maybe I don't understand priceline afterall! LOL

[phorsenuf]

I get how to do hotwire, but when I went to priceline to "play" I got confused. You can pick how many stars, but not the amenities? Is that right or did I do something wrong? When it came up to the CC screen that's when I backed out. If all you are doing is choosing area and stars, how can you "tell" what resort it may be?
For any of you experts out there, this is what I was checking on. Feb 20-28, 2 rooms, hoping for that great rate at 1 of the 2 DTD hotels that show up.
Can someone help me please......
Also, when I went to hotwire it didn't look like that good rate was available anymore. Do I need to check back daily or something? Is it always changing? Thanks!

 

[dcgrumpy]

check out www.biddingfortravel.com

 

[DawnCt]

Go to www.biddingfortravel.com, and read all of the tips on bidding for a room. You can't pick your amenities, only the number of stars which denotes your amenities by default. You also pick your area. You won't know where you will end up but if you go to bidding for travel, you can see what recent bids have netted. We are going on a cruise in April and wanted one pre cruise night in the beach or down town area. I bid $65 for a 4 star on the beach. Didn't get the bid. I used my free bid and maintained the price, included the downtown area and went to 3 stars. I got the Marriott Hotel and Marina which I also wanted. I priced this hotel out and the best I could do without Priceline was $199 per night. $78 tax included was a deal!

 

[phorsenuf]

Sounds like maybe I should stick to hotwire since I can kinda get an idea of where I may end up. Priceline seems like more of a crap shoot.
What other places can I look for good rates besides hotelkingdom, hotels.com, travelocity and expedia? I know there must be gazillions out there but has anyone found one that has good qoutes? Thanks!

 

[robinb]

I bid $65 for a 4 star on the beach. Didn't get the bid. I used my free bid and maintained the price, included the downtown area and went to 3 stars.

Dawn: that's not a "free rebid". A free rebid is when you add an area that does not have the same * level or above as you are bidding on. So, in your case a free re-bid would be adding an area with only 3* or below without changing your request from a 4* to a 3*. Adding areas and lowering your quality level can lead to an overbid. I do want to say that your savings was still great!

phorsenuf: if you go over to Bidding For Travel, make sure you print out the Hotels FAQ and read it on paper. There's a lot of information which I find easier to read on a hard copy. If you want help in making Hotwire a bit less opaque, try www.betterbidding.com . They do a good job with Hotwire .

 

[dcgrumpy]

I've found hotwire to be a lot more expensive. In all of the times I've used Priceline I've always ended up with one of the hotels listed on biddingfortravel.

 

[phorsenuf]

my goal is to get a DTD hotel. Grosvenor, LBV and HU+I have been coming up for under $40. I want one of those! LOL
How do I do it? I've been at those 2 sites and that's where I learned what I did about those hotels and hotwire.
I'm sooooo confused :-(

Once I bid tho, that's it right, I can't get out of it.

 

[daannzzz]

If you want a Downtown Disney Hotel, check www.biddingfortravel.com and see what other hotels have come up on the list that include those Downtown Disney Hotels you are interested in. If you are uncomfortable with any of the hotels on the list then you should not bid because you may end up with one of them. There is also the possiblity that a new hotel could be added at anytime and you might end up with that. It is a chance you take to get a low price.If this seems to iffy for you, you probably should not try Priceline.
I have used it many times for many trips including my first night stay in Orlando but when planning some vacations I want to choose exactly where I am staying. I have been happy with all of my Priceline assignments though I did bid way to high one time. One time though I got a very nice Westin for $29!

 

[tkyes]

I got a great rate on Hotwire for Chicago recently.

In the regular "hotel" section you can't see what hotel you are looking at, just the rough location and amenities.

If you do a package deal it actually shows you the hotel. By paying attention to the amenities and rough location I was able to figure out exactly what hotel I was getting for my $82 a night.

I know that wasn't your original question, but I thought it was an interesting tip (or maybe everybody knows that already, I just discovered it, but I'm a little slow sometimes. I don't know a thing about Priceline, sorry.

Oh, and yes things change, at least when I was looking they did. One day the hotel I wanted was gone, but it was back the following morning.

Tamie