Can you Priceline a hotel last minute?

[rnorwo1]

Hi!
We're leaving for WDW in 3 weeks, and we're driving for the first time . It'll be about an 11 hour drive, and we would like to drive straight through, get a hotel very near WDW, and then get up early the next day to check into the resort and get to the parks quickly.

I've always been scared to use priceline but I've read on here about the amazing deals people are getting, so I would like to try it for this one night. The problem is that I am hesitant to book it ahead of time just in case we cannot make it all the way to Orlando and have to stop sooner than that (the earliest we can get there is probably around 1 am.)

So my question is, can you use priceline (name your price option) if you only have about 30 minutes to an hour notice before the stay? I've looked around their website but it's hard to get details without actually bidding.

Also, if we are able to make it near WDW, are there any suggestions for the area and the price to put in? We'll be staying at Beach Club if that helps... I don't know what the options are for that area. If it rejects your price, can you just keep going up in small increments until you find something? All we want is a nice, clean, and safe hotel room, to sleep in for a few hours, we do not need special amenities or anything.
Thanks for any advice!

 

[briar_rose_59]

You can make a last minute reservation, no problem. Only requirement from my understanding is that the reservation must be made before 11pm on the night of arrival. I've actually made quite a few priceline reservations with only a couple hours notice.

ETA: As far as if your bid gets rejected, sometimes they will tell you an amount you can go up to get the room (in my experience it's usually around $15), otherwise you must add at least one star level (ie. if you were bidding on a 3* you could add a 3.5*, etc) OR at least one "zone" which are areas in which the hotels are located. For example if you initially bid on Lake Buena Vista you could add Disney Maingate, etc. If you don't want to do ether of those you have to wait 24 hours, at which point you have a clean slate and can bid any amount on any zone/star level over again. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or PM me.

One site that I tend to find quite helpful in identifying hotels and figuring out how much to bid is www.betterbidding.com People post the hotels that they have "won" and the details (dates, price, etc).

 

[tweetylori]

I have also done Priceline the day of, and even hours before I needed it. Keep in mind that Priceline only guarantees a room for 2, so if you have a big family with you, this might not be the best option. Hotwire is also an option, if that is the case, although I personally have gotten better deals off Priceline.
Hopefully you've educated yourself as to how Priceline works to get the best deal possible in the area you would like. Because that is the true secret to the deals.

 

[rnorwo1]

You can make a last minute reservation, no problem. Only requirement from my understanding is that the reservation must be made before 11pm on the night of arrival. I've actually made quite a few priceline reservations with only a couple hours notice.

ETA: As far as if your bid gets rejected, sometimes they will tell you an amount you can go up to get the room (in my experience it's usually around $15), otherwise you must add at least one star level (ie. if you were bidding on a 3* you could add a 3.5*, etc) OR at least one "zone" which are areas in which the hotels are located. For example if you initially bid on Lake Buena Vista you could add Disney Maingate, etc. If you don't want to do ether of those you have to wait 24 hours, at which point you have a clean slate and can bid any amount on any zone/star level over again. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or PM me.

One site that I tend to find quite helpful in identifying hotels and figuring out how much to bid is www.betterbidding.com People post the hotels that they have "won" and the details (dates, price, etc).

Thanks! I'll definitely check out that website, b/c I really do not know which area to ask for... we always stay onsite so I don't know anything about the surrounding areas. I'm so afraid we'll end up in a scary part of town! Thanks for the tip on the 11pm deadline, by that time of night we should know how much further we'll be able to drive.

I have also done Priceline the day of, and even hours before I needed it. Keep in mind that Priceline only guarantees a room for 2, so if you have a big family with you, this might not be the best option. Hotwire is also an option, if that is the case, although I personally have gotten better deals off Priceline.
Hopefully you've educated yourself as to how Priceline works to get the best deal possible in the area you would like. Because that is the true secret to the deals.

We do have 3 kids, 9, 4, and 2 years.... does this mean that we cannot use Priceline at all, or that they'll just charge us a bit more for the extra people?

 

[briar_rose_59]

We do have 3 kids, 9, 4, and 2 years.... does this mean that we cannot use Priceline at all, or that they'll just charge us a bit more for the extra people?

I don't think they would charge an extra person fee for children, but priceline's policy is that they only guarantee that the room will have an occupancy of 2. I wouldn't think this would be a huge problem near Disney (where it seems most hotels are geared towards families). What I would do is once you have a bid accepted, call the hotel and let them know that you also have children travelling with you and request a room with double/queen beds. I usually have the opposite problem, and have to call the hotel to request a king bed.

 

[marie1203]

It depends in the hotel reservation system I would think they only put up hotels they are able to get the reservations with short notice. Some hotels need more than a day to process.