priceline.com Need help, please!!

[c88fly]

Hi everyone. I am new to these boards & love them. The help is great! My daughter is graduating this summer & where does she want to go? Back to WDW. I need help, though, with priceline.com. We are leaving June 20th & will be there for 11 nights. I have heard some really good things about priceline & decided to try it myself. I got on there & searched for a 3* hotel in the WDW vicinity & it took my price of $35 for all of the nights. However, I had an old credit card on file & it wasn't charged. I was fixing to put in my new credit card number & chickened out. I'm just afraid of what I will get. I did the same thing one more time & got a 3* hotel for $38 per night in the Universal area. Can anyone tell me what hotels I would probably get for 3* in the WDW vicinity & Universal area? Also, someone told me I could probably get a 2 1/2* hotel in the WDW vicinity & Universal area for $22 or $23. Is the 2 1/2 * hotels even worth trying? I know we are going during peak season so I might not get that great of a deal. We really can't pay to stay in the resort due to the price. We are leaving there & going to Daytona Beach for a week so I am trying to get everything as reasonable as possible.

Thanks everyone!!
Lori

 

[CarolMN]

I think you will find the answers you are looking for on this site:

www.biddingfortravel.com

In the Hotels section for Orlando/WDW, there is a list of hotels (by star level) that usually (or have in the past) come up on priceline.

Good luck!

 

[Robinrs]

Lori,

There are very few 2 1/2 stars coming up in the Universal on Priceline and they're all nice hotels. The 3 stars are, in the most part, good ones also.

Do you plan to go to USF or WDW? Just curious as to the locations you're bidding on.

 

[c88fly]

Actually, we are going to both. 4 or 5 days at WDW & then on to Universal & Sea World. We went in 1995 & 2000 & stayed at the Days Inn & Travellodge suites. It was OK, but the prices I am seeing for nicer hotels is such a better deal. I also said the next time we went, I really wanted to stay on International Drive. I did get accepted for a bid of $35 for 2 1/2 stars near Universal, but like I said earlier, I chickened out. What hotels do you think that would probably be? Thanks...

 

[ltribble31021]

We always use Priceline but I never bid on anything less than a 3*. We have always been able to get a nice hotel for no more than $35.00. As a matter of fact, I have gotten the Sheraton World next to Sea World for the week of July 4th for $30.00 a night. Hope this helps make you decision.

 

[bridgettesmom]

I went to bidding for travel and these are the hotels they have listed in the USF area:
3 Star
Homewood Suites
Parc Corniche Resort
Radisson Universal
Rosen Centre Hotel
Sheraton Studio City
Sheraton World Resort
Wyndham I-Drive
Westgate Lakes Resort
Embassy Suites

2.5 Star
Amerisuites Convention Center
Amerisuites Universal
Wingate Inn
Clarion Hotel Universal

WDW vicinity

3 Star
Buena Vista Suites
The Grosvenor
Hyatt Orlando
Renaissance World Resort
Sheraton Safari
Summerfield Suites
Doubletree Resort Orlando-Villas at Maingate
Hotel Royal Plaza
Radisson Resort Parkway
2.5 Star
Courtyard Marriott Village (at Little Lake Bryan)
Courtyard in the Walt Disney World Village
Ramada Plaza Gateway
Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort
Clarion Hotel Maingate
Doubletree Club Lake Buena Vista



IMHO ,I would stick to the 3*,hope this helps

 

[c88fly]

Thank you everyone for all of your help. Guess I will stick to the 3*, however, I haven't made up my mind if I want to go with Universal or WDW vicinity since we are going to both. Any ideas on that? All of the hotels that were mentioned seem really nice. Wish me luck when I do go & bid on priceline. Still a little nervous, but hopefully, I will get a nice hotel.

Lori

 

[mcnuss]

Lori -- you said when you used the old card, your bids got accepted. Didn't they tell you the hotel then?

Don't be nervous, but definitely use biddingfortravel.com. I think you are bidding too early for the best deals, IMHO. I would make a cancellable reservation at a place and at a price you are ok with, then wait until late April, early May to bid on Priceline. That way, if you are rejected, you have a back-up. If you are going to both parks, I would stay in the Disney World vicinity or the Universal/Sea World. You won't be more than 20 mins from any park that way. The best thing to do is bid one area, then use your free re-bid if you need it to expand your choice. (If you have no clue what I am talking about, go to the Hotel FAQs on BFT.)

Good luck!

 

[c88fly]

Hi...No, when it accepted my bids, a screen came up stating my credit card could not be charged & I would need to enter a new credit card #. It did not tell me the hotels that accepted my bids. After that, I played around some knowing I wasn't going to get charged & the lowest I was able to get for 3* was $35 in WDW vicinity, $38 for 3* in universal & $35 for 2 1/2* at Universal. I still haven't bid, though, thinking I might should try at a later date, but I'm afraid I might not get one at all since I am bidding on 11 nights & I have heard more than 5 or 6 are hard to get.

Lori

 

[Emilysmome]

I HIGHLY advise you NOT to try the old CC bit again with priceline. Yes, you can figure out the lowest rate they will accept for your bidding parameters, but not without a cost.

If you do this too many times you can and will get blacklisted by PL. I know firsthand, though all but once was an accident. I kept resubmitting bids using the stored CC info it had for me and then finally when I changed it nothing would work. Finally I figured out that no matter how high I bid, it wouldn't accept my bids. I had to contact PL to get it all straightened out and it took a long time.

JMTC. Be careful! =)

 

[c88fly]

Thanks for the info! I'm not gonna use it again until I am actually ready to bid & will add my new cc # then. I am still so leary of priceline. However, from what I have been reading, $38 for 3* at Universal & $35 for 3* at WDW vicinity is very good rates. That's the lowest it would give me. Guess I should just take the plunge & go for it!

 

[mcnuss]

c88fly -- so that you feel confortable that the rates you see on biddingfortravel are really good, you should do a search on expedia & hotelkingdom for your dates. Make sure you sort your results in expedia by hotel quality. I think you will see that a 3* hotel for $35ish is very low, especially in June.