itsme

Can someone tell me how PL's lock-out works? I thought after I bid for a car rental, my wife could come right behind me and bid using a different credit card. It wouldn't allow it, though, saying we had to wait 24 hours before bidding again on same type car. So what do they go by - the computer IP, so if the second effort was made from a different computer, it would go through, e.g., move from the laptop to an i-Pad. Or do they cue on something else? (I'm not very knowledgeable about these things, so don't know what identifies the computer versus the network being used for internet connectiveness.)

cordelli

This thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...er-re-bid.html

offers some hints, but it was a few years ago and they are forever trying to improve things

Post 17

They do not use IP address.

They DO use more than cookies in Internet Explorer, which sucks, but using firefox closing hte browser, then clearing cookies, and going back with a different CC# and email address works.

Also note that just because you use a second computer, if you are a place with a router and they are both using the same router, those computers will all show the same IP address. If you are using DSL it's possible you MAY get a new IP address if you restart the router, but if you have a static IP address you will have to go to another location to get a new IP address where you can connect.

Sheryl

Please follow Priceline's rules. If they wanted you to bid again right away, they would allow it. Is your rental for tomorrow?

itsme

Thanks, especially for the last part. Can you help me any further in understanding this?

I do have Verizon DSL service and use a router for a wi-fi network at home. Is it at this level that my IP address is determined, so if I connected to the internet using my plug-in air card or a Mi-Fi to get connected, or sat down in a Starbucks to use their wi-fi, my bid would be seen as coming from another IP address? And when PL says "you" can't re-bid within the space of 24 hours, they don't mean "you," they mean anyone using your computer? Or is it the computer plus other data, e.g., name of the person making the purchase, their credit card info, etc?

And the internet browser used might come into play? It's easier to see someone as a return visitor when they use one browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) rather than another (e.g., Firefox)? Wipe-out cookies at the end of your session to make it easier to go back within 24 hours? (And there's more to avoid being tracked by a website than just deleting cookies?)

When my wife returns home with the i-Pad which connects via AT&T service, maybe we will see if that by itself and/or our different names gives a second bite of the apple within 24 hours or not. Not hugely important to begin with, and even less so because still have more than a week to line up the rental, but I would like to understand these things (IP addresses and the like) better than I do.

cordelli

Your DSL router would get one IP address that all your computers would use. If you go to whatismyip.com on different computers in the house, they would appear to all have the same IP address.

What the router does is get one IP address from Verizon and "Routes" traffic to each computer. Each computer has a unique IP address so the router knows where to send stuff to, but to the outside world, your home looks to have one address.

An aircard or MiFi gets a new IP address every time it's connected. It may get the same IP address it had the last time it was connected, it may get a new one, it's pure luck.

The browser may come into play based on cookies and the rest. I don't know exactly how they determine it, but do know like many travel sites, sometimes it's easy to clear the stuff, sometimes not so much.

MarcJ55

You could just wait until the 24 hours are over.

itsme

Thank you for that very helpful response. It is of interest to me apart from any PL question.

sylvia hennesy

We have 3 computers that we use, and 3 different accounts/passwords; helps to figure out what will be accepted by PL, and bid through the process again without waiting.
(I personally think the 24 hour thing is ridiculous; if you want my business, and there's a price out there that will get it, and I'm willing to pay it...why be coy?)

Sheryl

Not coy at all. It's to protect the integrity of the system. Priceline not only has the bidders to be concerned about, but the hotel suppliers too. You've already told us your allegiance to Hotwire where you agree to their profit before you purchase.

B1

The rule is necessary for the process to be logical for Priceline. They want you to make a bid you consider reasonable and they consider acceptable. If there were no restrictions about rebidding, anyone would simply start low and keep raising by $1 until it was accepted - every time. Now, under the rules, you can use free rebids to do some of that or start well in advance and rebid every 24 hours at the higher price. But most people are not interested in seeing how low they can go - just that they get what they consider a good deal and both sides win. In your revised version of Priceline, they would allow a lot of bids with no restrictions. But then they would have to simply stick in a margin above their cost that would equal what they would have received from average accepted bids - the best deals couldn't be as good as they are now. The reason you can get away with the low bid that gets accepted is because others for whatever reason bid higher than the minimum and everyone keeps coming back for more. Presenting ways to go outside the rules by hiding your identity or deliberately invalidating a bid (not that anyone would do such a thing) might amount to disclosing how to invalidate the contract you enter into by bidding in the first place. While there is some satisfaction in getting the lowest bid of anyone accepted fortunately there is no Olympic sport yet for low bidding on Priceline, so no one needs to know.

Sheryl

Very good response, B1

Dr_wanderlust

I don't have a problem with PL having its 24 lock-out rule as it seem pretty logical that it needs to try to get people to bid higher rather than lower.

What I do find silly are people who think that if one person bids and fails that if his or her spouse then bids that this is some kind of violation of PL rules. I mean, if PL did not want this to happen it would allow only one log-in per household in its terms.

Sheryl

Ridiculous. If they had that in their rules, the spouse would just bid from work or somewhere else. There is clearly a reason why these things are not listed in their rules. They don't want to put new ideas in people's heads. This is a business people. You are all putting yourselves above business sense. And since I know you are referring to me, I've never told anyone what they can't do on BiddingForTravel.com. I've simply stated what can't be posted on BiddingForTravel.com. Similar to your mother telling you "just don't tell me about it."

sylvia hennesy

I use HW and PL, don't have "allegiance" to either (I research extensively before I buy anything, and have used many other sites). If I can identify with certainty a property offered by both HW and PL, I'll try to bid on PL for less than the HW price, of course. But there have been great deals offered by HW that I've jumped on (like the supersavings).

lougord99

I don't know what criteria PL uses to determine you had previously bid, but if I were them, I would use your address. Even if you use a different credit card and different name, you must put your correct address or the credit card info will not go through.