Priceline, Hotwire bidding in general

[Bella the Ball 360]

I have never bid for a hotel room w/out knowing what I am bidding on (Skyauction). When you use Hotwire or Priceline do you have the option turning down what you win or do you have to pay in advance. I would like to bid in the future but I want a resort/condo but am afraid of what they might give me.

 

[powellrj]

When you use the name your own price on priceline, you don't know where you are staying and once your bid is accepted, its yours.

Hotwire is a little easier in that you know what services the hotel you are bidding on offers before you bid and there are sites like betterbidding.com that can give you an idea of what hotel you are bidding on, but once again, you don't know what the hotel is and once you bid, its yours.

They do have an area where you do know what the hotels are, but they are not as cheap as the name your own price ones.

We use priceline a lot and have always had good luck with the name your own price rooms, but you need to do your homework at biddingfortravel or betterbidding type sites before you bid.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Thanks.

 

[erinch]

There are 2 websites you should get to know before you bid either on hotwire or priceline.

The friendlier one is betterbidding.com. This site tries to identify hotwire properties based on the amenities list, and to give the best current priceline experience.

The more comprehensive one, biddingfortravel.com covers the strategies of bidding on priceline extensively. They tend to be really rigid about how you phrase your posts, so you might want to just lurk.

Both sites maintain lists of priceline hotels in various zones. If you spend some time educating yourself, you can land some amazing deals. if you plunge in blindly, you're likely to be unpleasantly surprised.