Priceline vs Hotwire
 

Hi

England calling!

Going to LV on Friday 13th Feb for 4 nights. Would like to know people's experiences/preferences in using Priceline and Hotwire and any tips they may have for using them.

Cheers!

I've had good experiences with both.
I usually go on Hotwire to see what prices they are offering, then go to Priceline and bid even less.
If I don't get anywhere on Priceline, I may then go back to Hotwire and accept their price. But this hasn't happened very often.

I've used Hotwire for car rentals and a couple of times for flights and been very happy.

As for tips ...on Priceline, when they tell you that your bid is too low, ignore them. Also, do your research. Check on www.biddingfortravel.com to see what others are winning.

Good luck.

The best 'tip' for priceline is to read the multitude of threads on the US, Europe, and Lounge forums, and biddingfortravel.com.

And don't use it if you don't know how to do it. ((*))

And to add to Jed's good advice, betterbidding.com is another website that explains BOTH Hotwire and Priceline (biddingfortravel is just for Priceline). Look through the list of hotels and know what you're likely to get and check to see what prices others have paid. That's a popular time to travel (it's not only Valentine's Day but also a bank holiday weekend here).

My experience is that Priceline is better than Hotwire for large cities, while Hotwire is better for smaller towns.

so, for Las Vegas, I'd guess that Priceline would give you a better price.

<b>Please read biddingfortravel.com first.</b>

Right now a 5* is ranging from $65 (Trump Tower) to over $100, so the successful bid price is spread pretty wide.

If it were me, I'd start with a 5* for either the North Strip zone or the South Strip zone and an initial bid price of $65.

Since $65 is the lowest most successful bid, I'd start there. However, if you don't want to go through the nerve-wracking process of being rejected and bidding again, then I'd suggest starting a bit higher.

If you do start at $65 and are rejected, then I'd suggest adding another zone and going up a bit in price.

Say you bid $65 for North Strip 5* and are rejected. Go back and add in South Strip, remain at the 5* level, and up the bid price to $70. If rejected again, stop. Wait 24 hours and start again - maybe the second day start at $70 and go up to $75.

In Las Vegas, there is no need to go below 5* unless you really want to save money, but the amenities go down tremendously at a lower star level and I'm not certain that the $15-$20 savings per night is worth it.

Also try to stay within the two zones: North Strip and South Strip. Otherwise, you will be locating yourself too far away from all the action. Downtown is not a good option. Stay on the Strip.

I recommend booking your room through vegas.com. They have the best room rates in Vegas, guaranteed. Have a great trip! :-)