You’ve likely heard of Hotwire, Priceline and maybe even SkyAuction. They are opaque travel searches that enable you to bid the price you’d like to pay for a hotel, flight, car rental or vacation package. These sites are intriguing and often worthwhile but are somewhat intimidating even for the seasoned online travel booker. We decided to find out what it takes to succeed with online travel bids.
The online bid process
Generally, online travel bids work like this:
- Log into your account or set one up.
- Suggest a price you would like to pay for either a flight, car rental, hotel or vacation. Hotels usually provide an option that allows you to select a preferred star rating and sometimes even your preferred amenities.
- If your bid is accepted, your credit card is immediately charged.
- And then finally, details about the hotel or flight you purchased are provided and sent to you.
You may be happy or you may be dissatisfied with the result. Once you’ve booked, canceling the booking can be tricky. Hotwire is stringent and typically won’t permit cancellations. Priceline is somewhat more flexible: You can’t cancel online, but might succeed by calling their customer service number (877-477-5807 or 800-774-2354).
What to know
Just like any auction bidding process, there are do’s and don’ts as well as lesser-known tips that help with success rates. Here are tips on maneuvering through the travel auction sites.
- First step: Before starting the online bid process, go to betterbidding.com and HotelDealsRevealed.com. These sites offer lists of providers that Hotwire and Priceline use. Scroll through the lists for the city you’re interested in and you will gain insight into which hotel you may be bidding on.
- These two resources also show hotel names with dates of winning and losing bids. They are perfect for helping decide how much you would like to bid.
- One mistake bidders make is bidding too high. Before bidding, check out typical prices for the service you’re bidding on. Go to the hotel or airline’s site and check their pricing at the source. Generally, for car rentals, bid 20 to 30% lower than the lowest listed price. For hotels, bid 25 to 40% lower than the regular listed price. Offer a lower, but fair price based on your research.
- Be cautious about the star rating. Some bidding sites are known to over-rate hotels’ star listings. For instance, a 3-star hotel might be listed as 4 stars.
- For the auction sites that offer an amenities option list, consider selecting free parking, free WIFI, and free breakfast. These extra costs can add up quickly on a well-priced room.
- If your first Priceline bid is rejected, you must wait 24 hours to re-bid using the same travel details. However, if you slightly change the details (e.g., car type), you can bid again right away.
- Bidding tools are perfect if you would like to snag a low rate in a small area or small town where you know there are only a couple of 5-star hotels. Just select the 5-star option and start the bidding low.
- Join the auction site’s membership program. It’s free and you gain access to specials that are not available to others.
- If you’ve booked a hotel using an auction site, be aware that upgrades or special requests are unlikely. Your best chance at that point is flashing your hotel frequent user card.
It’s true, online travel bids can be risky but can also be very rewarding. Follow these tips to gain the knowledge and the confidence to give it a try – at least once.
Opptee Travel Search: One App. All Travel.
