by Lois Lawrence

Created on: July 26, 2008   Last Updated: July 29, 2009

Using Priceline.com in a methodical and intelligent way yields savings that are unmatched by any other service. Using Priceline blindly can lead to disappointment. The difference is just a question of doing a little bit of homework.

One of the most luxurious hotels I have stayed at using Priceline was a Westin property in Vancouver, Canada. Our room overlooked an enormous outdoor well-heated circular swimming pool and, beyond that, spectacular Stanley Park, the largest urban park in North America. From our balcony, we were able to watch sea planes land on the waterway beneath and scullers from the nearby rowing club slice through the calm waters. The service was impeccable. Housekeeping employees we encountered in the hall invariably greeted us by name. The lobby was massive the amenities superb and the bedding luxurious. Once, after leaving the elevator, my husband confessed wanting to shout out, "Is anyone else paying $80 for his room?"

We have stayed in the Copley Plaza in Boston through Priceline for a similar price, and in three star hotels in Washington, D.C, Richmond, Virginia, and Montreal, Canada for far less.

By bidding on airline tickets through Priceline, we have traveled to France for more than two hundred dollars less than the lowest discount ticket we were able to find during a three week search on Cheaptickets.com and other discount airline sites.

Detractors from Priceline generally warn that Priceline is too risky to use because it does not disclose the names of hotels you are bidding on until after your bid has been accepted. It is quite true that Priceline does not guarantee a choice of hotels, but only a choice of location and star-level. Detractors also complain that one must wait at least twenty four hours after having a bid rejected before bidding again unless one is either willing to include another area of the city in one's bid, or is willing to accept a lower star level.

Who wouldn't be discouraged by such restrictions?

However, another, lesser-known website has, for us, taken away the worry. Biddingfortravel.com is a sort of watchdog website on which Priceline customers post the results of their bidding efforts. By going to Biddingfortravel.com and selecting a state and city, one is able to see what prices have been accepted by specific hotels on certain dates.

Biddingfortravel.com also posts lists of participating hotels in most locations and in various star levels and makes a very diligent and successful effort

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