The most frustrating part of the bidding process at priceline, is that you are only allowed to bid once every 24 hours for the same trip. For example, suppose you are traveling to Los Angeles this weekend and you would like a 4 star hotel in Hollywood. You go to priceline.com, select name your own price, select Los Angeles and check Hollywood. After researching a price your bid gets rejected and you are left frustrated and wishing you had bid $10 higher. What options do you have?
Well, unless you are willing to change the zones you are bidding in, or the star rating of the hotel you want to get, you have to wait 24 hours before bidding again. That is unless you take advantage of a the “rebid loophole”. This Priceline Bidding Strategy is key if you want to Priceline Rebid within 24 hours.
Here is how the rebid loophole works. First check all the areas (zones) one by one, and make a list of those that do not offer a star rating equal to, or HIGHER than what you are looking for. The star rating hierarchy is subject to changes at any time, but as of writing it was looked like this.
- 5-Star Luxury
- Resorts
- 4-Star Deluxe
- 3-Star Upscale
- 2½-Star Moderate-Plus
- 2-Star Moderate
- 1-Star Economy
Priceline.com will, when available, upgrade customers to a higher star level at no additional cost, but will not downgrade you. That means if you submit a request for 4-star hotel, they will search for 4-star hotels, resorts, and 5-star hotels as per the hierarchy, but will not search anything lower than a 4-star hotel.
So, if we want a 4-Star hotel, we would look for dummy areas (zones) that do not offer 4-Star hotels, Resorts, or 5-Star accommodation’s. Going back to our Los Angeles example, “Brentwood – Westwood” is a good example of a dummy zone, because it only offers 2-Star and 3-Star hotels. Therefore, we can rebid immediately, by keeping the requested star level at 4-Star, checking Hollywood (the zone we want), checking the dummy zone (the zone that does not offer anything rated 4 stars or higher) and raising the bid price. Because Hollywood is the only zone we are bidding in that offers 4-Star or higher accommodation’s, the only chance of a winning bid is a hotel in Hollywood. Don’t forget to raise your bid price, or your bid will fail like it did on the previous bid.
Always be aware that Priceline’s hotel lists, areas, and policies are subject to changing at any time, so it’s important to double check your dummy zones to make sure they do not contain a 4-star or higher hotel/resort. Watch out for resorts because they are listed last but rank higher than 4-Stars. It’s also important to realize that no tactic is failsafe, so if you are worried about where your hotel will be located, you can play it safe by never bidding in a zone you definitely wouldn’t stay in. You can always wait 24 hours and bid again, or, if you are still worried, then remember that bidding isn’t for everybody. Maybe you should just pay the extra money and pick the hotel you want. Good luck and good bidding!
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