Thorp and Sailor's Grave Board

Anyone ever use priceline?

BDx13 - 10-12-2010 at 02:28 PM

I always thought the idea was killer, but never got around to using it. I travel so infrequently, that when I do, I don't want to fuck with 15 layovers or some crap hotel...esp when kids are involved. Anyway, I needed a place in NYC last week while up there for work. Got a $400/night room at The Kitano for $200. Me and a bunch of Japanese businessmen chillin on Park Ave. I'll definitely do it again for hotels, still not sure about flights, though.

JUICE MAYNE MSHC - 10-12-2010 at 02:33 PM

My brother and me use it all the time when we tour or travel. Last year on that 10 for 10 tour DBD used it every night and we never paid more than $65 and never stayed anywhere rated less than 4 stars. Priceline is essential for travel.

XnMeX - 10-12-2010 at 02:41 PM

Is that the one that gives you a great deal on a great hotel, but will not tell you which hotel or exactly where it is until you purchase?

Johnny_Whistle - 10-12-2010 at 03:15 PM

Yeah, but they'll at least give you info on the area/neighborhood, etc., so you have some kind of idea what you're in for at least. I last used it about three years ago to get a room in downtown Boston, and ended up at the Omni Parker House. Pretty sweet digs for a great price, and the show we went to that night was at the Orpheum, about a half a block down the street, so we saved even more dough because we didn't have to cab it anywhere. I think unless there's a hotel chain you're really really trying to avoid, the lack of hotel name isn't that big a deal.

lifeisabitch - 10-12-2010 at 03:31 PM

I've used it to fly the last few trips
round trip usually for $150 to just about anywhere
and they are not stupid layovers anything
and I have been buying last minute as well, so the deal isn't too bad...
I usually go cheap on my rooms, cause I hardly sleep anyhow while traveling, but they have been pretty good...
the standard shit you need, cable, wifi and clean sheets for 45.00 bucks

Dan - 10-12-2010 at 11:36 PM

I've been using priceline for many years now.

You can get a log of tips about priceline at http://www.betterbidding.com. After someone gets an accepted bid, they post their bids and bidding strategies on the message board. You can look at the most recent successful bids in whatever area you are looking at so you can have more certainty about where you'll be staying and how much you'll be paying. You can also see a master list of known priceline hotels for each priceline area. After someone posts a successful bid, the moderator typically takes that info and updates the master list of priceline hotels for that area.

Here's a strategy where you can do multiple bids for a specific area in a 24-hour period. When you're making a bid, one by one, select each region and make a note what star levels are available in each area. If you want a 4 star in area 'A' and you know that areas 'B', 'C', and 'D' only have hotels up to 3 1/2 stars, then you can use those areas to safely raise your bid on area 'A'. Lets say you bid $60 for a 4-star in area 'A'. If the bid is not accepted, you can raise the bid to $61 by keeping the star level at 4 and adding area 'B', then raise it to $62 and add area 'C', etc. You won't be in danger of getting a hotel in those other areas because they don't have any 4-star hotels.