Mrs. Amanuensis and I had purchased airline tickets, hotel reservations and car rental through Priceline and Hotwire for a trip to Milwaukee for last May. Due to a medical emergency, we were not able to go. Even though, according to the terms and conditions listed on their websites, Hotwire and Priceline were not required to refund anything, they refunded all of our purchases, minus small administrative fees. All they required was a note from the doctor, which he was happy to provide. Thank you Hotwire and Priceline!

Also, these companies really took care of us back when we had to make multiple changes to existing reservations in the middle of a prior trip due to September 11th. Thus I have no "reservations" in recommending Priceline and Hotwire to anyone whose plans are flexible enough for bidding to make sense.

Using these sites is easy. What I do is first thoroughly examine the regular travel booking websites to see what the best prices are. I then go to Hotwire to see if they are offering better prices. Not always, but usually they do. I then decide if the price is enough less expensive to give up points and the right to cancel for any reason. If I decide to proceed, I then make a bid on Priceline for the same thing for a few dollars less than what Hotwire wanted. (Priceline charges fees to succesful bidders, so I have to make my bid with them low enough that even with the fees it is still lower than the Hotwire offer.) Since Priceline responds within the time allowed by Hotwire for a decision, if Priceline rejects my bid, I still have time to finalize the purchase with Hotwire. Thus, I have never seen the value in the Bidding for Travel site, since I use Hotwire as a defacto bidding guide for Priceline. The only time I do consult Bidding for Travel is when I am going to a place that is small enough that Hotwire doesn't have any inventory. (Priceline usually has hotel inventory in more places than Hotwire.) Maybe I thus occasionally overbid, but I would rather spend the time thoroughly reviewing the regular booking sites, in order to make sure that Hotwire is competively priced. The other day, I was looking at Honolulu. Hotwire's best offer was $125 per night. I found a Doubletree offering rooms at $75 per night for the same dates, with points.


[This message has been edited by amanuensis (edited 07-10-2002).]