WHAT DO YOU HATE MOST ABOUT TRAVEL?
Getting there. I'm not the most flexible person. I also call myself a freaky flyer. Thank goodness for understanding seatmates and flight attendants!
(Emphasis mine).
Can any international lawyer advise whether wishing anyone to spend a 12hr journey in the middle seat next to the freaky flyer above constitutes a war crime under the Geneva convention?
For the OP: was myself banned a couple of times apparently for some utterly ridiculous reason (I think I posted the bidding amount in pounds at the time priceline.co.uk existed) and got banned. Of course it was because through bidding on the UK site I'd failed to send the commission to A-B. I no longer use Priceline but would avoid posting on that site at all costs. Taking a peek if one is interested is cake even if banned.
taken collectively, the search tools, calendar of wins, data points and friendly moderator on BetterBidding makes this the go-to site to prep for a successful Priceline bidding session. The Priceline maps feature is available for many major cities and lets you see the location of hotels and the recent (and relevant) winning bid information.
I was just banned from BFT with no explanation after having contributed a couple dozen times over the last year or so. I used to post on both BB and BFT but prefer BB because theruare is producing useful services (map/calendar) with the data. I'll just lurk on BFT from home now when I don't have enough info to feel comfortable with a bid. If no one over there wants my data...fine. Just discovered travelgoop from this thread. I really like the drop down menus and forms. Now there's an improvement BB could make that would improve the submission process.
i think that bft site caters to a select group and its so well publicised, sheryl must be doing something right.
A lot of what the BFT Administratrix did right is to be the first one into the marketplace. She filled a void that needed filling, and thereby garnered a great deal of travel press (and later online) coverage. A good deal of that coverage is continual - one example is the Sunday travel section of my local newspaper, which for years has published a box of "important travel websites". BFT is prominent in the list that is published every Sunday.
I've written to the Travel Editor multiple times, pointing out the existence of BetterBidding and its coverage of Hotwire. I suggested that BB be added to the list, or at least alternated with BFT every other week, but the Editor has not bothered to respond (given the overall poor quailit of that newspaper, it's not all that surprising).
Also, welcome SeattleRedBear to FlyerTalk!
__________________ * * * I Survived the Great FlyerTalk Outage of November 2009!!!!! * * *
[H]er selective blocking of users is not unique to her site.
The way she does it, yes, I think it is unique. Most sites only employ banning for spammers and people otherwise disruptive to the site. I don't count "not using an affiliate link" as disruptive.
Her insistence on using her affiliate link has also worked to the disadvantage of people using her site at times. The now defunct eBay promotion was an example -- any reference to it was deleted from her site even though it was a good deal for Priceline bidders.
A lot of what the BFT Administratrix did right is to be the first one into the marketplace. She filled a void that needed filling, and thereby garnered a great deal of travel press (and later online) coverage.
...
Also, welcome SeattleRedBear to FlyerTalk!
Thanks very much for the welcome. I agree completely...Sheryl was the first one out there that met a market need and she capitalized on it. One of my pet peeves with BFT is that there's no indication of zone in the subject line so I need to do the extra work to figure out which bids are associated with which regions (which is one of the things I like about BB).
Actually, as much as I despise BFT, they DO list the zones for most of the winning bids... for example, if you look in the Las Vegas section, you'd see that most of the subjects say "North Strip", "South Strip", or one of the other zones. Can you give an example where they don't seem to include the zone?
The BFT FAQ asks that the header include the zone, dates and price. Sheryl accepts posts that are out of this format without question but she certainly would prefer it. On travelgoop, a form is used so this more regular. BTW, it's easier to find information on BFT than BB because the forums are more defined. BB has one for states beginning with the letter A for example, while BFT has individual states and metro areas. BFT also makes an effort to divide Canada into a few forums while BB has one forum for the entire country.
The now defunct eBay promotion was an example -- any reference to it was deleted from her site even though it was a good deal for Priceline bidders.
The administrator of BB recognized that anyone who saw what an outstanding value the eBay Anypoints promotion was, was not going to use his affiliate link. Therefore, he proactively made it possible for people to directly support BB by providing a method to make cash contributions (via PayPal) - and even better, the contribution could remain anonymous if the contributor wished to do so.
I earned a first class ticket on BA via the promotion, and was happy to support BB via direct contribution - this ended up being a win-win situation for me and for BB (and also, indirectly, for the BB user community).
__________________ * * * I Survived the Great FlyerTalk Outage of November 2009!!!!! * * *
A lot of what the BFT Administratrix did right is to be the first one into the marketplace. She filled a void that needed filling, and thereby garnered a great deal of travel press (and later online) coverage. A good deal of that coverage is continual - one example is the Sunday travel section of my local newspaper, which for years has published a box of "important travel websites". BFT is prominent in the list that is published every Sunday.
I've written to the Travel Editor multiple times, pointing out the existence of BetterBidding and its coverage of Hotwire. I suggested that BB be added to the list, or at least alternated with BFT every other week, but the Editor has not bothered to respond (given the overall poor quailit of that newspaper, it's not all that surprising).
Could it be possible that weekly mention in the "important travel websites" section requires some sort of payment? While it doesn't appear as advertisement, is there any way to know if it does require some sort of payment or is truly a "public service" the newspaper offers?
BTW, it's easier to find information on BFT than BB because the forums are more defined. BB has one for states beginning with the letter A for example, while BFT has individual states and metro areas. .
staying true to the title of this thread....if your IP is blocked, what does it matter?
While BFT may have more individual states and metro areas, I don't have time to go through the forums line by line to find my information. BB has an easier search function that results in a consistant format of winning bids. This combined with the calendar of wins and the Priceline Maps feature makes it a far easier to conduct research.
The way she does it, yes, I think it is unique. Most sites only employ banning for spammers and people otherwise disruptive to the site. I don't count "not using an affiliate link" as disruptive.
Her insistence on using her affiliate link has also worked to the disadvantage of people using her site at times. The now defunct eBay promotion was an example -- any reference to it was deleted from her site even though it was a good deal for Priceline bidders.
i was referring to the banning of posters not based on set rules but on either complaints or personal nature or just not liking the opinions. Its practised even "well lets just say a place some people here don't like me to mention."
staying true to the title of this thread....if your IP is blocked, what does it matter?
While BFT may have more individual states and metro areas, I don't have time to go through the forums line by line to find my information. BB has an easier search function that results in a consistant format of winning bids. This combined with the calendar of wins and the Priceline Maps feature makes it a far easier to conduct research.
The other point is that the amount of relevant information on the site is most critical. No matter how you search, if there are no posts, then you can't learn anything. Priceline would be smart to simply post all winning bids on its own site and not just teasers.
Priceline would be smart to simply post all winning bids on its own site and not just teasers.
No, Priceline would not be smart to do that. It would be good for users, but not for Priceline. Priceline makes money when people guess high (i.e., submit a bid without knowledge of what the hotel will accept, which is well over the actual amount the hotel would have accepted). When people guess low, Priceline and the hotel can reject the bid.
More information would reduce the number of times that people guess high. Thereby reducing profits for hotels and Priceline.
Admittedly, it would be good for users, but I am sure it is not part of their business model.
Location: Naples, Florida .... Clarification: USAFAN was chosen before George W. Bush became 43rd President of the United States
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Djlawman
....More information would reduce the number of times that people guess high. Thereby reducing profits for hotels and Priceline....
Is this true? "reducing profits for Priceline..." I think they get a fee no matter how low/high the prices is .. however, I am not sure.
Anyway, hotels wouldn't like this .. I guess!?
BTW, B1's hometown Toronto is perfect for booking a 4* hotel in the center .. you have nine free bids, so you can start very low
