What is the best site to BID on Hotel Rooms?

I've been using Priceline for years.....and I DO have to say....I've gotten some GREAT deals using them.

But for some reason.....it seems that some of the 4 STAR hotels have dropped off their list for taking bids?

I've tried Hotwire....but they do not seem to offer the number of Hotels that Priceline does. Besides that....the website is not NEAR as user friendly.

Does anyone know of a good BIDDING website for hotels? I do prefer 4 Star....and usually what I go for.

Hugs!
GingerB

Ginger

Priceline and Hotwire are still the best two sites. What you're seeing is an upward trend in prices, and a downward trend in availability based on occupancy and rising costs of doing business.

There are still some great deals out there, but location, days and volume make all the difference. I suggest you go to Hotwire, scope out the choices in the area and star level you want, for the dates you have in mind, and then go to Priceline and start your bid at 30% less. (Remember, you can only bid the same criteria once every 24 hours, unless you change either your dates, areas or star levels.) This strategy has proven successful for me in my travels, although recent months have been a bit tougher to get a super deal. Regardless, it's still less expensive than booking through normal channels.

Try www.kayak.com to take a one glance look at hotels in your chosen area, and you'll see what open market rates are.

TP

I've used Hotwire for years with good success...although I feel like quality of the hotel has gone down a little lately...like what used to be 2.5 stars is now 3 stars. One thing I like about it is that if you use it regularly for the same general locale you can start to identify some of the hotels after awhile so less risk taking when you buy.

I've also done something similar to what TP suggests and it's a good approach.

I always reference biddingfortravel.com to see what other get rooms for on Priceline. Also, make sure you get the Travelzoo top 20. There are always huge discounts in that weekly email.

I love expedia

Priceline hands down.

I'd say priceline is still the best option. I've had some really good luck there. I've also used the Vegas tip trick to score upgraded rooms once I check in when I felt like a nicer room. I slipped the guy a $20 that was under my cc. I then asked for a non smoking king bedroom. Recently, it scored me an upgraded king suite on the club level. This was at $55/night at a 4* hotel.

In my experience these sites are great for checking prices. I had some serious issues where the site didn't pay the hotel and the hotel continued to charge my credit card for the fee. It took me about 6 months to finally get this transaction cleared up. Also, the sites really don't offer less of a rate than actually calling the hotel itself. If you use the site, they tend to charge you a $30, or more, service fee for using them. So now I check the prices on the sites, then find the number of the hotel I choose, call them myself to book and get the same rate without the fee or the hassle.

One thing I like about it is that if you use it regularly for the same general locale you can start to identify some of the hotels after awhile so less risk taking when you buy.
. Originally Posted by Fiero

Fiero, this is a great comment. If anyone wants to reap the benefits of group input and find out what the hotel is likely to be BEFORE you bid, here's a resource I love:


http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=544&

If you use their site to access hotwire or priceline, it will help BB stay in business.