Priceline Bidding Advice

dmg24

Are you having problems with any other new websites? I would try clearing your history, cookies etc.

Goldust

dmg24 wrote: »

Are you having problems with any other new websites? I would try clearing your history, cookies etc.

Tried all that - it's weird it worked when we tried the old laptop and also on my mobile! I will have to try again tomorrow.

blindman

dmg24 wrote: »

There is no guarantee that a room will hold more than two adults. You would be best to use Hotwire instead.

Dmg is of course correct:D

When should I consider using Priceline?
1) You need a Hotel room than can accommodate only up to TWO people, probably in a DOUBLE bed.

If you're a family or a larger group, Priceline can still work for you, but you may not be able to fit everyone into a single room in certain situations
Priceline guarantees double occupancy, anything above that can be hit and miss.
If you must have two beds, Hotwire is your best option; they will let you specify occupancy in the room. Specify four adults; that will guarantee two beds

In Family oriented ocation like Florida you are more than likely to get a room with two twin beds so no problem.
In big cities like New York ect the standard is more likely to be a room with one double bed and maximum occupancy of two.

Hope you got on the site today and have done your research!

Where are you hoping to go?

corgan69

dmg24 wrote: »

A Google of 'Priceline complaints' brings up countless pages that are not actually complaints. No one is saying that PL are perfect, but you do not seem able to substantiate your statement.


OK?

You asked me to point you to the complaints I mentioned and I did. Sure not every Google search result is a complaint but you've obviously not bothered to read any of the complaints that are there and that substantiate my statement. I'm not allowed to post links so, try again and just try the first couple of search results.


I'm not sure why you're so intent on belittling my legitimate complaint. I'm adding my own experience to the otherwise glowing commendations of Priceline on this board. People are free to make up their own minds and will probably ignore my experience in light of the overwhelming positivity of other posts. But if you want to insist on flaming anyone who comes on here with a contrary view to your own then feel free, I’ve made my point.

As it turned out I received my full refund after Priceline eventually admitted to their mistake. They did however attempt to try it on again and still tried to charge me a cancellation fee; but when I suggested that I would seek the services of an Alternative Dispute Resolution Agency in the US, they backed down and I’m fully refunded.

msauk

This post is repeated on the better bidding. I thought I'd reproduce it here to give others an idea of the saving PL can get you.

£109 for one night 21-Aug-2010 (room only). Rack rate according to websites is about £160, so a good saving.

I had plenty of time to try incremental bidding using the permutation method - I started bidding on 11-Aug-2010 for this four star hotel in London.

I had no particular worries which of the following zones the hotel would end up in:

Zone 1 - Bloomsbury - Marble Arch
Zone 2 - Chelsea - Knightsbridge
Zone 7 - Mayfair - Soho
Zone 11 - Westminster

I was buying the room as a gift for my parents to stay over in London, and Priceline makes this possible by allowing you to put in a different name to the one on your credit card that you use for bidding. I didn't want them to stay out at Regent's Park as I thought that was not very central (I've had previous successful bids out there twice: Holiday Inn at Camden, and Marriot at Maida Vale, which were cheaper - about £65 - and out of the summer season).

The permutation system worked like this (using all 8 re-bids at 24hr intervals, from 11 Aug). For each re-bid, I increased the bid by £1 and after each pair, I logged out and logged back in. I selected four star only.

Zone permutations:
11
11 + 7

11 + 1
11 + 1 + 7

11 + 2
11 + 2 + 7

11 + 1 + 2
11 + 1 + 2 + 7

Being quite skint, I started the bidding at £50 (!!). By the time I reached £82, I got an interesting message from priceline: "If you are willing to increase your bid by £13, you will seal the deal" or words to that effect. So they wanted me to pay £95 before taxes to get the room.

I didn't budge and continued patiently with my £1 bid increments. I got the room for £89 before taxes, £109.91 after taxes.

Hope that helps others!

blindman

msauk wrote: »

This post is repeated on the better bidding. I thought I'd reproduce it here to give others an idea of the saving PL can get you.

£109 for one night 21-Aug-2010 (room only). Rack rate according to websites is about £160, so a good saving.

I had plenty of time to try incremental bidding using the permutation method - I started bidding on 11-Aug-2010 for this four star hotel in London.

I had no particular worries which of the following zones the hotel would end up in:

Zone 1 - Bloomsbury - Marble Arch
Zone 2 - Chelsea - Knightsbridge
Zone 7 - Mayfair - Soho
Zone 11 - Westminster

I was buying the room as a gift for my parents to stay over in London, and Priceline makes this possible by allowing you to put in a different name to the one on your credit card that you use for bidding. I didn't want them to stay out at Regent's Park as I thought that was not very central (I've had previous successful bids out there twice: Holiday Inn at Camden, and Marriot at Maida Vale, which were cheaper - about £65 - and out of the summer season).

The permutation system worked like this (using all 8 re-bids at 24hr intervals, from 11 Aug). For each re-bid, I increased the bid by £1 and after each pair, I logged out and logged back in. I selected four star only.

Zone permutations:
11
11 + 7

11 + 1
11 + 1 + 7

11 + 2
11 + 2 + 7

11 + 1 + 2
11 + 1 + 2 + 7

Being quite skint, I started the bidding at £50 (!!). By the time I reached £82, I got an interesting message from priceline: "If you are willing to increase your bid by £13, you will seal the deal" or words to that effect. So they wanted me to pay £95 before taxes to get the room.

I didn't budge and continued patiently with my £1 bid increments. I got the room for £89 before taxes, £109.91 after taxes.

Hope that helps others!

Always good to have a real live example to show it's done.

Nice to see the Counter offer rule (only bid HALF of what PL suggest) is still current.

You could have done all the 8 permutations at one session as none are duplicates of the others.

justjj_2

I'm trying to get a hotel in Sheffield, rather specifically the Hilton or within walking distance. As far as I can see, Sheffield does not have any zones. Am I correct in saying that it could potentially send me to a hotel far from where I want to be? Is there any way of specifying the location?

Many thanks for any help!

blindman

justjj wrote: »

I'm trying to get a hotel in Sheffield, rather specifically the Hilton or within walking distance. As far as I can see, Sheffield does not have any zones. Am I correct in saying that it could potentially send me to a hotel far from where I want to be?

Yes


Is there any way of specifying the location?

Many thanks for any help!

If you look at Hotwire for Sheffield it has hotels there (I was surprised;))

If you input your dates you may be able to determine what the hotels are and the likely winning bids on Priceline.

Look at Pricelines "normal" site to see what hotels it sells

You amy be able to get a match.

Risky game though if you need to be near\in the Hilton :cool:

I take it you've read my guides?

littlereddevil

After looking at hotels in Houston Galleria area for 2 days I decided to try Priceline.co.uk
As it was for 11 nights ( I have only ever tried 1 or 2 nights before) I didn't really want to get it wrong.
I spent ages looking at your advice and reading what people won. I already knew which hotels didn't have availability for my dates. I put in 4* and thought I would probably get the hotel Derek ( don't know why)
Anyway my first bid of £43 a night was accepted.
Westin Oaks right at the Galleria. Total £563.42 for 11 nights. Website price is $3590.73
What a result just where we wanted. I know it has had some negative reviews lately as it is undergoing a big renovation project but that we can accept. And free parking!
I will try and post on the winning site.
Thanks again

blindman

littlereddevil wrote: »

After looking at hotels in Houston Galleria area for 2 days I decided to try Priceline.co.uk
As it was for 11 nights ( I have only ever tried 1 or 2 nights before) I didn't really want to get it wrong.
I spent ages looking at your advice and reading what people won. I already knew which hotels didn't have availability for my dates. I put in 4* and thought I would probably get the hotel Derek ( don't know why)
Anyway my first bid of £43 a night was accepted.
Westin Oaks right at the Galleria. Total £563.42 for 11 nights. Website price is $3590.73
What a result just where we wanted. I know it has had some negative reviews lately as it is undergoing a big renovation project but that we can accept. And free parking!
I will try and post on the winning site.
Thanks again

That's what this is all about.

Good research yields fantastic savings!

Well done.:T:T