Originally Posted by lazycash

Hotwire is ok, but you'll find better pricing at Priceline if you know how to bid. Easiest way to use priceline is go to one of the forums that users post their winning bids by destination. I use www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com If you're new to priceline then you need to read the tutorials on those sites to learn how to effectively rebid without compromising what area you want to stay in. Scan the forums for the area you are looking to stay at and then look at recent winning bids and what hotel they got. I recommend only staying in 4 star or resort level hotels. By reading the forums you'll get an idea of what hotels within each category in a particular region that Priceline is currently using.

Right now with the poor economy you can get some incredible deals. I've used Priceline at least 30 times and always stay at resorts for a fraction of their normal rates. In the last six months I've stayed at the Marriott in Maui/Wailea for $100/night and the Hapuna Beach Prince resort on the big island of Hawaii for $75/night.

To answer BP's original question, the best time to bid is usually within a couple weeks of your stay. You can try a couple months out, but you often won't get your low bids accepted. I also recommend using Priceline for rental cars, I just got a full size in Vegas for $9/day.