Use Fellow Cheapskates' Victories to Nail Down Priceline and Hotwire Auctions

Priceline and Hotwire let you bid on flights and hotel rooms, but you're quickly shut out if you throw a really low-ball price—or you end up in decidedly less fancy digs. Use the wisdom of the travel bidding crowds to fine-tune your travel bidding.

The CyberNet News blog recommends two forums, and, for getting the inside scoop on pay-what-you-want travel. They're forums, sure, but they're highly organized, and usually divided into major cities. So if you're traveling to, say, San Francisco and need a 3-ish star hotel near the main airport, you can find a list of every hotel bid out at every star level, as well as posts from successful bidders listing what they paid for their room—and their flight, and sometimes their rental car.

Have you had some big price wins on Priceline, Hotwire, or other bidding sites? How do you know what to offer?