Priceline.com

[PhillyPhreak54]

How many of you guys have used this?

I know Sus has used it before to get hotels.

How does the name your own price feature work? When I put in my info and bid on a hotel if that bid is accepted do you have to buy it? Like once you put in your CC information and they find something do they bill you? Or do you have the option to decline.

Same with plane tickets....

[Father Demon]

I've used priceline with air, car, and hotel.   You name a price, hand over your credit card info, and if someone accepts than you have purchased it.  Make sure the savings is worth it, because changing and canceling is next to impossible.  Also, you don't get any points for your purchase if you belong to a frequent flyer or frequent sleeper program.  Also remember that priceline adds it's own fees, so take that into consideration when naming your price.  I suggest you do a trial run - going all the way until it's time to submit - so you can see how the process works and what fees will be added to your price.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Ok, so let's say I want to name a price for a flight from Houston to Philly on August 30th until September 1st.

I name my price, add my CC info and submit it.

If it is accepted I am not obligated to buy it until I confirm it? Even if someone accepts?

[Diomedes]

I almost worked there a lifetime ago, fresh out of college.  Did like 7 hours of weird interviews.  The cult of Jay Walker is strong there.

We've used Priceline mainly for car rentals.  As recently as three months ago we got an economy rental for a four day weekend at 15$ per day, iirc.  We gladly put 800 miles on someone else's car.  We've got another trip coming up in September, we'll probably use Priceline to get a car for that one too.

[MadMarchHare]

I think you're obligated to purchase if your price is accepted.  The one time I used it for airline tix, I was put on redeyes from DC to San Fran, through KC (at 3AM, ain't much going on in the KC airport).

[ice grillin you]

dont hit the "buy my plane ticket now" button unless youre willing to pay because youre locked in if it accepts


ive only ever used it for hotels but i have loved it everytime

[Susquehanna Birder]

Yes, if it's accepted, you're obligated to buy.

I don't think I ever used Priceline for plane tickets. If I was travelling by myself, I would probably give it a shot...but going with the family, if the itinerary isn't that good, I don't need to hear Mrs. Birder and the Birder Kids constantly telling me how much the trip sucks.

It does work great for hotel rooms and rental cars.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Yeah, I read that the plane ticket option is tricky because they force you to do a layover and if you're going on the cheap you'll likely get shtein seat assignments and shtein flight times.

Would it be better to wait until right before your anticipated stay dates to do it for a hotel? Maybe they'll give it cheaper if they are't booked and just want to get rid of rooms? Or do you try farther out from your stay dates?

Can you choose your hotel chain or they pick it for you?

[ice grillin you]

Yeah, I read that the plane ticket option is tricky because they force you to do a layover and if you're going on the cheap you'll likely get shtein seat assignments and shtein flight times.

Would it be better to wait until right before your anticipated stay dates to do it for a hotel? Maybe they'll give it cheaper if they are't booked and just want to get rid of rooms? Or do you try farther out from your stay dates?

Can you choose your hotel chain or they pick it for you?

cant choose anything about the hotel except for location and the number of stars...altho the stars are often not accurate

going for the hotel earlier is better...each hotel only has x amount of rooms set aside for priceline and if youre going on a holiday weekend or any busy weekend for that matter you have less chance of scoring a room in your preferred location...spots like airports will almost always be available up until the last second


also know that if you get denied on priceline you cant pick the same location with the same dates at the same star level again for 48 hrs i think...so if you wait till the last day or two you can farg yourself by not bidding high enough and get blocked out from going for what you want...


what i always do is start early and bid low...that way you can have additional chances to get a room by slowly working your bids up in price

[Seabiscuit36]

Im heading out to Hawaii in December, and not sure if i should wait to buy tickets now.  According to my bro, ticket prices might be getting reduced since Hawaii is seeing less travelers because of increasing expenses, and the tourism office is trying to figure a way to make Traveling there cheaper.  The problem is we're going for christmas, and its apparently the highest travel time there.  I've been using Tripadvisor.com to do a quick search of every online site. 

[Rome]

I use Priceline for hotels and car rentals every time I travel.  Like IGY said, it's excellent.  "Name Your Price" is the greatest invention since turkey gravy.  A great thing to do is book your hotel first and a screen will come up asking if you'd like a rental car to go with it.  Do it because the discount you get is usually much better than naming your own price.

Also - if you join the Priceline members club you have access to a list of winning bids in different cities.   

No way I'd use it to book flights though.  Why bother?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

No way I'd use it to book flights though.  Why bother?

Now that flights will be trending upwards in price, people will be more flexible on time of day and stops to get better prices.

[PhillyPhreak54]

So I finally started using the Name Your Price feature and I echo the thoughts of how awesome it is.

I booked a room last weekend in downtown Houston for $55. This was at the Doubletree (3* on Pricelines) and standard room rates on their website were $150 a night.

Last night I booked the Hyatt Regency Penns Landing for a Friday night in August while we are back there for vacation for $70.

I've been toying with the rental car bids and all have been declined so far. I used $12 and $14 bucks a day last night for a premium and luxury car. Total lowballs, but figured why the hell not to see if it went through.

I found a website called BetterBidding.com that has forums for all states where people post their bids won and the amounts to kind of gauge the market as what to bid.

[Rome]

Check your registration confirmation e-mails.  They usually have links to discounts for rental cars.

[Diomedes]

we've landed ten dollars per day on economy cars...dunno if they ever go that low for the upper end rentals