Log onto Priceline. Click "First Time Users" and follow the prompts to set up your Priceline account. Enter your name, address, contact phone, email address and password, and click "Submit."
Click your search options, which include flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and vacations. Provide dates, and hit "Submit." Read through the options, and click the one suited to your needs.
Look at the listed price for the flights on the airline's website, or through alternate travel sites. Start your bid at between 40 percent and 50 percent below the list price. Determine an average price by checking several airlines with similar flight itineraries and dates. Bid on "off-dates" to stack the odds of getting a very cheap price. If you have flexibility in schedule, bid on flights that originate Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which are typically cheaper than weekend flights. Use the same methodology to check prices for hotel rooms. Hotel rooms are typically cheaper mid-week
Enter your bid amount. Confirm the bid amount, and hit "Submit." Wait for an email acceptance or rejection, or, in some cases see an instant rejection or approval. For most flight bids, you must submit your credit card information along with the bid. If it is accepted, the card is charged and the flight booked at the negotiated price. Hotels, cruises and rental cars have options for either form of bidding.
Make another bid in a higher amount after any rejection. Wait for another rejection or acceptance, remembering again that if the bid is accepted on airfare bids, your card is charged automatically and the flight booked.
Submit credit or debit card payment information upon acceptance, if necessary, to lock in the price and purchase the option.
