Priceline

[dlj78]

My DH and I are trying to get to Charlotte, NC very soon to see our new niece. We don't want to spend a lot of money on flights (we usually drive down but I can't take a lot of time from work). Anyhoo, I went to Priceline earlier and put in a price that I would pay and it never told me what my flights would be. Do you have to buy the tickets first and then it will show you what your flights are? I have never used that site before. BTW, we are flying from Philadelphia. Anyone have any suggestions? TIA! :)

[Rose]

They won't show you when your flights are until you've paid. You can go to Hotwire to get an idea of price, and I am not sure if they tell you the times or not.

[Asha]

If they say the order did not go through, double check with your credit card company to verify this. I was mischarged through them bc of this. Now, they will not refund us our money. :mad:

[wander_woman]

If Priceline finds an airline ticket that matches the price you said you were willing to pay, it books it for you. You do not get to see the flight numbers or times beforehand. It's a great service to use if you're flexible (don't mind multiple lay-overs, red-eye flights, or lesser known airlines) because you can get great deals; it's not so convenient, though, if you want specific times or specific airlines.

[Atlanta_eBride]

I use travelocity because I can pick everything as I go. My only comment with them is IF you have any chance of having to change your flight or cancel you realy need to buy the vacation insurance too (it's fairly inexpensive). I was out $500 one time because I was too ill to even get on the plane. Sometimes I just go check their prices and then doublecheck the airling I'm interested directy to see if they can beat them - sometimes yes, sometimes no. Just an FYI, USAir has Charlotte as a hub, you might find them to be your better deal. Have fun on your trip.

[genndan100502]

Care to share deals you've gotten from priceline.com (name your own price)?

I've never used priceline for airline tickets so I'm also wondering anyone's exprience with priceline for airline tickets. I also was wondering about when do you do the bidding for airline tickets? a month ahead of time or a week before?

I've used priceline with hotels. paid $40 a night, when it's usually $80 bargain at other discount websites for a 3 star hotel in anahiem. I made the reservations a week before for this one.

Anyone else?

[Rose]

I've used priceline before for a hotel in anaheim. I think it was $45-50/night for the Hilton near Disneyland.

I've used it for flights once. Sac to the Big Island. It was around $400. At the time it save us about $100/ ticket.

[genndan100502]

www.biddingfortravel.com helps guide people on how to use priceline.

[Adaya]

I've never done it for airfare, but for hotels. I've gotten some super deals for hotels. I stayed in a Hyatt in Miami for $35 and a brand new Hampton Inn and Suites in Jacksonville for $33.

I've always wanted to get a plane ticket, but I've been too chicken. :D

[caramello]

www.betterbidding.com also has messages regarding successful bids on priceline, but I like to use www.biddingfortravel.com which genndan100502 posted above.

[Asha]

one thing to realize about priceline. once you've got a few great deals on hotels, they stop giving you great deals. also, i will never use priceline again bc they overcharged me and refused to remove the charge. believe me i went through every avenue to try to get it removed with no luck. that equals lousy customer service to me.

[thelittlebabu]

Last year I needed to buy a ticket on very short notice (funeral) so I went to Priceline. My bid was rejected, but I received a counteroffer that was about $100 less than the cheapest ticket readily available via Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. Hotwire offered tickets at about $80 less than the others, so Priceline saved me $20.

I've tried Priceline prior to that, but never had a bid accepted.

[justHB]

I've had both good luck and bad luck with Priceline. A couple of years ago I needed to go to LA for my sister's bridal shower and ended up in a small "boutique" hotel in West Hollywood off Sunset that was awful (it's since been completely remodeled and now looks to be very nice). My sister booked on the same day and bid the same $$$ and she ended up at the Renaissance. I was so jealous. =D

This past weekend, we stayed at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa (gateway to Sonoma Wine Country) for $65/night. The cheapest rate I could find was $169/night.

I've also used it to get pretty decent 3-star accommodations at the last minute for under $100/night.

All in all, I'd say I like using it, but I don't know if I'm willing to try it out on airfare just yet.

[genndan100502]

fyi -

www.amazing-bargains.com links to priceline.com and offers free rebids in the area of the hotel you're looking into.

[lcarlson90]

I have a question about the name your own price feature. It asks you to input your desired location, hotel category (# of stars) and the price you would like to pay. At that point do they give you a choice of hotels that match your criteria or does it automatically book a hotel for you based on your choices? If it does book your hotel automatically, can you cancel the reservation if you don't want that hotel?

My DH and I would like to stay at either the Westin or Sheraton in Maui and I know you can get good rates this way but I really don't want to be stuck at some random hotel.

TIA

Lori :D

[Peppy]

If you choose the name your own price feature it will not give you choices and it will automatically book it (assuming that there is a hotel in that area with that star range that will accept your price).

I strongly suggest you check out Bidding for Travel (www.biddingfortravel.com), which helps you learn how to use the Priceline system to your best advantage. Go to "Hotels" and read their Bidding Assistance Form and their FAQs, then go to the "Hawaii" forum and then Maui and you will see the winning bids others have gotten for similar dates (people post their winning bids so others can know what certain places are going for on those dates). Then you can submit your own request and the moderators will give you a bidding strategy.

It might take a little while to read through all of that stuff, but once you understand how to work the Priceline system, you can save a lot of money. I love that website!

(And FYI, it looks like there are four hotels in the area of Maui you want that fall into your class--the Sheraton, the Westin, a Hyatt and a hotel that used to be a Marriott. If any of those would be choices you couldn't live with, Priceline's Name your own Price might not be the right choice for you.)

[ruledbymercury]

No, you do not get to choose your own hotel and no, you cannot cancel once it is reserved for you. But if you have some flexibility, Priceline can get you some SERIOUS bargains.

When I want to use Priceline, I also use http://www.biddingfortravel.com in conjunction. I research what hotels are awarded at each star level in each area, so I can at least know what hotels I might expect to be awarded. I also use that site to gauge what price to bid to get the best deal.

EDIT: Peppy, it looks like we crossposted! :D

[Amuse Bouche]

I think betterbidding.com is actually more friendly and helpful than bidding for travel. That's what I used when we bid on a hotel. According to better bidding, there are 3 resorts in the Kaanapali area -- the Hyatt, the Sheraton and the Westin. If you bid at Priceline for that area, you could get any of those 3, and if your bid is accepted you're booked into the hotel chosen by the site and it's nonrefundable. Given that all of those are nice hotels, I'd say go for it.

I'm pretty sure the Marriott is closed, BTW, so it's possible it used to be available. They're renovating and turning it into condos.

[justHB]

No help here as I'm too chicken to bid using Priceline because while I'd be happy with the Hyatt or Westin at under $250/night, I don't want the Sheraton and with my luck, that's what I'd get.

Let us know how it turns out if you decide to go that route.

I have used Priceline in the past for hotels in Carmel and Los Angeles and been both pleased and utterly upset. It's a gamble, but sometimes it's very worth it.

[jnettie]

From what I remember from use Priceline YEARS ago, you at least get to pick the general location you want and the star level of the hotel. So, if you want a 5 star hotel, they won't book you a 2 star one instead.

We stayed in a really nice place in FL using Priceline for $40/night. It was off season, so the place was practically empty. They did try to bully us when we got there, though. After we made the Priceline reservation, we were told to call the hotel to pick the type of room we wanted. DH called, and requested a room with a King bed. When we got there, the receptionist tryed to tell us that all the King beds were booked! Really, she just didn't want us to fill a room for the price we were paying. DH called her bluff - because the hotel was obviously empty - and magically a King room appeared. :rolleyes:

[Tanya]

We stayed in a really nice place in FL using Priceline for $40/night. It was off season, so the place was practically empty. They did try to bully us when we got there, though. After we made the Priceline reservation, we were told to call the hotel to pick the type of room we wanted. DH called, and requested a room with a King bed. When we got there, the receptionist tryed to tell us that all the King beds were booked! Really, she just didn't want us to fill a room for the price we were paying. DH called her bluff - because the hotel was obviously empty - and magically a King room appeared. :rolleyes:

That's really against Priceline rules, and I would tell them what happened to you. I don't think the front desk is even supposed to know how much you paid, just that's it's through Priceline. We used to get this awesome hotel outside of Ft. Worth by the racetrack for only $40/nite since it was on a golf course that was being remodeled, so no one would stay there unless it was a race nite (it was pretty far outside town). It was such a great deal, and we were bummed when the golf course finally opened.

But, Priceline has not always been a great deal for us. Once, the only price DH could get was literally the same price as online where you could cancel, so it was a waste of money. I was quite ticked at him;). Another time, we reserved a room in CA in this really spendy area for $220/nite (cheapest in the area) and we get there, and no AC in the entire place--it was a resort. I'm not kidding. DH did the reservation and he must not have noticed this disclaimer, but they swear it was there. It was unseasonably hot and muggy. Their suggestion? Open the windows. Yeah, there's freakin' pool equipment right next to us making this horrible groaning and kids screaming at 11 at night. Wonderful. Best part is, they added $11 to our room as some kind of administrative fee. I argued with them and they claimed it was for the water in our room that wasn't there. They wanted us to wait an hour while they brought us the water. Jerks. I really should tell priceline about that, but I didn't want to be reminded of that. Now I'm pissed again;).

[Katy]

Would you think you'd get a better deal by waiting until the week before vacation, or should you book out a bit further? I'm going to Vegas at the end of September (mid-week) and really just want the best deal I can get.