| I love staying at luxury hotels when I travel, but I | | | | check out forum where people share their winning |
| don't enjoy paying $200 or more per night. That's | | | | Priceline bids. |
| part of the reason I love Priceline. You can get | | | | The above techniques will save most people money |
| pretty good deals most of the time and amazing | | | | most of the time, but for deeper discounts, here's an |
| deals some of the time. | | | | advanced strategy: |
| If you are not familiar with how Priceline works, here | | | | Suppose you want to stay at a 5 star hotel on the |
| is a basic overview. Priceline has a unique feature | | | | southern part of the Las Vegas Strip on a particular |
| called 'Name Your Own Price' where you actually | | | | date. You do your research and going rates for 5 |
| name the price you're willing to pay for a hotel. The | | | | star hotels are around $150 for your travel dates on |
| catch - you don't know the hotel brand and exact | | | | Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. With this information, you |
| location until after you name a price and your 'bid' is | | | | put in a bid on Priceline for $100 for a 5-Star hotel in |
| accepted. You do know the general area of the | | | | Las Vegas Strip South and it is rejected. Remember, |
| hotel and the hotel classification (e.g., 5-star, 4-star, | | | | you can't ordinarily rebid for 24 hours, but here's how |
| etc). | | | | you get around that. |
| The major benefit of using Priceline is that you can | | | | Priceline breaks cities up into many smaller areas. For |
| save a lot of money! The drawbacks - first, | | | | instance, Las Vegas is broken into 12 different areas, |
| reservations are almost never refundable, and | | | | so you can choose which part(s) of the city you |
| second, you may get a hotel brand you don't like or | | | | want to stay. |
| a hotel lacking a particular amenity you wanted. It is | | | | Priceline will let your rebid immediately as long as you |
| best to use Priceline when you are flexible on hotel | | | | add another area to your bid. You could, for example, |
| location and your travel dates won't change. | | | | add Las Vegas Strip North and rebid without having |
| The hardest part about 'bidding' on a hotel with | | | | to wait 24 hours. But what if you don't want to stay |
| Priceline is determining how much to offer. You might | | | | on the north part of the Strip? You could get stuck |
| think of starting at $1, and if your bid is not | | | | with a hotel in a location you don't want. There is a |
| accepted, then rebid at $2, then $3, and so on until | | | | better way. Add an area that doesn't have a 5 star |
| it's finally accepted. Nice try. You basically only get | | | | hotel. I'll explain... |
| one kick at the can in a 24 hour period for any given | | | | Before you make your very first bid, check Priceline |
| travel date and destination. If your offer is rejected, | | | | to find all the areas in your city that don't have 5 |
| you have to wait 24 hours, use a different credit | | | | star hotels. Sticking with my Vegas example, there |
| card, or change your dates/destination. | | | | are 9 areas in Las Vegas that don't have 5 star |
| So before you book a hotel on Priceline, it is best to | | | | hotels. I'm going to start my first bid at $100 for a |
| first do some research. The first thing you should do | | | | 5-star hotel room in Las Vegas Strip South. |
| is try to find out what hotel you might win if your bid | | | | If my bid gets rejected, no problem. I'm going to an |
| was successful. For example, suppose you wanted | | | | area that doesn't have a 5 star hotel (e.g., Las Vegas |
| a 5* hotel in Las Vegas on the Strip. A great way | | | | Strip East) and rebid at $105. (Yes, Priceline allows |
| to identify what hotel you might win is to use the | | | | this.) Since I know Las Vegas Strip East doesn't |
| Priceline Hotel Inventory from | | | | have a 5 star hotel, I know I'm safe. I won't get a |
| HotelDealsRevealed.com, a website dedicated to | | | | hotel in that area but I might get a hotel in Las |
| helping people identify Priceline hotels and prices. | | | | Vegas Strip South at $105. If my second bid gets |
| If you're happy with the hotels you might win, the | | | | rejected, I'll add another area that doesn't have a 5 |
| next step is to determine how much you should bid. | | | | star hotel and bid at $110, and so on. In fact, I would |
| Remember, you don't have an unlimited number of | | | | get 9 chance to bid using this technique. |
| chances to rebid, so you want your bid to be high | | | | Just be careful not to add an area that DOES have a |
| enough to win but low enough to save money. | | | | 5-star hotel or you might end up with a hotel in an |
| Check out some of the other travel websites, then | | | | area you don't want. Enjoy your travels! |
| subtract 10% to 30% as your bid. You can also | | | | |