Priceline for Hotels and Rental Cars

[jjp]

This may sound a bit bloggy, but I love priceline. While it is not a source you use every time you travel, it is a great resource to find a bargain.

Most of the time, I can get a hotel cheaper through priceline than any other source.

If you are unaware of how Priceline works, basically you name the price you want to pay for a given star level of hotel in a section of a city (as defined by Priceline), and they see if they can match you with something. You don't know the exact hotel you are going to get, and you commit to the room when you place your bid.

Some tips:
Use a website to do some research. I like to use www.biddingfortravel.com, which has bulletin boards for winning and losing bids for priceline. It also highlights what hotels have been seen coming up in the various categories. They will also give you bidding suggestions.

Have a backup plan. Book a cancelable reservation through another service (travelocity, hotels.com, whatever), then see if you can make a better deal on priceline.

Big cities are where you find the best deals on Priceline. Often, downtown business hotels are very vacant on the weekends, but the hotels don't want to "cheapen" their brand and drop price. So they sell it on priceline. This weekend (mid July) I got four rooms in downtown San Diego for a little over $100 per night at the Marriott San Diego - a great bargain.

Vegas is another place to find a good deal. Sometimes you can find a better one elsewhere, but if you want to stay at a 4 or 5 star hotel Sun-Thur, Priceline beats just about everybody. Weekends are more hit and miss.

Learn about the bidding process. Know how to "free rebid". Know your locations.

[Humble Pie]

Everytime I tried to use priceline (twice) I had problems, maybe cause I'm a big dummy though. How much do you think priceline saves you over the other discount reservation sites? I'm assuming not much.

[jjp]

[ QUOTE ]
Everytime I tried to use priceline (twice) I had problems, maybe cause I'm a big dummy though. How much do you think priceline saves you over the other discount reservation sites? I'm assuming not much.

[/ QUOTE ]

Never had a technical problem.

Last weekend, 4 star hotel in San Diego for $125 or so. Beautiful hotel, nice pool area. Website had it for double.

Last two years I have taken my family to Palm Springs during the week after easter (spring break). A "resort" level hotel (golf course, multiple pools, etc) for $110 per night. Website has it for $300.

Stayed at the Venetian midweek for $100 per night. Can't find that price many places.

I like staying at nice places, I hate paying more than $200 per night for a room. $125 is the most I've ever paid on priceline.

The one time I had trouble with Priceline in Vegas was back in May. Weekend of the DeLaHoya fight, Kentucky Derby, and Cinco De Mayo. Priceline didn't have squat for inventory, and the best that was found was $200 for Aladdin.

Generally, priceline is about 10-15% below hotwire or kayak.

[pig4bill]

The problem is that sometimes places that are supposedly 4 star are dumps.

[jjp]

[ QUOTE ]
The problem is that sometimes places that are supposedly 4 star are dumps.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's true, which is why I use the biddingfortravel website to check what are the hotels that commonly come up. Then I can check out reviews on them. If its a "name brand" hotel, usually you don't go wrong.