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IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ONLY USE THE NAME YOUR OWN PRICE AREA OF PRICELINE'S WEBSITE. PRICELINE HAS DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THEIR HOME PAGE; HOWEVER ALL OF THEM DEFAULT TO THEIR RETAIL STANDARD HOTEL RATE SERVICE. THAT IS NOT RELEVANT TO A PRICELINE HOTEL BID.

FROM THEIR HOME PAGE, YOU MUST CLICK ON THE NAME YOUR OWN PRICE BUTTON OR TEXT LINK BEFORE PROCEEDING.

The best advice one can get is to read through Priceline's entire website before placing your offer. By placing an offer on Priceline's website, you have agreed to their Terms & Conditions. Please read them thoroughly. It is also very helpful to enter your bidding parameters and go through the screens until you have to enter your payment information. Common questions are often answered simply by doing this, so we ask that you do so before asking for bidding assistance.

Priceline is by far the best way to get a big discount on hotels, but it's not as simple as making a reservation. Priceline is a game of poker and their way of winning is to get you to pay more than you need to for a hotel room. If you learn to beat them at their own game, you will save more.... much more... than you would by booking a hotel by any other means.  

Hotels allocate to Priceline rooms that they think may go unsold. They tell Priceline what they want for these rooms. Sometimes they do this months in advance and sometimes at the last minute. These hotels don't want their normal price paying customers to run to Priceline, so to get the lower prices you must make a blind bid. If your bid is at or above what priceline can get the room for, you 'win' , are charged immediately with no refund possible, and are then told what hotel you are staying at. Therefore picky people who are not flexible continue to pay more for exactly what they want, while the rest of us often pay less than half of what they do.  

If you bid more than the lowest amount Priceline would have accepted, Priceline pockets the difference and will hope you are happy with saving a few shillings while they get fat. What I hope to teach you now is how to pay the bare minimum Priceline can accept for a hotel room. It's a bit complex, but once you understand it, it's easy.  

First you need to know the rules. Be aware that for each booking, regardless of how many days, Priceline adds a service fee and combines it with the taxes, so you may not notice. This fee is at least $6.50 and maybe more. For a weeklong stay, this just adds a dollar a day. For one night, it can be substantial. the price you bid is per day and does not include the taxes or Priceline's service fee.  

Another fact you should know is that some hotels (rated 3 and 4*) will add on other fees when you check in over and above the price you already paid Priceline. An example is a 'Resort Fee" of $10 a day, a parking fee of $15 a day, and an internet fee of $10 a day. These are in the vast minority but need to be considered. Resort Fees are often charged near Disney World. Parking fees are very common in downtown areas, and internet fees are often charged by 3* hotels.  

To use Priceline for hotels, look on a map where you are going. Go to Priceline and enter the mane of that city or town and the dates and click on: 'Name Your Own Price'.  

You will be shown a screen with a map which contains one or more 'zones' circled. To the left of the map these zones are named and there is a radio button next to the name of the zone. Below this is a list of the Priceline Quality Icons, and they too have radio buttons. The Icons are 4*, 3*, 2.5*, 2*, and 1*. Occasionally there is a 'Boutique' icon as well, which is a special category you can ignore completely for now.  

Your first task is to look at the Zones and determine which ones are acceptable for you to stay in. You may want to stay in the zone that's near the golf course, or you may want to be farther away where the night life is. You may not be able to get the zone you want so look for others that are acceptable and not too far for your commute. If it's for 1 night while traveling, all zones might be ok, if the price is right.  

Next determine what quality hotel you want to bid on. 4* hotels are things like the Westin and are the most expensive. 3* hotels are Marriott, Raddisson, Hilton, etc. 2.5* hotels are Marriott Courtyard and Residence Inn, Doubletree, Hyatt Place. 2* hotels are Comfort Inns, Hampton Inn, Fairfield, and unfortunately, Extended Stay and Homestead. 1* hotels are also Extended Stay and Homestead along with Day's Inn and Baymont Hotels.  

These are small examples to give you an idea. there are Many more Priceline hotels included in the bidding. You will find that their standards are high and you will seldom get a really bad hotel. The reason I wish Extended stay hotels were not lumped in with the 2* hotels is this: Priceline reservations are always for 2 people. Most hotels, if they are not too crowded will give you a room with 2 beds if they are available. But most Homesteads and Extended Stays don't have many rooms with 2 beds and if they do, they will want a surcharge to put you in one. So if you have a roommate you don't want to sleep with, you will want to avoid the possibility of getting a 1 bed room hotel.  

Keep in mind, when you are accepted on a Priceline bid, your room type is not guaranteed. You should call the hotel directly ASAP and tell them you just made a Priceline reservation and request the room type you want including smoking or non-smoking. 95% of the time, I get what I want. The other 5% can be a problem. I've been put in a smoking room with one bed, and told there was no other room available, when It was obvious there were. A few hotels view your reduced rate as a low class ticket and some will tell you as much at the front desk. Most however, will treat you like any other customer.  

I prefer 2.5* hotels when they are not too expensive. They generally have free breakfast, free internet, and free parking. 2* hotels are also acceptable and sometimes a 1* is the way to get a steal close to where i want to be. I try to avoid 3 & 4 * hotels with all their extra fees but sometimes they are fine. so now let's plan a Priceline bid.

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