a search in the upper slot for the city you want and you will get pages of that city's bids.

in answer to your actual question

If you bid later you run the risk of not getting anything. if you bid early you risk that prices will go down for unsold rooms.

I have done it both ways, and I have to say I've only once been sorry I bid so early, and that was in my very early

that said you could make a refundable reservation somewhere that you could cancel for that night in question and then keep bidding till close to the date.

i do think august is too early for december...more like october would be "early"

Thanks fmpden and lincasanova for the suggestions to a bidding newbie and mztery for addressing my "when to bid" concern and your helpful ideas regarding the timing. Your statements "If you bid later you run the risk of not getting anything. if you bid early you risk that prices will go down for unsold rooms." expressed better than I did why I was asking the question.

Best wishes to all, Daniel

I'd even wait until November to bid - Or Oct at the very earliest.

mztery's suggestion to book a no-penalty room than can be canceled up to the date of your stay is good. Then you are free to start really low on your PL bidding and work your way up over time.