Heavens

Has anyone found a better strategy for getting good prices on hotels from PL? Does anyone know if you get better prices booking early? Or do you get better prices booking last minute? Or do you think it really matters...

travisblue

Try this website for more info about bidding on priceline:

biddingfortravel.com

TKT

Last week I tried the booking late strategy for NYC and had no luck. I've had success in Philly the night before.

rkkwan

There's no set pattern. I suggest you start bidding when your itinerary is set - if you do it early, you'll have plenty of opportunities to rebid. Every 24 hours, in fact. So, don't overbid. See what's the going rate on biddingfortravel.com and stick to it.

Andrew

I'm a proponent of the "book late" strategy with Priceline hotels because it has worked well for me so many times. I've even booked just before 6PM the night of check-in (not necessarily something I recommend) and still gotten good deals.

Sometimes hotels that weren't booked earlier become booked unexpectedly and Priceline inventory will dry up, but I think that happens less than the opposite case, when Priceline inventory isn't released until the month before arrival date. So it is quite possible to get deals near the last minute that weren't available beforehand. Sometimes hotels wait to see how booked they will get before giving inventory to Priceline.

Example: last January my parents went on a last-minute cruise, and I had to find them a pre-cruise hotel in Miami. Seems that people on CruiseCritic had been trying for a while for this same night on Priceline without luck. Suddenly less than a week before arrival I hit for a 4-star near the airport and then everyone else just copied my bid after having failed previously.

My strategy is to reserve a half-decent place on my own early, one that I can cancel, then try Priceline closer to arrival, like the month before. If I win a Priceline bid I cancel; if not, I stick with my backup. Considering that Priceline reservations are completely non-changeable and cannot be canceled, it may not be a smart idea to book hotels way in advance with it.

Keep in mind that sometimes Priceline isn't going to work at all, especially when hotels in some area are all booked up way in advance for some big event. Sometimes hotels don't seem to be too busy but you still strike out, without really knowing why.

Andrew

jlm_mi

There isn't an answer that always works, and don't listen to anyone who tells you there is.

Some places (Chicago in my experience) seem to work better if you bid further out, but that doesn't mean bidding late is bad. Some places (NYC from what I've read) seem to do better with bidding late, but that doesn't mean there's harm in bidding early, as long as you don't bid too high too soon. And of course, exceptions will always abound. And as mentioned, sometimes there just won't be deals to be had on priceline for a given set of dates no matter what.

Start bidding when you're sure of your dates, but don't go overboard with your prices super early on. And always book a cancellable backup as soon as you can, just in case prices go up.

starrsville

Decide on a rate you want to pay and check/ bid periodically to see if you get the price you want.

I usually book a hotel room that can be cancelled so I don't end up without a room at all.

lisa8314

Another website with great info on both Priceline bidding and Hotwire is: www.betterbidding.com

(I've found the moderator to much more helpful and polite than on the biddingfortravel site.)

Heavens

Well, I did get a room. I am looking for a room on a Friday night in San Diego in June. Not high season but easing into it. So, figured I better get going, the prices won't get any better, that is for sure. So, I bid at $60 (low ball I know) for Mission Valley. Nothing. Added areas and upped the price. Got up to $85 and still no acceptance, but now into too many areas that I didn't want to go. So, I sign out.

Then about an hour later I try again. It didn't lock me out and say that I had to wait 24 hours, which I was kind of surprised after four or five bids. So I upped it to $95 and got my first bid for that try. A Marriott, which is great. I am happy with the price, bc it is $40 less than my backup reservation.

So, don't know if this helps anyone but the lesson is keep trying. PL might just work out. Sure I would have liked to get a bid at $75. But for the weekend, just wasn't going to happen. This is a very nice hotel that is going for $169. on Hotels.com. So...keep at it with PL. Good luck in your summer travels.

jlm_mi

Glad you're happy with your results!

For others looking to bid, you stand to save the most money and be happiest with your winning bid if you read about bidding strategies at the websites posted above, rather than randomly choosing a bid amount and adding zones you don't want to be in. In most places, especially larger cities, you'll have what's called "free rebid" zones that you can safely add for increasing your bid without risk of getting stuck in an area you don't want to be.