Nothing like figuring travel logistics over email to drive connected people to save a few bucks.
My friends Lydia and Travis are getting married this weekend. About a month ago, ten of us who went to college with Lydia tried to figure out group hotel rooms through a series of emails over the course of about a week.
I had first seen my friend Bailey use Priceline to get us a cheap rental car in Vegas. I was impressed with her internet savyness and her ability to save us about 25% on the rental. When Bailey suggested we use the site for the hotel room, a few of us jumped on it.
Four of us formed a Priceline bidding team, each taking a turn to bid on a two star hotel in Ellsworth Maine (hint: there’s one on Priceline so we knew it was the hotel the others were staying at). If you bid on something and Priceline doesn’t accept it, you are locked out of bidding for a certain amount of time so having another person or two can be critical.
“Ok, my bid of $40 wasn’t accepted… go for it, Nicole!” I’d hear over email. Then I’d go on Priceline and bid $45. Not accepted, emailed the next person… It was kind of a fun exchange and I don’t know if I can speak for the others in our bidding circle but for me, it felt like we were all trying to beat the system together. Like robbing a bank… but legal, and a lot less work.
In the end, our bid of $80 was accepted for a room that normally costs $110. Keep in mind that Maine has a 7% lodging tax as well so the savings were even more than that. Plus we all got to learn how to use Priceline a little better.
My friend Sarah shared a forum where people post successful bids where they have named their own price, which makes it easier to tell what you can get away with, biddingwise if you don’t have a team going. I’m not a big user of message boards and forums myself but the potential of saving at least a hundred dollars makes the thought of combing through it a little more worth it. Also @BidForLess on Twitter seems to have some pretty good information as well if you are interested in playing the Priceline game.
So yay for saving a few bucks with the power of the internet!
Have you used Priceline before and if so, did it work for you?