Priceline Hotel: Tips for a Priceline bid in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[stevey]

I'm travelling to Rio in a couple of days and not getting far with finding an apartment online, so I'm looking to try Priceline as I'm getting anxious about accommodation.

I'm based in the UK but the UK site (priceline.co.uk) doesn't have Rio listed, however the US site (priceline.com) does. I've looked for details of successful bids in Rio but can't find any at all, so any tips anyone can give would be welcome.

I need to stay from Sep 17th for 15 nights. There do not seem to be selectable districts or a map of Rio on priceline, and there is only a choice of 3* or 4* hotels, but my research shows most of the 4* ones are in the area I want to be in (Copacabana, Ipanema).

One question I have is how far can you trust the 'based on recent data, your bid has only a small chance of being accepted' message when you 'name your own price' per night? I want to get my first bid accepted as I don't have time to wait 24-hours to rebid and cannot change the location criteria as there are none for Rio!

Any help gratefully received!

Stevey

[Rhine-and-Roses]

I almost always plan well in advance, so I've tried the "your bid has almost no chance" several times. I have never had a bid accepted when that came up on the screen. It was usually a huge amount below going rate- like bidding $35 for a 4 star that averaged $300 per night. Have you tried a search in Tripadvisor.com with Rio and Priceline/Hotwire to see if bidders have posted there?

[stevey]

Have you tried a search in Tripadvisor.com with Rio and Priceline/Hotwire to see if bidders have posted there?

Yeah I checked them out but couldn't find anything meaningful. I've since tried a couple of bids at $50 and $55 per night - both turned down.

[Rhine-and-Roses]

Saw on Priceline you can get a 4* Tulip hotel for $100 on Priceline's transparent site. That makes me think you could get something similar for a few dollars less., especially since the hotel chains listed on the site are ones that typically do make deals with Priceline. What about dividing your bid into two or three different stays? Also, I saw somewhere on this forum something about bidding more than once every 24 hours with different credit cards, but I don't remember what I read, or where. Good luck.

[Woofer]

I don't think the 'your bid has almost no chance' warning has any bearing on actual prices one might expect to pay. I have seen the price change when I bid 3-4 zones separately, and then combine zones, and the price PL cites is $100-$200 more or less (highly variable).

If you have little time to bid, then really bidding to your maximum right away is probably your only option. Does Hotwire offer anything for the dates of your stay? That might give you an idea of what is out there. A 15 day single bid will be an issue too.

[WillTravel]

I'm not familiar with Rio, but if there's no map of the zones, the catchment area can be very wide, as I found out when I emailed Priceline about a different city with no zone maps. You could win any 4* hotel that has Rio de Janeiro in the address, which I think is a very large area.

[stevey]

Thanks for all your comments. I think I am going to try and wing it and get an apartment when I'm there. They seem to be cheap compared to the hotels, and I don't really want to risk ending up miles away!