I believe that the best way to save on a vacation is research & planning. I love to research & plan, so for me this is part of my vacation! However, I know some that don't enjoy the planning or just don't have the time to do so. Hopefully, over the course of my Vacation Savings series, I can do some of that research & planning for you. I will share some inexpensive vacation spots I have found, some tips I have found at cutting costs, & just some tips I have found to make traveling easier.
Let me begin today by saying, that to our family a vacation is a relaxing time away from the house, something that takes us out of our ordinary. It doesn't have to be a week long venture, in our case, it is usually only a couple of days.
One of our biggest savers in hotel fares is by using
Priceline. We have saved 75% off a hotel room before! However, there is a trick to
Priceline, in order to save much you need to know what you are doing.
Priceline is a website where you can name your own price for a hotel (I have never used any of the other services on
Priceline, such as the airfare or rental car, so I can't tell you anything about those.). You are not
guaranteed a certain hotel, however you are able to choose your star level & area. Once your bid is accepted it is charged to your credit card right away, it is non-refundable.
The best way to learn about
Priceline is to visit
BiddingForTravel.
BiddingForTravel is a message board that shows you all the ins & outs of
Priceline, the best place to start on
BiddingForTravel is in the Hotel FAQ. Especially the section about free re-bidding, as this is how you save!
BiddingForTravel also lists how much Hotels in certain areas are going for, so that when you bid you can have a better idea of how much to bid & what hotel you are likely to get (notice I say likely, as you are not
guaranteed a particular hotel).
By using
BiddingForTravel, I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station in St. Louis several times for as low as $41 a night.
BiddingForTravel goes into much more detail about how to get the best prices on the best hotels, however I will outline for you a few basics, on how I have gotten such a great deal on the Hyatt Regency.
- I always go to BiddingForTravel first.
- You must always use the Name Your Own Price section on Priceline's website to get the kind of savings I am referring to.
- Currently Downtown St. Louis has 4 - 4 star hotels, all of which I am okay with getting. Therefore by researching BiddingForTravel, I see what each of the hotels are currently "going for".
- I then begin my bidding, I usually start with $5-$10 less than what prices are posted on BiddingForTravel. Even though Priceline limits the number of times you can bid in a 24 hour period, I use free re-bidding.
- Re-bidding - You are allowed to rebid, as long as you change something in your original bid (the star level or add location). I never change my star level, as I like to stay in the 4-star hotels! I then find out what locations do NOT offer 4-star level hotels & add one of those locations to my bid & then up my bid $3-$5. If my bid is still not accepted, I do the same thing again, add a location that does NOT offer a 4-star level hotel & up my bid.
Priceline is not for everybody & all of this can seem quite confusing! However, much more of this can be explained by visiting BiddingForTravel & checking out Priceline's website.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me & I can walk you through it!
