Using Priceline is a great way to get a hotel room at a discount. But how much should you bid? Here are some bidding guidelines gleaned from www.biddingfortravel.com. They run a great free service, so if you'd like to help them out, start your Priceline bidding at amazing-bargains.com/priceline.html.

When coming for our 3 day training, you'll want to stay in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. The highest quality hotel on Priceline for the Mission Valley area is 3.5 stars (Hilton, Marriott, Doubletree, etc), but you'll pay a little more for those. Our advice is to bid for a 3 star hotel (Sheraton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, etc). Past graduates of ours have been successful bidding between $55 to $65 dollars for a 3 star hotel, about the same as the noisy Super 8 Motel around the corner from us. Please book your stay to include the night before your training so you can wake up and travel just the short 5-10 minutes to our office and be ready to go at 7:30 AM. And if you want to impress Ward, get there on Lombardi time, 7:15 AM.

What can you do if you're not successful with your first bid on Priceline? Well, you can re-bid, as long as you change something about your offer, other than the price. You'll have to change your travel dates, or room star rating, or widen your area. Obviously you can't change your travel dates, and you probably don't want to change your hotel quality.

So here's how you change your bid. Expand the area! Don't worry, you'll still be staying in Mission Valley. Choose an area that has a lower star rating than Mission Valley. You effectively get a "free" re-bid, and yet you don't have to stay in the lower quality hotel or area. Currently as of June 4, 2009, San Diego County has three zones that have less than a 3 star rating: Escondido, National City, and San Ysidro. NOTE!! Do not change the star level, just the area!

VERY IMPORTANT POINT: If Priceline adds a 3 star hotel to one of the three areas mentioned above, you could end up staying there! The chart below is current as of June 4, 2009.

Here are the detailed instructions on how to bid:

Go to www.priceline.com/hotels/.
Choose San Diego, put in your travel dates, and submit the form.
Click on the "Name Your Own Price" tab or pop-up (do not use the grid with prices and star levels on that page).
Check the box next to Mission Valley and go to the next page.
Choose 3 star, bid $55 bucks, enter your name, and then complete the process.
Got your room? Congratulations!! If not, continue below.
1. Do not accept counter offer, if given one.
2. Change your offer by adding the Escondido area.
3. Increase bid to $60 and complete the process.
4. Got your room? Congratulations!! If not, continue below.
  1. Do not accept counter offer, if given one.
  2. Start a whole new bid, with new zones. That means go back to the beginning! We'll change the zones in step 6. It's important to start all over again, in order to maximize the number of unique combinations of bids.
  3. Go to www.priceline.com/hotels/.
  4. Choose San Diego, put in your travel dates, and submit the form.
  5. Click on the "Name Your Own Price" tab.
  6. Check the boxes next to Mission Valley and National City, go to the next page.
  7. Choose 3 star, bid $65 bucks, enter your name, and then complete the process.
  8. Got your room? Congratulations!! If not, continue below.
    1. Do not accept counter offer, if given one.
    2. Change your offer by adding the Escondido area.
    3. Increase your bid to $70 bucks, enter your name, and then complete the process.
    4. Got your room? Congratulations!! If not, continue below.
      1. Now that you understand the procedure, use the chart below to continue bidding and re-bidding.
      2. You should be bidding in $3-$5 increments.

To summarize: (Details of bidding permutations)

Bid # Bid Type Area Add Zone Quality Suggested Bid

1 New Bid Mission Valley --- 3 Star $55

2 Re-Bid Mission Valley Escondido 3 Star $60

3 New Bid Mission Valley, National City --- 3 Star $65

4 Re-Bid Mission Valley, National City Escondido 3 Star $70

5 New Bid Mission Valley, San Ysidro --- 3 Star $75

6 Re-Bid Mission Valley, San Ysidro Escondido 3 Star $80

7 New Bid Mission Valley, National City, San Ysidro --- 3 Star $85

8 Re-Bid Mission Valley, National City, San Ysidro Escondido 3 Star $90

If you're not successful at this point, you've exhausted all your "free re-bids" for Mission Valley. You'll need to wait 24 hours and try again.

Information provided by this website is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please consult your investment advisor and/or attorney before entering into any transaction. Read our privacy policy.

InnoVest Resource Management, 4569-A Mission Gorge Place, San Diego CA 92120-4112
(619) 283-5444, Fax (619) 283-5455