How to Bid on Priceline
Click on the "Name Your Own Price" button., Enter your travel information., Pay close attention to the terms and conditions., Click bid now., Choose your options., Enter your bid., Enter your credit card information., Wait for a rejection or...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Click on the "Name Your Own Price" button.
After going to Priceline's website, click on the "Name Your Own Price" button on the front page.
There are two places you can click to get to the correct page to start bidding.
You can click on "Name Your Own Price" for hotel rooms, airplane tickets, or rental cars.
You can also search the basic travel information to get an idea of prices before you bid.
You can name your price from the results screen as well. -
Step 2: Enter your travel information.
To start bidding, enter your travel information.
This includes city you want to travel to, the airport you will be leaving from, and the airport you will be flying into.
You also have to provide travel dates and the number of passengers. , The "Name Your Own Price" tool comes with specific terms and conditions.
Make sure you read them carefully before bidding.
The terms and conditions include:
Your air travel could begin anywhere between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for domestic flights on the given day, and midnight to midnight on an international flight.
Your flight might be non-stop, but it could also have up to 1 connection.
You won't see specific hotel, flight, and car rental information until you confirm the purchase. , After you have entered your travel information, click the "Bid Now" button.
It will take you to a screen with travel options. , Priceline allows you to choose specifics, like which airport you'd like to fly into, which section of a city you would like a hotel room in, or how many stars you'd like in the hotel.
Many of the options will have "best deal" beside them.
You also have to add the name of the traveler or the name for the reservation.
You can also choose to have trip protection added for a fee. , After you choose your specifications, enter the lowest amount you would like to pay.
Then hit "preview offer." Start low to guarantee you can get the best deal. , As soon as your bid is accepted by Priceline, your credit card will be charged.
Before you can search and see the results, you must enter your credit card information.
Then hit "buy my ticket."
After you bid, Priceline will search and see if they will accept your bid or reject it.
If accepted, your credit card will be automatically charged.
Your travel details will be displayed.
There are no cancellations or refunds.
If rejected, you cannot bid for another 24 hours at the same specifications.
If you change something, you can bid again. , Before bidding on anything on Priceline, you need to know what the going rates for hotels are.
Check other third party sites, like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity.
You want to pay lower than those sites.
You will base your bid on knowing what the sites are charging so you can get the lowest possible price.
You can also see how much the hotels are charging for the night's room to make sure you aren't overpaying., Before bidding on Priceline, go to sites like BetterBidding.com and BiddingForTravel.com and read the forums posts by users who have used Priceline recently.
The users post both their winning and losing bids on the site.
They also post their travel dates, names of hotels, star classes, and airlines.
These sites also offer a list of hotels that have been confirmed bids within a certain zone at a specific star rating.
This can help you get a sense of how much you will have to pay for certain hotels, airlines, and cars.
Priceline doesn't offer this info on their website, so it can help you bid more strategically. , The bid you place does not factor in fees and taxes.
These fees and taxes may end up getting pricey.
Make sure you think about that added cost before placing your bid.The fees and taxes will show up on the bid screen, added to your proposed bid.
For example, if you offer $50 for 2 nights in a hotel room, you may see a total of $125, which includes fees and taxes. , If you are travelling with someone, split the bids.
If your bid is rejected, the other person can place a slightly higher bid.
Make sure that the person is travelling with you because they will have to show their ID and credit card when you check in., You can rebid if you change something in your search, like the travel dates, hotel stars, or zone.
If your travel dates are non-negotiable, try changing zones.
If that doesn't work, lower the hotel stars until you find a hotel.
Just make sure you are okay with staying at a lower star hotel., If your bid is rejected, you will have to wait 24 hours before bidding again.
A way to go around this and be able to re-bid that day is to alter your specification options.
You will have to alter the star level, travel dates, or geographic zones in order to bid again.
This only works with hotel rooms.
A way to do this is to figure out which zones have what star hotels.
Click each zone on the specification pages, and the stars will gray out if they don't offer those kind of hotels in that zone.
To get your 4-star hotel in the area you want, re-bid with a bid higher by a few dollars and add in one zone that doesn't offer 4-star hotels.
This way, if you book the hotel, it will automatically be in your desired zone because the other zone doesn't offer 4-star hotels.If the highest star hotel is in every zone, the free re-bid technique won't work.
Make sure to use your back button to go back to the page with the specifications.
Don't go to the page Priceline wants you to click to after they reject your bid.
For rental cars, you can start with luxury cars and go down to economy and compact with subsequent bids. -
Step 3: Pay close attention to the terms and conditions.
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Step 4: Click bid now.
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Step 5: Choose your options.
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Step 6: Enter your bid.
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Step 7: Enter your credit card information.
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Step 8: Wait for a rejection or acceptance.
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Step 9: Search hotel prices.
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Step 10: Do your homework.
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Step 11: Factor in fees and taxes.
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Step 12: Bid with a friend.
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Step 13: Tweak your search.
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Step 14: Maximize re-bids.
Detailed Guide
After going to Priceline's website, click on the "Name Your Own Price" button on the front page.
There are two places you can click to get to the correct page to start bidding.
You can click on "Name Your Own Price" for hotel rooms, airplane tickets, or rental cars.
You can also search the basic travel information to get an idea of prices before you bid.
You can name your price from the results screen as well.
To start bidding, enter your travel information.
This includes city you want to travel to, the airport you will be leaving from, and the airport you will be flying into.
You also have to provide travel dates and the number of passengers. , The "Name Your Own Price" tool comes with specific terms and conditions.
Make sure you read them carefully before bidding.
The terms and conditions include:
Your air travel could begin anywhere between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for domestic flights on the given day, and midnight to midnight on an international flight.
Your flight might be non-stop, but it could also have up to 1 connection.
You won't see specific hotel, flight, and car rental information until you confirm the purchase. , After you have entered your travel information, click the "Bid Now" button.
It will take you to a screen with travel options. , Priceline allows you to choose specifics, like which airport you'd like to fly into, which section of a city you would like a hotel room in, or how many stars you'd like in the hotel.
Many of the options will have "best deal" beside them.
You also have to add the name of the traveler or the name for the reservation.
You can also choose to have trip protection added for a fee. , After you choose your specifications, enter the lowest amount you would like to pay.
Then hit "preview offer." Start low to guarantee you can get the best deal. , As soon as your bid is accepted by Priceline, your credit card will be charged.
Before you can search and see the results, you must enter your credit card information.
Then hit "buy my ticket."
After you bid, Priceline will search and see if they will accept your bid or reject it.
If accepted, your credit card will be automatically charged.
Your travel details will be displayed.
There are no cancellations or refunds.
If rejected, you cannot bid for another 24 hours at the same specifications.
If you change something, you can bid again. , Before bidding on anything on Priceline, you need to know what the going rates for hotels are.
Check other third party sites, like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity.
You want to pay lower than those sites.
You will base your bid on knowing what the sites are charging so you can get the lowest possible price.
You can also see how much the hotels are charging for the night's room to make sure you aren't overpaying., Before bidding on Priceline, go to sites like BetterBidding.com and BiddingForTravel.com and read the forums posts by users who have used Priceline recently.
The users post both their winning and losing bids on the site.
They also post their travel dates, names of hotels, star classes, and airlines.
These sites also offer a list of hotels that have been confirmed bids within a certain zone at a specific star rating.
This can help you get a sense of how much you will have to pay for certain hotels, airlines, and cars.
Priceline doesn't offer this info on their website, so it can help you bid more strategically. , The bid you place does not factor in fees and taxes.
These fees and taxes may end up getting pricey.
Make sure you think about that added cost before placing your bid.The fees and taxes will show up on the bid screen, added to your proposed bid.
For example, if you offer $50 for 2 nights in a hotel room, you may see a total of $125, which includes fees and taxes. , If you are travelling with someone, split the bids.
If your bid is rejected, the other person can place a slightly higher bid.
Make sure that the person is travelling with you because they will have to show their ID and credit card when you check in., You can rebid if you change something in your search, like the travel dates, hotel stars, or zone.
If your travel dates are non-negotiable, try changing zones.
If that doesn't work, lower the hotel stars until you find a hotel.
Just make sure you are okay with staying at a lower star hotel., If your bid is rejected, you will have to wait 24 hours before bidding again.
A way to go around this and be able to re-bid that day is to alter your specification options.
You will have to alter the star level, travel dates, or geographic zones in order to bid again.
This only works with hotel rooms.
A way to do this is to figure out which zones have what star hotels.
Click each zone on the specification pages, and the stars will gray out if they don't offer those kind of hotels in that zone.
To get your 4-star hotel in the area you want, re-bid with a bid higher by a few dollars and add in one zone that doesn't offer 4-star hotels.
This way, if you book the hotel, it will automatically be in your desired zone because the other zone doesn't offer 4-star hotels.If the highest star hotel is in every zone, the free re-bid technique won't work.
Make sure to use your back button to go back to the page with the specifications.
Don't go to the page Priceline wants you to click to after they reject your bid.
For rental cars, you can start with luxury cars and go down to economy and compact with subsequent bids.
About the Author
Abigail Vasquez
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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