Priceline how low can you bid

Welcome to Miami! Here's what no one tells you about finding travel deals on Priceline. Use these tips to search wisely, bid smart, and save big. We all want to be that person who swoops in at the last minute, bids low, and scores a ridiculously good deal on Priceline —then brags about it for years. Flying blind can be scary, though: You don't know for sure which hotel you'll be staying in, what car rental company you'll be dealing with, or what your flight times will be—and they're often non-refundable.

Type-A planners, we can practically hear you hyperventilating right now. It's normal to feel uneasy about pulling the trigger immediately—if at all—but the risk could be worth it. If that's the case, think of the potential for savings on widely published rates.

So take a deep breath. We've got a strategy. These little-known features and expert tips will help you nudge the odds in your favor when you're bidding on Priceline. Are they comprehensive and foolproof? Are they helpful as a general guide? Message boards like BiddingforTravel. DiScala says he always visits BiddingforTravel. When using these outside sites, bear in mind that the Priceline's offerings, star ratings, and geographic regions can shift without warning, and some info could be outdated.

And the boards can be a pain to sift through if patience is not one of your virtues. Bigger more touristy cities are visited more often, so you may notice entries from several Priceline winners who had snagged downtown rooms in three-star operations for an extremely low cost. Sometimes when you place a bid on Priceline, you'll get a warning that your bid is too low.

The advisory says something to the effect that Priceline wants you to be successful, so it would be wise to "increase your original offer price. The results may vary, but if you believe in the bargain, stay with your low bid. Priceline takes your credit card number before bidding. If they find a service at the price you set, the transaction is billed to your account.

No refunds. You don't get a choice of flights, hotels, etc. It all hinges on where Priceline can match your bid. Processing charges and taxes can add 20 percent to your total. Parking fees, energy fees, and other add-ons aren't included, either. If your first bid is unsuccessful, you'll have to revise your amount and choose other variables — such as location or star-level quality — on the next attempt.

If you're unable to do so, you'll have to wait 24 hours to try again. With hotels, all you get is a room. For example, requests for non-smoking rooms or two beds will be considered, but the hotel is under no obligation to provide anything beyond a room with a bed.

They offer help with airfares, car rentals, hotels and vacation packages. There are literally thousands of posts, helpful FAQs, and a section for reporting glitches in the system. It offers Hotwire and Priceline information. One of the first rules of good salesmanship is to never reveal your lowest price. Those secrets are the basis of Priceline's success since its start in Priceline may tolerates these insider websites because of the amount of exposure they provide.

So, you can expect these bid-revealing sites to increase alongside Priceline. Check competitor sites such as Hotwire and other travel sites for similar hotels and travel dates.

You can also check out the Priceline Forum to view actual winning bids prices from customers. Use this amount to help determine your maximum bid amount. You should never bid more than rates on other websites for similar hotels. Determine Maximum Number of Rebids: Use the Instant Rebidding Technique to determine the number of Priceline bids you can make without having to wait the required 24 hour period. This step is absolutely critical because it will determine how low you should go with your initial bid.

If you do not know how to instantly rebid on Priceline, you should learn the Instant Rebidding Technique before going any further. Now you are ready to go ahead and place your first bid for a hotel with Priceline's Name Your Own Price. The idea here is to crawl up through a series of rebids, increasing the price each time, until your bid is accepted. Hopefully, your bid will be accepted. If not, you will run out of bids with none of your bids accepted. That is okay.

Remember that in the first step, you already found out what you would pay for a room elsewhere. If none of your Priceline bids were accepted, do not book on Priceline. Just book elsewhere or try again at a later point in the future.

Suppose I want to book a 5 star hotel in Las Vegas on a particular travel date. This section walks you through an example using the above steps.

This bid price might seem low, but remember, I have 8 more bids if this one is not successful.