Priceline for Canadians - now easier

[dufFWant]

Hey folks,

I've been using Priceline for a while now to book hotels... It used to accept only Canadian American Express cards.

Today I tried to book a hotel in Toronto with a CIBC visa and it worked!

Make sure that you select CA in the State field and state zip code as 99999.

Here's the link:
Priceline.com homepage

To give you an indication of potential savings, I booked Crowne Plaza Don Valley for USD $40 (plus less than $5 in taxes in fees) per night... That is compared to the lowest price on any other website of approximately CDN $110 plus 15% tax. Remember, Priceline customers are not charged GST...

Cheers,

Duff

[Absolute]

Wow, how did you get the price so low?

I just tried and got $120+ for it!

[dufFWant]

Wow, how did you get the price so low?

I just tried and got $120+ for it!

Did you place a bid for $120 in the Don Valley zone or browse their hotel selection without bidding? That is way too much. Even hotwire has this hotel for $48 US.

You can get great info on priceline strategies and previous bids at biddingfortravel and at betterbidding (which is a much friendlier forum, as the moderator at biddingfortravel seems to be to strict and bordering on impudent). Don't forget to use cash back sites, like fatwallet (which gives you 2% back on Priceline purchases).

Duff

[Audiogenic]

This overide has been available for quite some time now but it's worth posting for all again.

[Peter Pan]

Another good nugget of information is that Priceline accepts multiple bids from different accounts, so long as you use different credit cards and clear your cookies!

For example, I have 3 Amex cards (for various members of my family) under my name, which allows me to make three times the maximum number of re-bids.

[700mb80min]

is there a similar site where you dont have to enter a CC to simply get a quote ?

[gilboman]

is there a similar site where you dont have to enter a CC to simply get a quote ?

the whole point of priceline is to bid on travel. kinda like an auction, if you dont bid you dont get a chance to get it.

hotwire you can browse the rates but you still wont be told name or exact address of hotel, but hotwire is more $$$ than priceline

[spender]

Okay, so I just bid on a 4-star downtown Toronto, and got the Westin Harbour Castle for $75 USD per night, which I think is a nice deal considering that the lowest non-corporate rate for that period is $389 CAD per night. So, I am paying 1/4 of the price.

BUT... I am of course from Calgary, coming in on June 16th. Has anyone here on the board actually used priceline.com successfully to get a hotel in Canada? Please let me know, I just don't want to get there and have them reject my reservation, and then be hung out to dry at some other hotel...

[gilboman]

priceline is good, dont worry.

[Peter Pan]

You can always phone the Westin Harbour Castle to confirm your reservation.

[HighFlyer]

Has anyone here on the board actually used priceline.com successfully to get a hotel in Canada? Please let me know, I just don't want to get there and have them reject my reservation, and then be hung out to dry at some other hotel...

I've used it successfully at Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal.

[Absolute]

How do you input your credit card address? It asks for the billing state and Zip Code, will it still verify if you use the 99999 and California trick?

[Audiogenic]

How do you input your credit card address? It asks for the billing state and Zip Code, will it still verify if you use the 99999 and California trick?

Enter your actual credit card address as there are no issues bypassing that.

[cko64]

Okay, so I just bid on a 4-star downtown Toronto, and got the Westin Harbour Castle for $75 USD per night, which I think is a nice deal considering that the lowest non-corporate rate for that period is $389 CAD per night. So, I am paying 1/4 of the price.

BUT... I am of course from Calgary, coming in on June 16th. Has anyone here on the board actually used priceline.com successfully to get a hotel in Canada? Please let me know, I just don't want to get there and have them reject my reservation, and then be hung out to dry at some other hotel...

$75 USD for Westin Harbour Castle is very good. Is it before or after taxes and fees? If before taxes and fees, what is the final cost per night?

I got Sheraton D/T Toronto, May 28 for $500 HKD (I used priceline.com.hk since HKD is peg to USD). After all the taxes, priceline fees, exchange rate, Visa spreads etc..my final costs on my Visa is $98 CAD per night.

[spender]

$75 USD for Westin Harbour Castle is very good. Is it before or after taxes and fees? If before taxes and fees, what is the final cost per night?

I got Sheraton D/T Toronto, May 28 for $500 HKD (I used priceline.com.hk since HKD is peg to USD). After all the taxes, priceline fees, exchange rate, Visa spreads etc..my final costs on my Visa is $98 CAD per night.

Taxes and fees were another $29.83 USD (total for all 3 nights).