HOW TO BID FOR HOTELS
ON PRICELINE
BY DEREK BOHLS
THINGS YOU WILL NEED
• A COMPUTER
WEBSITES USED
• WWW.PRICELINE.COM
• WWW.BIDDINGFORTRAVEL.COM
HOW PRICELINE WORKS
PRICELINE IS A WEBSITE WHERE YOU ENTER A PRICE THAT YOU WANT
TO PAY FOR A HOTEL AND IT NOTIFIES YOU IMMEDIATELY IF YOUR BID
IS ACCEPTED BY A HOTEL IN THE AREA YOU CHOOSE.
PARAMETERS YOU INPUT
• CITY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY
• DATES YOU WANT TO STAY
• MINIMUM STAR LEVEL OF HOTEL (KEY)
• AREA IN CITY YOU WANT TO STAY
• PRICE YOU WANT TO PAY PER NIGHT
PARAMETERS
THE RULES
THE KEY TO GETTING YOUR LOWEST PRICE IS BEING ABLE TO REBID IMMEDIATELY IF
YOUR BID IS REJECTED SO THAT YOU CAN START LOW AND KEEP INCREASING.
HOWEVER, PRICELINE’S ONE RULE IS THAT YOU CANNOT REBID BY ONLY
CHANGING THE PRICE WITHOUT WAITING 24 HOURS. THEREFORE, YOU CAN
REBID IMMEDIATELY IF YOU CHANGE ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR PARAMETERS (I.E.
AREA, ZONE, STAR LEVEL, ETC.)
BEWARE: IF YOUR BID IS ACCEPTED, YOUR CREDIT CARD IS CHARGED AND YOUR
ROOM IS BOOKED SO MAKE SURE ALL OF YOUR INPUTS ARE CORRECT BECAUSE
THERE IS NO GOING BACK!
THE TRICK
The trick is to change your parameters but not settle for something you don’t
want, allowing you to change the price only. After selecting the zone you
want, the star levels that are available in that zone will be available to click
on, while star levels not available in that zone will be grayed out. This lets
you know which zones have which star levels. This is very key because to
rebid you will want to add zones that DO NOT have the star level available
that you are searching for, therefore you are guaranteed not to get that
zone. Make sense? Lets look at an example…
WHERE TO START
The first thing you need to know is where to start on your first bid. To know that, you
need to get an idea what other people have won bids with parameters similar to
yours. In order to do this just make a quick stop to www.biddingfortravel.com.
Bidding for travel is a forum for bidding assistance for all major cities around the U.S.A.
Just click on your destination city and read what people have won bids for. It also
gives you a hotel list so that you know what hotels might accept your bids.
BIDDING FOR TRAVEL
Example: A 4 STAR HOTEL IN
DOWNTOWN AUSTIN
Notice how the star levels are grayed out when different zones are clicked. Make sure
you check each zone individually so you know which zones are available for free
rebids!
START YOUR BIDDING…
Now you have all the information you need to make your bidding plan. You know from
biddingfortravel.com that people have won 4 star hotels in the downtown area for as
low as $65 a night. You also know that by clicking on each zone individually, that the
downtown area is the only zone with a 4 star hotel. Therefore, adding each zone
while keeping your minimum 4 star level will allow you to rebid freely 6 more times
immediately!
In this case, I would probably start at about $55 for a four star in downtown austin. If
that is rejected, I would add the Austin Northwest zone and up my bid to $60. If
that is rejected I would keep adding the other zones one at a time and upping my bid
by 5 to 10 dollars depending on what your max bid you are willing to pay is.
QUESTIONS?