Travel

Name how much you are willing to pay and someone will do the work of finding out what you can get for the price you want. No more haggling, no driving from one place to another, no matching different competitors’ prices, no manual comparison shopping, and no need for a negotiation. It sounds too good to be true, but that’s exactly how Priceline works. The process is completely free of marketing gimmicks, but if you still can’t believe it read on and learn how to use Priceline.

Priceline started a new type of e-commerce known as the demand collection system. This system is a patented online buying service that allows you to name the price you are willing to pay for certain services. The system then searches for a seller with whom the site has a separate agreement that is willing to accept your requested terms and price.

Currently, Priceline offers a high rate of success, you are not really guaranteed that your desired price will match any provider with whom Priceline has an agreement. However, if Priceline cannot find any provider to meet your desired price, you will not lose anything. The only trick here is to be a serious buyer and ready to back up your request with a credit card. While the services provided by Priceline are free, you need a credit card to pay for the goods or service purchases. Moreover, your credit card is charged only if Priceline finds the goods or services at your requested price.

Let’s say you want to fly round-trip from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and want to pay only $700 for the airfare. You can make a Priceline request for your airline ticket by following the steps below:

1. Go to Priceline s homepage and click the Flight Only button, which will change the search option box. Here you will enter the city or airport of your departure and arrival, departing and returning dates, the number of tickets you plan to buy, and the seating class you wish to use.

2. After providing the necessary information, click the green Search Now button at the bottom of the search options box.

3. Completing the Priceline form is practically foolproof. However, if there are some things that you don’t understand or that aren’t clear to you, you can always click the Help tab on the upper right portion of the page.

4. After completing all the required boxes, indicate your ticket delivery method. You may choose to have the tickets delivered via the U.S. Postal Service or Federal Express; however, there’s an additional charge for this. E-ticket is your best option, as it doesn’t carry an additional fee. You also do not have to worry about forgetting or losing your ticket with this method because the ticket information is saved in the airline’s computer system as well, so you just have to show the airline a valid ID when you check in at your departure airport.

5. Priceline will then ask you for your credit card information. Complete the payment form and submit it. You don’t have to worry about entering your card information because Priceline uses secure servers. After entering all your credit card information, you’ll be directed to the confirmation screen. Print the confirmation and keep it. You will then be notified of your request s results by e-mail.

1. Once you have arranged your flight itinerary and know when you are scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong, you can find and book your hotel. Again, go to Priceline’s site but click on Hotels instead of Flights, which displays the hotel reservation form.

2. On this form you will need to indicate if you want to search for hotels near a city or airport, a landmark, or a U.S. address. You also have to enter the city or airport, a landmark, or a U.S. address depending on your choice on the Search for hotels near dropdown box. Additionally, you will need to enter your desired check-in and check-out dates as well as the number of rooms you want to book. After providing all the necessary information, click the Search Hotels Now box.

3. You will be presented with a list of hotels from which to choose. The more hotels you choose, the better your chances of finding a hotel within your price range.

4. After choosing a hotel from the list, you will be asked to choose a room type and then enter your reservation name.

5. A summary of charges will then be presented to you. After verifying that all the information is correct, you need to enter your billing address and your credit card details.

6. After entering all the necessary information, click the Buy my hotel now button. Now you’re done!

How to Use Priceline on Airfare and Hotel Reservations.

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