Priceline great new feature

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

They are now listing the last 250 winning bids on Priceline. You now can see what the winning bids are.

Priceline - Winners Board

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I guess they got tired of the really low ball bids. If people have an idea of what to bid then their chances of submitting a wining bid are better and in return, Priceline moves more rooms. I'm sure that the more rooms they sell, the more money the make. Smart move by Priceline IMO.

[bevvy5 Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bevvy5]

The problem is it doesn't tell what time period the bid is for. An example is I just won a two star near Seatac in November for $45. The winning bid is shown as $50.

Bidding for Travel is much better.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

The problem is it doesn't tell what time period the bid is for. An example is I just won a two star near Seatac in November for $45. The winning bid is shown as $50.

Bidding for Travel is much better.

I believe they only list winning bids that occured with in the last 24 hours.

Note just because it is a winning bid does not mean it is the lowest bid out there that won. They only list with in 24 hours so Biddingfortravel might be another site you should check as well.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Hmm. Must go over and take a look at this. Do they show the dates of the stay?

I have to say...lots of times when I put in a bid, Priceline comes back and says, "Three-star hotels in the Pittsburgh area cost an average of $180 per night. Your bid of $50 has a very low chance of being accepted. Do you want to raise your bid?" But then when I DON'T raise it, the $50 is accepted.

[Art Member Find all posts View Profile Close Art]

If the PriceLine list of winning bids really is based on the last 24 or 48 hours, it really would be a big help.

Bidding for Travel is a great historical record and trends can be seen, but many areas go for weeks without a bid (successful or otherwise) being reported. The usual problem, like a timesharing or cruise board, is that only a minuscule fraction of users participate in on-line discussions.

Art

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

I'm wondering about this feature. It seems to me that if they aren't necessarily posting the lowest winning bids (do they say they have posted the LAST 250 winning bids or merely that it a selection of winning bids) if that will not logically raise the bids offered. If it raises the bids offered because people believe they are looking at the last 250 winning bids, they will, of course, bid more. If that happens, the chances of a really low bid being accepted go down, don't they?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm thinking. What incentive do they have to show the really low winning bids?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Okay, I'm a little more convinced now. I went over and looked at the posted prices for some of the areas I've been looking. The "winning bids" are very believable considering what I was bidding and winning or bidding and not winning.

For example, about a month ago I got a three-star in Pittsburgh for late June for $42. That same area is now posted with a winning bid of $50. So considering it's a month later, that price is in line with my bid.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Althoooough...I got a great price on a four-star in downtown Chicago about the same time last year, and there's nothing nearly that low on the recent bids....

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

It's only showing the winning bids in the last 24 hours. It is not showing the dates of stay for the winning bids. It is not showing the length of stay for the winning bids.

This is only another reference point to get people to think about what they want to bid. If you're bidding for a hotel in Fort Lauderdale on a busy weekend when there's a convention in town and the cruise ships are busy, you're probably going to pay more than say mid-week shoulder season. So bid prices will vary as to what the winning bids for the day are.

It's just another tool to use and nothing more. It does not eliminate the need to do a little research on hotel prices for you dates of stay and historical information posted on sites such as Priceline and Hotwire Forum, Winning Bids, and Bidding Help or BiddingFortravel.com - The informed Priceline Travel Bidding Forum.

[zdxlc9p6 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close zdxlc9p6]

I have never been successful with Priceline on cars! I have a premium rented for tomorrow at a rate of $49 plus tax. Hotwire is showing $50, with a direct link to PL. When I submit an offer of $43, Priceline states "$43.00 per day would be a great price to get for your Premium Car but it's so far below currently available retail rates that none of our partners are likely to accept it. Good chance-$69, great chance $72." That's $19-22 more than their partner price, Hotwire! I don't even bother with them anymore.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I think they're trying to scare you off with that $70 stuff. I did get a good deal on a car from Priceline once...like $13 per day when the rental sites wanted $26.

Just bid what you're willing to pay, considering all the limitations of Priceline. I'm usually willing to pay a bit more through the regular car-rental places to get the ability to cancel or change reservations, use my preferred-status number, and so on.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Just bid what you're willing to pay, considering all the limitations of Priceline. I'm usually willing to pay a bit more through the regular car-rental places to get the ability to cancel or change reservations, use my preferred-status number, and so on.

That is how I feel as well.

When I bid, If I know that I need a car or hotel I start bidding early and go up a dollar every day up to my max that I am willing to pay. I look at the best prices first and figure I would pay about 30% under that with PL. I will start my bidding at 40% less up to the max which is no more than 20% under my best price. It is not worth it if you are saving 10% and are being tied down. BTW I no longer use PL for air. I will only bid for a hotel or car rental.

[vinolover Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vinolover]

I can't get the info

I get the message:

Winning bids have not yet been posted for this city today. Please check back soon.


I get this no matter what city I look up (including big cities like NY and L.A.)

I'm thinking this website doesn't work with my computer (Mac) or browser (Safari) although it doesn't tell me that. Anyone else have this problem?