Priceline.com (http://www.priceline.com) is the best known intermediary willing to do your haggling for you. Before contacting Priceline, however, map out your route. This service requires that you specify each city or area where you're planning to stay. Then you cite the dates you will arrive and depart. The third step is to specify the minimum quality of the motel you desire. Fourth, select the maximum price you are willing to pay. Simple? Not really.
The first step in selecting stop points involves determining how far you can comfortably travel each day. If you prefer to limit yourself to 400 miles, you should choose stopping points between 350 and 400 miles apart. Otherwise, you will miss out on the fun of a leisurely junket.
There times that even veteran travelers goof. As an example, on our trip from Salt Lake City to Martinez, California I estimated that the distance between Salt Lake City and Reno was less than 400 miles. It's actually 526 miles. As a consequence, we paid for my miscalculation by driving until our eyes counter rotated. When we arrived, we were too tired to take in the sights. Younger travelers, however, might have no problem traveling 600 miles per day. Those with stamina have more flexibility in selecting their stop points.
Fixing the dates that you plan to arrive and depart can also cause problems. Once your bid is accepted, you have paid for the room and Priceline.com is not about to make refunds.
Make your errors on the safe side. You can usually make a second bid for additional days if the first bid doesn't take.
We booked a single night in a twelve-star Santa Rosa motel for approximately $58 per night counting surcharges and taxes. When our plans changed, the motel was willing to let us stay longer as long as we paid their standard rate of approximately $150 per night. We moved to another motel.
Once you know where you want to stay, decide on the price you are willing to pay. We estimated the "reasonable price" by reviewing the American Automobile Association (AAA) motel guide. If we wanted a three-star motel, we used the AAA book to determine the going rate for three-star motels. Then, we offered approximately half of that amount. The more expensive the motel's published rates, the bigger the discount we were able to get. When we bid too low, however, our bid was rejected. Then, we had to adjust some criteria, like quality or location, when submitting a follow-up bid. We couldn't bid twice without changing at least one variable other than price.
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