Priceline virgin, could someone please help?

[bgcruiser]

Want to try priceline to bid either the Intercontinental or Hyatt Regency in Miami for our Jan 21 cruise. I have done a lot of internet vacation planning but never used priceline.

 

I looked at their website and although there is a lot of info about "best price" guarantees, I didn't see any kind of a tutorial on how to bid.

 

Also what happens if for some reason you don't get one of your choices.

I am assuming once you bid and win its yours to keep? No cancellations right?

 

I should have paid more attention to those commercials with William Shatner lol.

So if anyone can help this "virgin" it would be most appreciated.

[Prairie_Gal]

Want to try priceline to bid either the Intercontinental or Hyatt Regency in Miami for our Jan 21 cruise. I have done a lot of internet vacation planning but never used priceline.

 

I looked at their website and although there is a lot of info about "best price" guarantees, I didn't see any kind of a tutorial on how to bid.

 

Also what happens if for some reason you don't get one of your choices.

I am assuming once you bid and win its yours to keep? No cancellations right?

 

I should have paid more attention to those commercials with William Shatner lol.

So if anyone can help this "virgin" it would be most appreciated.

 

You can't bid on a specific hotel on Priceline. You bid on a zone and a star level, and there's no guarantee as to what hotel may accept your bid.

 

Right, no cancellations. All sales are final.

 

The best thing to do is to study www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com to understand Priceline, and get a pretty good idea of what people are winning bids for.

[skandls]

I agree with the previous poster. Read all the info you can on biddingfortravel and betterbidding. They will give a good idea of what to do. We bid on priceline miami downtown 4* and got the Intercontinental for $100 + $21 in fees for Dec 1. If you can print the maps and lists of hotels so you know what you are most likely bidding on. Its confusing at first but well worth the money you can save.

[ballinafad]

You may also want to check hotwire.com. While the hotel name is hidden on this sight, you can often figure out ahead which hotel it is before you buy it. With hotwire, you can also request a room for up to 4 people, while on priceline you are only guaranteed a room for 2.

[eandj]

Want to try priceline to bid either the Intercontinental or Hyatt Regency in Miami for our Jan 21 cruise. I have done a lot of internet vacation planning but never used priceline.

 

I looked at their website and although there is a lot of info about "best price" guarantees, I didn't see any kind of a tutorial on how to bid.

 

Also what happens if for some reason you don't get one of your choices.

I am assuming once you bid and win its yours to keep? No cancellations right?

 

I should have paid more attention to those commercials with William Shatner lol.

So if anyone can help this "virgin" it would be most appreciated.

 

You have to understand that you are requesting a room during peak season in Miami. Priceline gets only so many rooms to sell. And the number won't be as plentiful in Jan-Easter. Much higher than the rates mentioned by Skandls in another post. If you don't have a room by now, I'd start by booking something NOW that is refundable. Then if you do your homework on biddingfortravel and betterbidding, you can start bidding. Look at the rates offered by the hotel sites and I'd start at one third off. During peak season, the nicest hotels near the port won't need to take anything less than that. Some might already be booked. You are getting awfully close to your cruise without having a room booked. :eek: If you stay further out of the port area, you'll get lower rates. Also check out hotel info on Tripadvisor.com. You'll learn a lot from the recent reviews.

Good luck. Oh, and no, you have no guarantees and no way to get a refundable rate on Priceline's bidding site.

(I learned how to use Priceline on small weekend trips, when we didn't have many priorities as far as location, bedding etc. You may find doing that will give you more experience for when you really want something special.)