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Using Hotwire And Priceline

Taking a chance on the specifics in order to get a great deal.

An overview for new users of Priceline's Name-your-own-price feature, and Hotwire's opaque discounts. Opaque in this case means that you know the price, the hotel or car class, and the general area, but you won't know the specific details until your credit card is charged.


This was written for someone who wanted to get a car rental, but everything applies also to hotels (and flights, but apparently there aren't good deals in flights). Here it is...

Keep in mind that both sites operate in US$. The prices below are before taxes, but you will always see the total with tax before your credit card is charged.

Hotwire.com

You choose:
- the class of car (or hotel)
- the pickup area (e.g. the airport)
 
They give you:
- a price. 
 
You don't find out the rental company until your credit card is charged, but it's always one of the 5 major companies.

Go to hotwire.com, click the Cars tab, and enter your details.
 
Example: YYC Calgary Hertz Fullsize $33/day ... 7/14/07-7/25/07

You can see prices/companies that people have received at http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=183& - they also keep lists of which hotels have been awarded for each category.

Priceline.com

You choose:
- the class of car (or hotel)
- the pickup area (or the area on the map)
 
Then you name your price (per day). Within 60 seconds you will find out if your offer is accepted - if it is, your credit card is charged immediately. If no company accepts your price you can try again after a waiting period - or sometimes they will come back with a counter offer. 
 
When using Priceline it is a good idea to have a fully-refundable, backup reservation in case your bids are never accepted, unless you're OK not getting a car if you can't get a good price.
 
Go to priceline.com, click on Cars, click on the "Deeper Discounts, Name your own Price" icon and enter your details.
 
 
YYC Calgary Hertz Full size $15/day
$15 ... 6/14/07-6/18/07
YYC Calgary Standard Avis
$13 ... 7/6/06-7/7/07
 
Info for car rentals on Priceline:
 

Other

If you don't go with hotwire or priceline, you can at least see if signing up for the car/hotel company's free reward program would get you valuable perks (e.g. Hertz #1 club gets you free child seat rental in a weekly rental, some hotel programs net you a slightly better room or free newspaper). This article lists the perks of each program:
 
And you can try all the different discount codes, listed here: http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=238&

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