[thereuare]

PRICELINE requires that you wait 24 hours before placing the same exact bid, but will allow you to bid again if you change something... dates, zone, minimum star rating. Often our travel dates are firm and can't be changed, which leaves us with changing zones and/or minimum star ratings.

If your bid is rejected, you can often add a zone that does NOT offer that star level or higher (ie- add a zone that ONLY offers lower star ratings) and bid once again, raising your bid by a slight amount. An example follows:

Assume city XYZ has an uptown and downtown zone. You bid 4* uptown at $50 and are turned down, and are told you can bid again if you change something. IF downtown ONLY offers 3* Hotels and BELOW, you can add the downtown zone (so you are now bidding on downtown AND uptown) and once again bid for 4*. This will allow you to raise your bid and try again, essentially only bidding uptown, since downtown doesn't have any hotels that fit your star level criteria.

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is as follows:
1) Use the PRICELINE search box on the upper right of this page, enter {your city} and your dates, and click "GO".
2) List each zone that is offered in this region.
3) Next to each zone list the highest star rating offered in the zone. The way to determine the highest star rating offered in the zone is by selecting the first zone in the list, then scrolling down to see the highest star rating selectable (ie- not greyed out). NEXT UNcheck the selected zone, place a checkmark in the next zone, and repeat the process for each zone in the region. Each time take note of the highest star rating in the zone, make sure that only ONE zone is selected above.

If you're new to the concept of re-bidding you're strongly encouraged to confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding. As well, if you don't follow the instructions above, or would like a suggested bidding strategy for an upcoming stay, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC on the board and we'll try to assist further. We're here to help

THINGS TO NOTE WHEN USING THIS STRATEGY:
-DON"T use our database of previous hotels to determine what zones contain what star ratings, as our list is NOT complete and new hotels are added all the time and star levels can change at any time.
-when checking star levels in a given zone, only ONE zone/sub-zone should be selected at a time.
-the zone you add (that you really don't want) must NOT have the star level you are bidding OR HIGHER. If you are bidding 3* and add a zone that does not have 3* but does have 4*, Priceline can upgrade you to the 4*! When you selelct a star level, it is the MINIMUM star level that you are willing to accept.
-if you don't fully understand how this process works, ask for help to avoid an accepted bid in an area that you don't want

EDIT: if you are having trouble understanding this concept, there is a visual explanation that may help about 8-9 posts below this one, just scroll down

[KenCT]

Excellent advice, though it took me a while to get the concept through my head. Here's a suggestion which simplifies the process for me.

Once you've decided on your city and dates, go to that city on Priceline and review EACH available location. Make a simple grid on paper. On the right list all the available locations; across the top list the various star levels.

Put this grid off to the side of your computer and you'll have only one place to look as you begin manipulating star levels and locations, rather than clicking back and forth to determine which location offers which star level.

[essxjay]

This is probably the #1 tip for bidding on PRICELINE. I can't stress enough how useful this is in getting the * level and area you want at the best possible price.

I don't want to call it a loophole, but I hope the webmeisters at P/L don't close this up. That would _really_ suck.

[zbenye]

Close this up? Heck no, they need the business!

Without rebids, there would have been far fewer winning bids, and PL could have called it quits a long time ago: bid fails on PL - you turn around and book the alternative on Hotwire.

Rebids and counteroffers are PL's way of limiting loss of business to Hotwire, short of showing you the actual rate, which would perhaps infringe on Hotwire's patent(?), or possibly piss off PL's participating hotels.

Just my wild guess.

[WillTravel]

Here's another URL that explains the rebidding process:

http://hotels.about.com/library/weekly/aa0...?PM=ss14_hotels

[thesqueegeekid]

Here is a trick I used to use all the time especially for a last minute bid... if you bid through EBAY than any zone that PL normally greys out, EBAY doesn't so essentially, it is a free re-bid. In some cases, some zones are permanently greyed out like in Toronto, Niagara Falls, Atlantic City (in the winter), and elsewhere...

I have not checked in about 2 months so they may have corrected this!!!
If I remember correctly too, EBAY lets you bid again but requires you to raise you bid by some ridiculous amount so only use it after using the normal PL.

[gleff]

Definitely not something for the uninitiated, but you can also nab free re-bids in certain zones that DO offer the quality level you're looking for.

This is true if a zone is uniquely pricey compared to where you're actually bidding.

THe classic example of this phenomenon is the Midtown South zone in New York City. Although it offers a 4* hotel, adding 4* in this zone works as a free re-bid for the rest of New York City AS LONG AS YOU KEEP YOUR BID UNDER $120 OR SO.

That's because I've never ever ever seen a successful 4* bid in the Midtown South zone for even close to that price. The hotel in that zone simply has Priceline rates which are much higher.

So if I want a free re-bid so that I can bid $95 for a 4* in Midtown East and I've already used the Upper West Side free re-bid, I can easily add MTS.

[thereuare]

Since some like to see a picture instead of words, here's a visual of RE-Bidding:

Imagine two zones: ABC and XYZ
Zone ABC has 4*, 3*, 2*, 1* hotels
Zone XYZ has 3*, 2*, 1* hotels

So Zone ABC can be visualized as follows:


and Zone XYZ can be visualized as follows:


You bid 4* in Zone ABC and are rejected, so you add Zone XYZ (which only has hotels lower than 4*) and once again request a 4* hotel. The universe that Priceline will search looks like this:


Hopefully it is now easy to see that this is essentially like bidding again on Zone ABC, since the only possibility for getting a 4* hotel in this universe is in Zone ABC.

As always, feel free to ask any questions.

[Crazy4Bruce]

Excellent advise.!

Thanks...!

[TX-Traveller]

This is a good strategy that I've used several times. However, one caveat that wasn't mentioned (maybe it is obvious to everyone) is that you may get trapped in the wrong part of town IF your higher bid still doesn't work and you end up having to lower quality rating to keep bidding. For instance, in the example given by thereuare, if you bid 4* on Zone ABC and fail, then add Zone XYZ and bid 4* again, with a higher bid, then if THIS bid also fails, what do you do next? Maybe there is yet another zone with only 3*, but you can only play this game so long. If you run out of zones to add, then your next step is to lower the quality rating to 3*. But once you do that, XYZ and the others are now in play, and you may get stuck there. If you don't want to, then you better not continue bidding. Use Hotwire or something, I suppose.

Incidentally, this trick isn't restricted to large cities with multiple zones. You can also do it in small towns with a single zone. For instance, if you add City A that has a 4* hotel, and your bid fails, you can abandon the bid and then bid on a nearby city ("B") with only 3* or less. Often PM will give you a screen that encourages you to increase your chances by selecting from one or more neighboring cities. You can then choose City A and you are then playing the same game. I did this in south Texas using Harlingen and McAllen. I wanted to stay at a Marriott Renaissance in McAllen (which is a cool hotel) and Harlingen didn't have anything with as high a star rating. When my first bid in McAllen failed, I cancelled out and then bid on Harlingen and included neighboring McAllen, and with a higher bid, got my hotel.

[TX-Traveller]

One other tip I haven't seen mentioned is to simply have 2 accounts on PM. They do check for duplicate credit cards and personal information, I think, as you can't just create a duplicate account with your own information repeated. I'm not suggesting that you lie or commit fraud, but if you are married or have a friend travelling with you, there is no reason I can think of why they shouldn't also be able to bid. In my case, my wife has a PM account using a separate email address and credit card, and if I fail, then she can try.

[thereuare]

Quote

However, one caveat that wasn't mentioned (maybe it is obvious to everyone) is that you may get trapped in the wrong part of town IF your higher bid still doesn't work and you end up having to lower quality rating to keep bidding.

This is easily overcome by closing the browser and starting from a new screen. A short example:

4* ZoneA rejected
add ZoneB also rejected

close browser and...
3* Zone A

The 3* ZoneA is not viewed as a duplicate bid and ZoneB won't be included in your bidding because you haven't selected it from the new screen you launched.

Hope that explains it better for you and has given you a new 'technique' to use.

[TX-Traveller]

Yes, I've been reading about this strategy alot and will definitely try it. I didn't realize it would be allowed (backing out and making a new bid).

[Lorian]

Thanks,Thereuare, with that rebidding site I think I finally understand how the game is played.I will keep you informed.

[VenomZeus]

To see which amount of stars is selectable in an area, it's on the screen where you select the amount of stars for the part of the city correct?
I'm just making sure.

[thereuare]

That's correct, but make sure that only one zone was checkmarked on the screen before that.

[seningen]

Something I've observed but have not proven is that it appears
that if you make a bid within 72 hours, and it gets rejected
because of the 72hr rule, it appears to restart your 72 hour timer :-(

m.

[thereuare]

This has been known to happen to some users and not to others:

72 Hour Waiting Period... WAIT the FULL 72 Hours

[blacklab]

Greetings, all. Just joined the Board after using the Priceline rebidding tip for a hotel in Vancouver, B.C. and it worked like a charm! Great site, look forward to using it often!

[thereuare]

If you have made it to this point in the thread and still don't understand re-bidding, add a post/reply in the appropriate state/country category you are bidding and list every sub-zone in the region you're bidding along with the highest rated hotel offered in that zone. You can figure out the highest star rating in each zone as follows:

Quote

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a Priceline page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time.

[CCW]

Thank you for the info. I am new on priceline and I have been asking the re-bidding question on other site which refereing me to a bunch of FAQs that make no sense at least to me. Now I can bid on my X'mas hotel rms. Can anyone share some of your thoughts on choosing preference between PL & HW. Thanks again.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Best beginning is to post (in the appropriate state category your seeking) the zones, star level, dates, price range and star level that you are seeking.

We'll then take a look at Hotwire and previous Priceline results to determine what is the best course of action for your stay.

Generally speaking Priceline will cost you a little bit less, but give you a bit more control of the hotel you will receive. As well, if specific amenities are important to you (ie- pool, airport shuttle, suite, kitchenette, etc) then Hotwire gives you the ability to choose a hotel with these options... it will almost certainly cost you less then conventional rates, although a bit more relative to Priceline.

PS -when faced with such a situation... post it in the Priceline forum of the state, we'll then move it if Hotwire is ultimately used

[Grayson73]

I know that you can re-bid for hotels and airline tickets, but is there a way to re-bid for rental cars?

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Not really, most flexible option if you're in a 'jam' is to change your car type.

Remember also that car rentals require a 7 day waiting period (not 72 hours like Hotels).

Use our Car Rental Price Checker to get an idea of direct prices.

[lhanekamp65]

Quote

I know that you can re-bid for hotels and airline tickets, but is there a way to re-bid for rental cars?

There is actually a way that I just discovered to get a second bid on rental cars.

I was picking up a car at 10:00 AM (in the morning) on a Friday and dropping it off at 10:00 PM in the evening. This means that I would have the car for 6 days and 12 hours, but from the perspective of the rental car companies that it is 7 days.

In order to make a second bid WITHOUT changing the car type, you must change at least one of your dates. You can make use of this fact WITHOUT changing your plans.

In order to get the second bid, I changed the return date to Friday at 12:05 AM, which means that I am saying that I am returning the car 2 hours and 5 minutes later. So now I am saying that I will have the rental cars for 6 days and 14 hours and 5 minutes, which from the perspective of the rental car comanies is still 7 days.

This is win-win. I get to make a second bid and I am sure the rental car company won't be upset when I return the car 2 hours and 5 minutes early.

By extension, one would assume that you could do the reverse of this trick as well.

For example:

*****
Let's say you want to have the car for close to the full 7 days.

You pick up the car at 9:00 AM on Friday.
On your first bid attempt, you say that you will return the car the following Friday at 8:00 AM. (this is 6 days and 23 hours, which is 7 rental car days).
If your bid fails, you can make a second bid attempt by changing the return date to Thursday night at 11:30 pm (this is 6 days, 14 hours, and 30 minutes, which is still 7 rental car days).
The return date is always when you say you EXPECT to return it, as long as you return it prior to Friday at 9:00 AM, they will not charge you extra.

Of course in this case, the rental car is expecting the car earlier and theoretically are expecting to rent the car out at that time. As a courtesy, you can warn the rental car that you will be returing the car later than expected, but before you feel guilty you should realize that the ultimate point is that you did pay for the full 7 days.
*****

I hope this tip is helpful.