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If you're looking for cheap flights, hotel accomodations, and/or other travel-related services, and you haven't tried bidding through Priceline or Hotwire, you're missing a valuable weapon in your budget travel arsenal. Here, we are going to tell you How to Successfully Bid on Travel so that the next time you're looking to travel on the cheap, you might get there by naming your own price.
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Introduction
- Hotels almost never sell all of their rooms on a particular night. Airlines almost never sell all of their seats for a flight on a particular day. The price they name for those seats and rooms is only an approximation of the value they attach to it, and if someone comes to them with money in hand, and offers them less than what they are asking, they are sure to accept the offer rather than have the seat or room remain empty. If you're looking for a bargain, the main solution is for you to bargain with these travel entities. Here, we're going to show you how to bid on not only airfares, but also hotel rooms and rental cars, so that the next time you take a trip, it's on your terms.
How to Bid for a Hotel Room
- If you are flexible about the specific hotel, bid for a hotel room on Priceline or Hotwire. The hotels are deeply discounted, but you won't know what specific hotel you're staying at until your bid is accepted. There are many strategies you can use to get an exceptionally deep discount.
- Go to the site Bidding For Travel (Priceline-only information) and Better Bidding (Priceline and Hotwire information).
- Look in the forums for the area in which you are staying. Both sites have forums for states, as well as for specific metro areas.
- The top post in the forum is a list of hotels that Priceline and Hotwire book users into, listed by area and star rating. This will give you an idea of the kind of hotel you can expect to stay in.
- Review the posts in the forum to get an idea of the winning bids for the area you are staying in, around the dates you are staying there. This will give you the information you need to make an informed bid, as well as an idea of the hotels you might be booked into.
- Go to Priceline or Hotwire. You will have to pay if your bid is accepted, so make sure to use only one site at a time to avoid double-booking.
How to Bid for Airfare
- If you are flexible about your travel times and airlines, you can bid for a plane ticket on Priceline. Remember, they can book you to travel at any time in a 24-hour period, so this is only recommended for longer trips - and, according to people who frequently bid on travel, it is much more difficult to get a great deal on these sites than it used to be.
- Go to the sites Bidding For Travel or Better Bidding.
- On Bidding For Travel, scroll down to the Airline Tickets section, and look for the forum appropriate to your trip. On Better Bidding, go under "Other Deals" to the "Airfare" forum.
- Review the posts in the forum to get an idea of the winning bids for trips similar to yours. This will give you the information you need to make an informed bid, as well as an idea of the kinds of flights you might be booked onto.
- Go to Priceline.
- Click on "Save More - Name Your Own Price".
- In the pop-up window that appears, type in your departure and destination airport and dates. Click "Next."
- Select the airports you wish to fly into and out of. Note the nearby airports - you'll need this information if you re-bid.
- Type the price you want to pay in the "Name Your Own Price" window. Remember, this is the price you will pay before fees.
- Type the passenger info into the Passenger and Ticket Information section.
- Click "Next".
- Review the cost of the ticket after fees. You may find it's significantly different!
- If you are still interested, initial the Important Information section, and fill out your payment information.
- Click "Buy My Tickets Now".
How to Bid for Rental Cars
- If you are flexible about the rental car company, bid for a rental car on Priceline or Hotwire. The rental cars are deeply discounted, but you won't know what specific rental car company you're using until your bid is accepted. There are many strategies you can use to get an exceptionally deep discount. Remember that Priceline adds fees to these bids, which are sometimes quite steep - check the final price before bidding!
- Go to the sites Bidding For Travel (Priceline-only information) and Better Bidding (Priceline and Hotwire information).
- Look in the forums for the area where you will be renting the car. Both sites have forums for states; Bidding For Travel also has specific metro areas.
- Review the posts in the forum to get an idea of the winning bids for the area you are traveling to. This will give you the information you need to make an informed bid.
- Go to Priceline or Hotwire. You will have to pay if your bid is accepted, so make sure to use only one site at a time to avoid double-booking.
