In need of some help about to bid on priceline.com

[qrtrms]

I am going to bid on priceline.com first time. I clicked the walt disney world vicinity button anyone know how far they consider wdw vicinity? I was hoping to get the Downtown disney area. Also i clicked the 2.5stars button as well do they only search for hotels of the stars or will they provide one lower?

 

[kilee]

Did you review the info on www.biddingfortravel.com they have a lot of great tips. You can also read the threads under Florida to see what other people are bidding and getting for what days.

 

[CarolA]

You can click on the area and it shows you what they consider WDW. No, not everything in there WDW area is DTD.

As for your star request, they will NOT go down, but may go up.

I strongly recommend you review the hotel lists on both www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com prior to bidding. Be sure you can live with ANY of the hotels in the star range you pick.

However, 2.5 stars and around $25 has bought the DTD Best Western several times lately according to www.biddingfortravel.com.

 

[qrtrms]

I read those sites over and over. I just went ahead and bid it was denied 3 times. Thanks for your help!

 

[Pixie_Dust]

I was bidding for something near the Tampa airport and also denied so far. Can bid again this evening. What I want to know is how many fees etc. do they tack on to your bid price? I'd hate to bid a price a find acceptable only to see they charged me way more at the end. Do they charge anything in addition to what you see on the total price screen before you bid?

Thanks

 

[DianeV]

All Priceline charges you is the price on the total price page however some hotels charge a daily "resort fee" that you have to pay them.

 

[Lewisc]

Hotels in some areas also charge for parking. I think the hotel in the airport itself might charge for parking, check their website. I don't think any of the hotels in the airport zone have resort fees.

Keep in mind taxes, parking and resort fees are an add on if you book through PL or directly. PM if you need any extra information. BTW some hotels give PL more inventory as it gets closer.

I'm not a huge PL fan, if I can't save almost 50% I won't bother. I figure being able to cancel and getting a free breakfast has some value. If the regular rates are $80 I wouldn't go much above $45. Other people put more value on savings than I do.

Originally posted by Pixie_Dust
I was bidding for something near the Tampa airport and also denied so far. Can bid again this evening. What I want to know is how many fees etc. do they tack on to your bid price? I'd hate to bid a price a find acceptable only to see they charged me way more at the end. Do they charge anything in addition to what you see on the total price screen before you bid?

Thanks

 

[prncess674]

PL gets access to inventory all the time. You may be too far out from your dates to get a good deal. What dates are you looking at? The other problem sometimes is long stays. If even one day isn't available then your whole bid will be denied. If you are going for say 2 weeks it may be better to bid separately for each week. The problem with this is you may have two different hotels. If you post on www.biddingfortravel.com all the info they look for then Sheryl the site administrator can help you with a bidding strategy.

 

[Lewisc]

If you're trying to low ball a bid (using the lowest bid posted in BFT) you may really be only bidding for one property. That property may either have no PL inventory for your dates or may have higher PL rates available for your dates. There are plenty of participating hotels in Orlando. You may either be bidding too low or too early. Just because others have gotten a hotel for $25 /night doesn't mean you won't have to go a little higher.

 

[prncess674]

Taken from www.biddingfortravel.com.

Did you answer these questions?

1) The 'City' (or region) you would be bidding for:

2) The 'Zones' (city areas) that are acceptable:

3) Date of Hotel Checkin:

4) Date of Hotel Checkout:

5) Number of rooms needed:

6) Hotel Quality Level or 'star rating' desired (1-4 or Resort):

7) Lowest available rates found in the zones and quality level you desire (list min. of 3):

8 ) Source website(s) of lowest available rates (do not use Expedia or any hotel consolidators like Hotel Discounts).

9) Name each of your free re-bidding zones (determining free re-bids is explained in the Hotel FAQ. Free re-bidding is the major point of confusion with new users so please indicate that you have a complete understanding of free re-bidding after reading #9 and #14 in the Hotel FAQ. Answering "I have not bid yet" is not a correct answer and indicates to us that you do not have an understanding of free re-bidding):

10) Maximum willing to bid (before taxes and fees) per room/per night: