travel, hotel and booking Information

Why Use Priceline.com?
An Interview with Don Nadeau
Of BidonTravel.com

Hotel Booking Rick Archer sat down with Don Nadeau, the president of BidonTravel.com, which provides Priceline bidding advice.

As group travel gurus, we take our group expertise and combine it with some technical knowhow to bring you hotel searches that are best suited for your group type. We understand that different groups have different needs in a hotel. That why we ask for your group type upfront. We use that information to deliver hotels in your search that represent the best combination of amenities, hotel class, location, and price. The hotels that appear first are the hotels best matched for your group.

Travel Agency RA: Why would anyone want to use Priceline?

While there are some below par travel agents out there, sources such as Tripology are great outlets to go to find reliable specialized travel agents that will match your needs. 10. Travel Agents Can Only Book My Flight and Hotel Travel agents can arrange car service, personalized tours and activities, in addition to all the basic travel services they provide. They are also excellent sources of information concerning good restaurants, good sites to see, and tips on what to pack.

Cheap Hotel DN: You'll save a lot of money.

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Flight Booking RA: Yes, but who wants to get up in time for a 6:00 a.m. flight? You can't pick your departure times or airline or anything like that.

Although travel agents have access to all of the same outlets you would use when looking to book travel, they also have access to exclusive pricing and package deals that are most times not available to the public. Your travel agent also has more leverage in helping out in situations such as hotels claiming to be booked, when in fact they may still have rooms available that are on hold for travel agents reservations. So when everyone else is telling you “No” your travel agent can help turn that to a “Yes.”

Travel Agent DN: Well, just use Priceline for air tickets when you're going to Australia or traveling at the last minute. You'll save hundreds of dollars. When you can plan your U.S. travel well in advance, Priceline may not be your best bet.

Travel agents obtain some of their information from the same sources as online booking sites such as Orbitz and Travelocity. They also receive daily emails and faxes with new specials from resorts and hotels that may not be published on the internet. Travel agents can also call a place directly to see if they can work out other kinds of special deals for you, something an online site can’t do.

Hotel Chicago But always bid on Priceline hotels. That's easy and you don't have to get up at 4:00 a.m.

Online Booking RA: Sure, but I don't want to stay in some crummy place.

Travel Health Insurance DN: No, no, no. Bid for three or four-star hotels. You pick the quality.

Hotel Reservation You'll end up at a Hyatt, Hilton, Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Sheraton, Marriott, or Doubletree-someplace like these.

London Hotel Booking And, over a few days, you'll save hundreds of dollars.

Discount Travel In fact, I predict you'll save on average at least $100 a night over the prices you get on Expedia, Hotels.com, or similar discount hotel sites. Priceline hotel savings average some 40 percent over these sites.

Orlando Hotel RA: What about location?

Booking Agency DN: You pick that, too.

International Travel Medical In the Orlando area, you have a choice of 11 neighborhoods, in or near San Jose, eight.

New York Hotel RA: So you can't pick a specific hotel, just a general neighborhood?

Online Travel Booking DN: That's right.

Travel Medical Insurance That's why hotels use Priceline to sell excess inventory at prices they don't want their regular customers to find out about.

Miami Hotel RA: So would it be correct to assume that if there's a big event going on in the area and hotels are heavily booked, rooms won't be available through Priceline?

Air Deccan Booking DN: Actually not.

Las Vegas Nevada Travel Groups can book large blocks of rooms at hotels, then find out not as many are traveling, and release some rooms back to hotels. I once got a Priceline discount at the headquarters hotel of a huge medical convention at the last minute.

Las Vegas Nv Hotel Priceline tells you if rooms are available before you bid.

Hotel Florence Booking Online RA: How do I know what to bid?

Orlando Travel I have an entire site devoted to that! Go to the Priceline Hotels section of BidOnTravel.com.

Hilton Hotel RA: Just give me three main tips.

Booking Delta Com DN: Okay. First, bid on three or four-star hotels. That's where the real savings are.

Travel Insurance Online Second, look up the best prices for the star quality and neighborhood you want on a site like Hotels.com. Knowledge is power, and that way you won't overbid.

London Hotel Third, find out what Hotwire.com charges.

Online Hotel Booking Hotwire is Priceline's main competitor in the 'you don't find out the name of your hotel until you pay category,' and it's prices are usually a bit higher than Priceline's.

Travel Insurance Therefore, bid 10 - 20 percent below Hotwire's price.

Paris Hotel See BidonTravel.com, though, if you want to refine this process to maximize your savings.

Airline Booking RA: What if I still overpay?

Travel Trailer DN: Priceline has a best price guarantee.

San Francisco Hotel If you book a room on Priceline, and then find a lower price on another website for the same type of room at the same hotel or resort on the same dates, Priceline will refund you the difference. There's some small print, such as "this rate has to be available to the general public and you have to make your claim within 24 hours of booking," but you really can't lose.

Air Ticket Booking RA: There must be some drawbacks to using Priceline for hotels.

Cheap Travel DN: There are.

Bangkok Hotel Most importantly, you'll get no refund if you cancel. You won't be able to change dates.

Music Booking Also, you'll usually end up with a standard room. At some hotels, these may not be large enough for more than two people.

Travel And Tourism RA: What about smoking or nonsmoking?

New York City Hotel DN: This is never absolutely guaranteed regardless of where you book.

Air Asia Ticket Booking When using Priceline or other online sites, I usually call the hotel directly to make sure it has me on its nonsmoking list. I also try not to show up too late, when the hotel may have run out of certain types of rooms.

Los Angeles Travel RA: Thanks. I'll try bidding next time after reading the tips on your site.

Cancun Hotel Rick Archer is President of SearchSummit, a Search Engine Marketing company.

Hotel Booking Florence An extensive world traveler, Don Nadeau, president of BidonTravel.com, taught world geography for many years in both Canada and the United States, and developed the first high school level Urban Studies program in the U.S.
Don loves helping people travel "on the cheap," and frequently uses the advice found in BidonTravel to make his own trips more affordable.

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