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Beach Breaks - The Quick Tan Top Up
When most British holidaymakers think of a weekend break abroad, they tend to think of a city break. Indeed, city breaks have rapidly become one of the most popular short holiday choices for the British public. Cities such as Amsterdam, Paris and...
Benidorm And Alicante Are Like Child's Play
Everything seems to be ideal when planning your holidays in Benidorm and the its surrounding towns. The geographical location between two mountain ranges gives it its fantastic climate; over 356 days of sunshine and comfortable temperatures in...
Catered ski holidays
You may have been to an all-inclusive beach holiday in the Caribbean or Mexico. Or perhaps one of the upscale cruises on smaller luxurious ships where everything including the French champagne is part of your cruise fare. But have you ever had an...
Luxury hotel rooms at lowest prices for Top Holiday Destinations
Whether you like to spend your holidays in the snow, sand or seaside, you can find the best hotel deals in the most popular destinations of the world. Below are some of the most popular holiday destinations with links to book luxury hotel rooms at...
Top Holiday Travel Destinations
Despite the high cost of fuel and other travel expenses, an
estimated 63.5 million Americans are planning to travel at least
50 miles or more from home this Christmas and New Year. Hotel
rates are up nearly 15% at some popular destinations,...
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Why Use Priceline.com?
Why Use Priceline.com?
An Interview with Don Nadeau
Of BidonTravel.com
Rick Archer sat down with Don Nadeau, the president of BidonTravel.com, which provides Priceline bidding advice.
RA: Why would anyone want to use Priceline?
DN: You'll save a lot of money.
RA: Yes, but who wants to get up in time for a 6:00 a.m. flight? You can't pick your departure times or airline or anything like that.
DN: Well, just use Priceline for air tickets when you're going to Australia or traveling at the last minute. You'll save hundreds of dollars. When you can plan your U.S. travel well in advance, Priceline may not be your best bet.
But always bid on Priceline hotels. That's easy and you don't have to get up at 4:00 a.m.
RA: Sure, but I don't want to stay in some crummy place.
DN: No, no, no. Bid for three or four-star hotels. You pick the quality.
You'll end up at a Hyatt, Hilton, Holiday Inn Crown Plaza, Sheraton, Marriott, or Doubletree-someplace like these.
And, over a few days, you'll save hundreds of dollars.
In fact, I predict you'll save on average at least $100 a night over the prices you get on Expedia, Hotels.com, or similar discount hotel sites. Priceline hotel savings average some 40 percent over these sites.
RA: What about location?
DN: You pick that, too.
In the Orlando area, you have a choice of 11 neighborhoods, in or near San Jose, eight.
RA: So you can't pick a specific hotel, just a general neighborhood?
DN: That's right.
That's why hotels use Priceline to sell excess inventory at prices they don't want their regular customers to find out about.
RA: So would it be correct to assume that if there's a big event going on in the area and hotels are heavily booked, rooms won't be available through Priceline?
DN: Actually not.
Groups can book large blocks of rooms at hotels, then find out not as many are traveling, and release some rooms back to hotels. I once got a Priceline discount at the headquarters hotel of a huge medical convention at the last minute.
Priceline tells you if rooms are available before you bid.
RA: How do I know what to bid?
I have an entire site devoted to that!
Go to the Priceline Hotels section of BidOnTravel.com.
RA: Just give me three main tips.
DN: Okay. First, bid on three or four-star hotels. That's where the real savings are.
Second, look up the best prices for the star quality and neighborhood you want on a site like Hotels.com. Knowledge is power, and that way you won't overbid.
Third, find out what Hotwire.com charges.
Hotwire is Priceline's main competitor in the 'you don't find out the name of your hotel until you pay category,' and it's prices are usually a bit higher than Priceline's.
Therefore, bid 10 - 20 percent below Hotwire's price.
See BidonTravel.com, though, if you want to refine this process to maximize your savings.
RA: What if I still overpay?
DN: Priceline has a best price guarantee.
If you book a room on Priceline, and then find a lower price on another website for the same type of room at the same hotel or resort on the same dates, Priceline will refund you the difference. There's some small print, such as "this rate has to be available to the general public and you have to make your claim within 24 hours of booking," but you really can't lose.
RA: There must be some drawbacks to using Priceline for hotels.
DN: There are.
Most importantly, you'll get no refund if you cancel. You won't be able to change dates.
Also, you'll usually end up with a standard room. At some hotels, these may not be large enough for more than two people.
RA: What about smoking or nonsmoking?
DN: This is never absolutely guaranteed regardless of where you book.
When using Priceline or other online sites, I usually call the hotel directly to make sure it has me on its nonsmoking list. I also try not to show up too late, when the hotel may have run out of certain types of rooms.
RA: Thanks. I'll try bidding next time after reading the tips on your site.
About the Author
An extensive world traveler, Don Nadeau, president of BidonTravel.com, taught world geography for many years in both Canada and the United States, and developed the first high school level Urban Studies program in the U.S.
Don loves helping people travel "on the cheap," and frequently uses the advice found in BidonTravel to make his own trips more affordable.
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| Holidays on the Net - Welcome |
| Includes music, graphics, historical information, suggested activities, kids pages, links, and other features for most holidays. |
| www.holidays.net |
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| Kids Domain - Holidays |
| HOLIDAY FUN with crafts, recipes, printables, games and activity suggestions for your family to enjoy. |
| www.kidsdomain.com |
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| Earth Calendar |
| Every day is a celebration! The Earth Calendar is an online calendar of holidays and observances around the world. |
| www.earthcalendar.net |
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| Federal Holidays Calendars from 1997 to 2010 |
| Offers a list of federally-recognized holidays celebrated in the United States. |
| www.opm.gov |
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| TELETEXT HOLIDAYS : Cheap Flights, Last Minute Deals, Ski Holidays ... |
| Search for package holidays from over 250 tour operators, find last minute charter flights, ski holidays, snow reports, cruises, destination guides and ... |
| www.teletextholidays.co.uk |
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| Thomson.co.uk - Great Value Holidays from the UK's no.1 Tour Operator |
| Thomson Holidays Online offer cheap package holidays, flights, sun holidays, faraway holidays to exotic destinations, late deals, city breaks, hotel booking ... |
| www.thomson.co.uk |
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| Holiday - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| 4.1 Holidays traditionally in the winter holiday season ... Public holidays can be either religious, in which case they reflect the dominant religion in a ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Bargain holidays and cheap flights from Bargainholidays.com |
| Choose from 2 million+ late availability cheap flights and last minute bargain holiday packages departing from the UK. Order online from an ABTA bonded and ... |
| www.bargainholidays.com |
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| First Choice - Book your dream holiday online - Great value ... |
| Find great value package holidays online with First Choice. Book last-minute holidays, all inclusive holidays, family holidays and villa holidays. |
| www.firstchoice.co.uk |
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| Holidays Around the World for K-12 |
| Holiday Internet links for US and international holidays, religious holidays, and a holiday calendar for K-12. |
| falcon.jmu.edu |
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| Holidays - cheap holidays, bargain holidays and bank holiday deals ... |
| Book your cheap holidays and bargain bank holidays at lastminute.com. |
| www.lastminute.com |
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| Cheap holidays and package holiday discounts - Holiday.co.uk |
| Cheap Holidays and package deals from all the major UK tour operators including Airtours, Argo, Avro, Balkan, Club 18-30, Cosmos, Crystal, First Choice, ... |
| www.holiday.co.uk |
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| Virgin Holidays |
| Tour operator offering holidays to mainland USA, the Caribbean, the Far East, South Africa and Mauritius as well as a ski programme in California and New ... |
| www.virginholidays.co.uk |
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| Saga Holidays, Travel Insurance, Short Breaks, Vacations, cruises |
| Specialists in providing travel services to people over 50. Details of river and sea cruises, resort holidays, tours, short breaks, special interest and ... |
| holidays.saga.co.uk |
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| Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Holiday Information |
| A categorized, annotated list of over 2500 sites to help educators, teachers, and parents enhance instruction and support the curriculum. |
| school.discovery.com |
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| Queensland Holidays - Queensland Holidays |
| Queensland Tourism & Travel Advice - Find accommodation, events & activities as well as special packages & deals - Queensland Holidays. |
| www.queenslandholidays.com.au |
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| BBC - Holiday |
| Information on worldwide destinations as covered in the series, plus advice and travel information, presenters, message boards and postcards. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
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| COSMOS - Package Holidays, All Inclusive Holidays, Self Catering ... |
| Looking for cheap holidays online? COSMOS offer great value deals on package holidays, all inclusive holidays self catering holidays, villa holidays ... |
| www.cosmos.co.uk |
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| Late Holiday Deals and Discount Holidays at DirectHolidays.co.uk |
| Book late holiday deals online at Direct Holidays - discount breaks to destinations around the world. |
| www.directholidays.co.uk |
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| Contiki Holidays - Holiday packages for 18 to 35 Year Olds |
| Contiki Holidays offers holiday packages and budget travel tours for 18 - 35 year olds including destinations to Europe and the UK, Asia, Latin America, ... |
| www.contiki.com |
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