Priceline.com is one of the best known travel websites on the planet. What you might not know is that there are ways to limit the "unknowns" that come with placing bids on Priceline.

One of the hardest things to get used to with priceline is that it doesn't reveal the name of the hotel in which you will be staying until your bid has been accepted. Priceline hotel rooms work on a star basis, where you bid a specific amount for a certain star level. There are no refunds, so once you make your purchase, you are stuck with it.

If you don't particularly care which hotel you will be staying at, and would like to save some serious money, then Priceline may be for you.

I've had a great deal of success using Priceline for hotel purchases. In fact, I've never paid more than $35.00 for a room near the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. I've stayed numerous times at Amerisuites, Courtyard by Marriott, Candlewood Suites and Residence Inn, all for $30.00 to $35.00 per night! The secret to my success is a travel forum called BiddingForTravel.com, the first place I check before making a bid for a hotel room through Priceline.

When you first enter the BiddingForTravel site, just scroll down to the state or area where you'd like to place a bid for a room. In my case, I selected Minnesota. Once the Minnesota page comes up, I click on the top item on the message board that says "Minnesota Hotels List". This is a comprehensive listing of all the hotels that people have posted on BiddingForTravel's message board. Here's what I find for the Mall of America section:

Minneapolis Airport (MSP)/Mall of America

3 Star
Doubletree at the Mall
Hilton Airport
Marriott

2.5 Star
Courtyard by Marriott Minnesota Airport
Courtyard by Marriott Mall of America
Amerisuites LINK TO HOTEL REVIEW
Residence Inn

2 Star
Candlewood Suites

This pretty much tells me that if I place a bid for a 2 star hotel, I will likely get the Candlewood Suites. There are no 4 star hotels in the area I selected, although there are 4 star hotels in other sections of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St Paul. The more stars, the more features a hotel has.

NOW - back to the message board postings! Just hit the back button to get back to the message board, and you will find numerous postings from people telling what hotel they got and for what price. Your final bids should be relatively close to the numbers posted on the board. Start out a little lower if you'd like, but not too low, as Priceline will make you change something about your request for the next bid.