Alicia64 Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Hi Everyone, At the very last minute I will be staying in a suburb we once lived in to visit old friends. I originally planned on staying 2 or 3 days, but now plan to make it a solid week. How can I get a great rate on Priceline.com? I hear stories about people getting really good deals and I don't know how to begin. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks, Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) Priceline offers discounted hotel prices (if you have a specific place you want to stay) on a variety of hotels. This option is similar to booking through Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc. We've booked this way and received excellent rates. Another option is to place a bid for a hotel room. This allows you to put in an amount within your price range; however, you cannot choose the hotel. We just traveled across the country, and we got rates as low as $50 for 3+ starred hotels. Once you win a bid, the price is automatically charged to your CC. The room cannot be refunded if you cancel. What was nerve-wracking for me, was once I received the room confirmation, I would read awful reviews about the hotels either at Priceline or on Tripadvisor.com. Thankfully, once we arrived at the 2 hotels that were not well-reviewed, we had great experiences! If you are bidding and your price is too low, they will let you know instantly. You can keep upping the price or change your star level if you want to book immediately, or you can try again another day. Rates fluctuate all the time, so if you have some flexibility in planning, you can receive incredible rates by trying on different days. Once you get your room through Priceline, call the hotel directly to confirm, and if you have special requests (type of beds, floor level, etc) ask for them. Priceline books a spot for you at the hotel, but it does not reserve a specific room - even if the website says you are choosing a room with 2 beds. This happened to us, and when we arrived at the hotel, they had us in a king. They explained how it's necessary to call with requests since all priceline does is reserve our spot. They were kind enough to switch us to the correct room since they had the space when we arrived. I have a friend who has stayed in some of the grandest hotels in the country at minimal cost through priceline bids. We'll definitely use it again when we travel in the future. Edited August 5, 2010 by jenL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted August 5, 2010 Author Share Posted August 5, 2010 You know, I see on Priceline.com where you can bid on whatever hotels are available, but I can't see where to click to bid on one particular hotel. Ahhh! :glare: I hate it when everyone else sees something that I just can't seem to see! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 When I looked into bidding for hotels on Priceline, I found the website http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/ very helpful for instructions/information, as well as prices others were able to get for similar hotels in the areas I was looking at. It has a section specifically for hotel FAQs on the site, as well as hotels broken down by geographical area. Erica in OR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hana Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) You can't bid on a specific hotel. If you have some time to invest, biddingfortravel.com is a worthwhile site to check out for advice--both general bidding advice and advice about bidding in specific cities. ETA: Ah, Erica, great minds think alike. :-) Edited August 5, 2010 by hana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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