But... if the 4-star isn't available at your price limit, start all over at 3.5 stars (and remember

Today's Best Deals and Cheats: 1. AirBnB offers one night free until January 17 for travel through March 31 (value up to $300) 2. 10%-30% off HomeAway rentals across the country, like here in Wisconsin; here and here in Seattle; here , here , and here in Colorado; and here and here in Maui. 3. Enter in your three digit credit card code incorrectly to know Priceline's winning los angeles daily news bid without being charged. 4. Check out betterbidding and their calendar of wins to see what other Priceline and Hotwire winners paid for their hotels.
The system in a nutshell: Hotels have extra rooms. They want to sell them, but they don't want customers los angeles daily news willing to pay more to see their rock-bottom rates. So Priceline hides the hotels' names. You bid on a star-rating and an area. If you win, you get the room. You can't change your mind because you pay as soon as you win.
Cons: (1) complicated, (2) can't cancel, (3) can't know exact location, (4) sometimes you get a hotel that is older and really should be a half star-level lower or it has poor ratings (hence: they can't sell the room easily).
2. But wait! Hotwire and Priceline's Express Deals might be the way to go (when you buy this way, you know the price and approximate location but not the hotel and you can't cancel). Check these prices out before bidding (add $12-$14/night for taxes and fees):
Because it offers los angeles daily news the best prices here, I'll use Hotwire to set my bidding los angeles daily news limits: $50 for a 3 star, $60 for a 3.5 star, and $65 for a 4 star. These are after taxes. Really, in pre-tax bids, I'm talking $38 for a 3-star, $47 for a 3.5 star, and $52 for 4-stars.
...But you don't need to know any of that. Go to Priceline. Click on the hotel tab. Click on "Name Your Own Price." Enter your information. Start with your IDEAL star-level not your lowest. And your ONE favorite area. Don't click multiple areas to begin with.
Maybe we're feeling nervous, so we check to see what hotel might be lurking on BetterBidding's calendar of wins , a site where other Priceline users list their wins to help us make a better educated guess:
Someone else won a 4-star in River North; looks like we're bidding on the Allerton Hotel . (We won't go into how that poor sucker overpaid because he bought way too far in advance...) Lets read about his experience by clicking on the link:
A quick check of TripAdvisor confirms this . So, to avoid getting this deal (though it is still a really good one), we will actively not bid on "North Michigan Ave - River North" because if we do, we will get this less-than-ideal hotel. Go big or go home . Checking back to our "Express Deals" los angeles daily news though, there was a 4-star for Millenium los angeles daily news Park that was a guest favorite and had a rating of 9.0. We want to get that.
Key Idea Alert! You can only bid once a day on any particular combination of star-rating and location. That way, Priceline hopes you'll put down your top bid first so you don't have to wait 24-hours to bid again. However, by including areas that don't have your designated star-rating, you can get free bids. Notice how I have selected five areas and the 4-star button is shaded, i.e. not available. These areas, I can add one by one as I slowly increase my bid and still I am only bidding on a 4-star in Millenium Park.
What number should I start at? I have lots of chances, so I want my first bid to be rejected. If I'm going to put in all of this effort, I like to get the best deal possible. So I start at that sweet spot where the red warning changes from "Based on recent data, your offer has almost no chance of being accepted" to "Based on recent data, your offer has only a small chance of being accepted."
But... if the 4-star isn't available at your price limit, start all over at 3.5 stars (and remember to bring your price back down to the lowest amount possible). Don't forget your 3.5 star price limit.
You can always just bid on the Hotel Allerton with its small rooms at the super low price you know is waiting for you (my guess? $48 or $60 after taxes) los angeles daily news or you can go back and book through Hotwire, too.
(And for the real cheats: los angeles daily news I don't recommend this, but if you enter your three digit credit card code wrong, you will be asked to re-enter it only if your bid is accepted. Then, you can cancel or continue. That's one way to know the price without actually buying the hotel room. This could change though, so I don't use the tactic.)
9. Don't use Priceline when you might need to cancel, need to know your location specifically, don't have the time to bid, or would be mad if you got a hotel that has lower ratings for its star category.