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The Priceline Primer by George Woods |
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Priceline is an online booking service for hotels, car rentals, and airline tickets. What makes them unique is that you name your own price, as Priceline's advertising says. You make a bid using their secure online form and generally find out right away if your bid is accepted or not. Sometimes when they're really busy, there's a wait of no more than fifteen minutes and you'll get an email saying you got it or not. Can you really save up to 50%? I can tell you from personal experience that you can, in fact, save MUCH more than that if you use the "rack" rate listed by the hotel for comparison! That's usually the rate you'll be quoted if you just call the hotel or reservations line and say "I need a room. How much?" In terms of real dollars
and cents, my average winning bid over the last couple of years has been
between
$40 and $45 a night for 2 1/2 to 3-star properties where the going
rate is between $109 and $169 a night. I have had to go up as
high as $60-75 a couple of times, and it really burns my butt when that
happens!
While it really is very simple, there are are a few things you need to know to do it right if you're a total beginner. 1. You will use a credit card to pay for your room. Let's say you've made your bid. You click on the "Buy My Room" button and a few seconds later, you see the screen that says your offer has been accepted. Your credit card will be charged immediately for the room. The total, which is always displayed before you hit the "Buy My Room" button, includes specified taxes and fees, which include Priceline's fee of about $5.95 in most cases. Considering the savings you can get, this is most reasonable. If you cancel your trip or have to change your dates, you will forfeit the entire amount you pre-paid as Priceline will not refund your money. If you're sure of your dates, no problem. Otherwise, Priceline is not the way to go. To me, this is the only downside to using Priceline. After using it since 1998 and planning my trips carefully, I have forfeited only one reservation when I decided not to go to Chicago on a weekend trip one winter when the weather was below-zero cold for the entire time I would have been there. Personal story: I was
supposed to fly from St. Louis to Omaha one other winter weekend and had
made hotel and car reservations through Priceline. Bad weather shut down
Lambert airport in St. Louis and no flights were taking off for at
least 12 hours. Snow closed the Interstate in western Missouri so that
driving would have taken even longer than that to get there one-way. I
called Priceline and explained that my trip was impossible due to
circumstances beyond my control. After waiting on hold for the agent I
spoke with to confirm what I was saying, Priceline gave me a 100% refund
on my credit card charges.
Personal note: unless you really don't mind roughing it at the one-star quality level of a Super 8 or Econolodge, I advise you to select not lower than a 2 1/2 star level. I've stayed at a lot of 2 1/2 stars, and most have been excellent quality with free breakfast and free Internet. After I stayed in a couple of terrible Ramada Inns by including the two-star level, I've made it a practice to never go below 2 1/2 and it has served me very well.
4. If your offer is rejected, there
are several things you can do to re-bid. I've provided links below
to explain this in some detail. You cannot just bid higher. You have to
change your zone, star level, etc, but there are several options, so
once you see how it's done, it's no big deal. There is also a way to
re-bid at a higher price in the same zone. You'll need to read through
the explanation but once you understand it, you can use it to great
effect. (See links below)
Wouldn't it be great if you could find out how much other people have been offering for rooms and what Priceline has accepted for the location you're going to? There are two websites where you can find winning bids and specifically which hotels were selected! All you have to do is look to see what the range of winning bids is before you go to Priceline to make your bid and you'll never have to worry that you're bidding way more than you need to! The websites are:
BiddingForTravel.com Once you become adept at using Priceline,
you can become the master of the re-bid to get a reservation in the
specific zone you want with a little skillful dancing, so to speak. The
full explanation of this in both simple terms and more complex examples
is available on this page on BiddingForTravel.com:
Airlines: Although I'm considered an expert at using Priceline, I have never used the service for airline tickets. The restrictions and nuances of the process--as well as winning bid prices--are such that it's far more convenient to just buy directly from the airlines' websites, especially if you run the risk of having to make last-minute changes. I do not recommend Priceline for airline tickets. Rental Cars: On the other hand, I enthusiastically recommend Priceline for rental cars. I have done a lot of research on the costs of all types of rental cars, looking at the car agencies' websites and various discount websites. Priceline's setup beats them all. I rented a mid-sized car for three days once in Albany, NY, using Priceline for a total of about $52. When I returned it, the guy who checked it in handed me the wrong receipt. It was for the guy who rented the same car before me. He paid just over $200! I've paid as low as $15-19 a day for full-size cars with Priceline. Note: there are times, of course, when
multiple meetings/conventions in a particular location drive up rental
car prices and availability. In those cases, I've still found Priceline
to be the best bet to save a few bucks off the full price charged by the
agencies. As far as I can see, Priceline uses Hertz, Avis, National,
Budget, and Alamo.
If you're a novice at using Priceline, visit the following websites first and then go to BiddingForTravel and BetterBidding. These websites offer detailed explanations of Priceline procedures and rules and how to do it right:
AllEars.net
Using Priceline Last, But Most Important... As you know, there are no subscription charges or fees for Radio George listeners to enjoy their favorite music here anytime. Our advertisers cover the costs. Some are affiliate advertisers, which means that you will directly help Radio George by clicking on an advertiser's ad to go to their website and buy a product or service. Every time you make a car, plane, or hotel reservation online, you'd be doing us a huge favor by simply coming to this page and clicking on a link here to start the process. THANK YOU.
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2. You won't know where you're staying
unless and until your bid is accepted. However, in the process of
making your bid, you get to select "star" levels, ranging from one to
five, and a detailed listing of types of hotel is provided for each
level.
3. When you are making your bid,
you'll usually have a choice of "zones," or areas in and around the city
you're going to. Maps are provided with close-up zooms available so
that you can specify which areas meet your needs. Choosing zones can be
important when you're driving to a destination. I once chose the
downtown zone for Philadelphia and got a great rate for a Courtyard by
Marriott---BUT I then had to pony up $24 a day for garage parking as
there were no lots and no on-street parking available!
FREE
How-to and Step-by-Step Info
