Bid On Hotels On Priceline: So many places, so little time—and money. Traveling is everyone’s dream of doing for most of their life, but doing it twice a year, or even yearly, can wreak havoc to the household budget. Unfortunately, not all of us have the luck of getting a job that involves free travels to exotic destinations. But do not fret because the next best thing to that is a bidding site like Priceline.
You see, Priceline makes it possible for stingy travelers like me and you (you’re reading this so you’re stingy too) to save precious dollars through bidding. Priceline is a travel aggregator that draws up a comparison of airfares, hotel prices, and car rentals just by doing a single search. What sets Priceline apart from its competitors is its bidding system. It offers another option called “Name Your Own Price” that lets you, well, name your price.
Let’s say you are going on a trip to Tampa, Florida and you are looking for a mid-sized hotel located downtown. Priceline lets you choose the area you want to stay at (downtown) and the hotel ranking (5, 4, 3, etc. stars) and bid on it. The downside that can arise from this is you don’t know which hotel you’ll end up getting until it’s been booked and charged on your credit card.
So how do you “control” what hotel to win from the bidding? You don’t want to stay 10 miles away from downtown, and you don’t care for a hotel less than four stars. Simple. Here’s what you need to know and you should be on your way to saving 40 to 60 percent on accommodations.
Steps on Bidding for a Hotel on Priceline
- Go to www.priceline.com and click on “Hotels”. Note: The primary page should already show you the “Hotels” tab. You should see the title “Search and Save on Hotels”.
- Go directly to the bidding page. Click the “For Deeper Discounts Name Your Own Price” button. A pop-up window will appear. Fill out the information then click “Bid Now”.
- You are now redirected to a new page. You will see four steps.
Step 1: Enter your trip information for Tampa, Florida. If all the travel details are correct, proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Choose where you want to stay. Tampa is broken down into 12 areas so tick the box where you prefer to stay. Let’s say you want to stay at a 5-star hotel in Tampa Downtown. Tick box number 8.
Step 3: Choose the star level for your hotel. The Tampa Downtown area has hotels up to 4 stars. Click on the “4-Star Deluxe” option.
Step 4: Name Your Own Price (per room night). Input your bid starting from the lowest price you are willing to pay. If the bid is too low, you will get a message on the screen saying, “Based on recent data, your price has only a small chance of being accepted.” Increase your bid in low increments. Try 85 dollars.
- Input your name and your birthday, if required, at the next page. Enter your credit card information as well. If your bid is not accepted, they will let you know right away. They will ask you to change your requirements, such as lowering your hotel stars.
- Now, here’s the tricky part. To make sure that you win a 4-star hotel, look for an area in Tampa that does not offer a 4-star hotel. If you check out area 9, Tampa East – Fairgrounds, it doesn’t have any. So tick area 9 plus area 8 and bid again. This time, increase your bid to 90 dollars.
- If your bid is rejected again, add another area without a 4-star hotel, and bid again for 95 dollars. Keep bidding in low increments and you should be able to win that hotel you want in the area you prefer!
Andrea Barnes is a frugal traveler and always finds ways to save so she can conquer more places to visit. She is a contributing blogger for the Seaside Vacations website, a vacation rental management company in North Myrtle Beach. Read more about her travel tips here. Hope you love reading are article “How To Bid On Hotels On Priceline”.
