<p>Icedragon-
How’d you get that great microwave deal?!?!?!!</p>
<p>Vderon- You are right about that moderator on bidding for travel. Like NEM, I have never posted on either of the bidding travel sites-- just read threads. I have posted on the Tripadvisor forums, though, and gotten a ton of useful info!</p>
<p>[Woot</a> : One Day, One Deal (SM)](<a href=“http://www.woot.com/]Woot”>http://www.woot.com/) 2 sleeping bags for $20 plus $5 shipping. I sent them off to son who is living in his college town.</p>
<p>Got my first Woot! purchase in the mail yesterday - “two for tuesday” is great!!!</p>
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<p>Yes, she does seem cranky, but, in her defense, she is saying the same thing over and over again all day long. Over half of the posters do not bother to read the posting guidelines on the web site before asking for help. I feel that if you are using the info, you should also be post your winning bids and ignore any snarky remarks she gives you. We all still benefit. She’s always on my case because I don’t start all my bids at [Amazing-Bargains.com:</a> Coupons, Discounts, & Online Bargains!](<a href=“http://www.amazing-bargains.com%5DAmazing-Bargains.com:”>http://www.amazing-bargains.com).</p>
<p>Since I posted earlier in the thread about my first time “name your own price” great hotel deal, I have done it again, and got 6 nights at a Westin for $270…TOTAL!!! That is $45 per night and that includes taxes. The Westin website lists their prices starting at $209 per night. I almost feel a little guilty…not!</p>
<p>Now that I am hooked on this, has anybody tried this for car rentals, and if so how was your success?</p>
<p>I haven’t tried Priceline for rental cars, but several of us found Budget rental codes that gave us huge discounts. No one knows the source of the codes, but no questions were asked when we picked up our cars. Try BCD# U071101 or X797726.</p>
<p>I’ve had a few nastygrams from Sheryl at biddingfortravel too 
but the information is valuable. We’re heading to Colorado for State Games of America and got a hotel room for less than half of what any of the sites were showing. I was surprised to find that any of the hotels were giving priceline inventory since there were so many already sold out in the Colorado Springs area.</p>
<p>I have used Priceline for rental cars but only after exploring all options available in the retail world. I use mousesavers.com for coupon codes and hints. Mousesavers is for Disney savings but the advice works for anywhere. Not infrequently, by using the deals available, it turns out to be cheaper than Priceline. In the last few years I’ve been using the National Car Emerald Club ID I got through a mousesavers link. I like the Emerald Club because there is no extra charge for a second driver (spouse) which there is with Priceline. Sometimes that can make the difference. You rent a midsize car then can pick any car in the Emerald Aisle. No need to go to the counter. It’s great unless you need a specific car, such as an SUV or minivan, although those are usually available in the Aisle. We’ve had fun picking cars we would never get a chance to drive such as a PT Cruiser. Another trick we’ve used when arriving during the week and leaving on a Sunday or Monday - rent the car at the daily rate for a few days then turn it in for the “Deals to Go” weekend rate. last year we were flying into one airport and flying out of another. We had an SUV but when we got to the 2nd airport they only had cars. We had them just give us the SUV back.</p>
<p>All the rental companies have similar programs. Alamo and National are sisters, but I like National better. Saving the $$ involves being willing to spend a lot of time online figuring out the best deal. Not everyone wants to do that, but you can save quite a bit if you have the time and patience. It’s like a game for us (nerds!)</p>
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<p>LOL, if you want to drive one for sure, rent a “compact” from Dollar at SJC.</p>
<p>Renting a car at a downtown or suburban location (not at the airport) is usually much cheaper and could mean paying less in taxes, too.</p>
<p>The microwave came from an applance store, and it was with others but it wasn’t marked. Aparently (from what my mom tells me about it), she asked about it and thats how much it was. I think it was a missmark or something, but i’m not complaining.</p>
<p>I noticed a garage door repairman at my neighbor’s house and asked him to look at mine, as it goes up, but doesn’t come down. He adjusted the sensor for me and it now works. He said I didn’t owe him anything, but I gave him $20 (1/3 of a service call). Next up was my third irrigation repair company. I found him through Angie’s List, as the two previous companies gave me estimates between $750 and $1,000 for 6 new valves. This guy fixed my old valves for $105. What a great day!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! haven’t checked this for awhile. I know she has to answer the same questions over and over, but it kind of goes with the territory.</p>
<p>The other reason I like betterbidding is that they have info on what hotel you are probably going to get on Hotwire based on the star rating and list of amenities for each hotel. There has been a couple times that I did not have the nerve to bid on Priceline because I knew I might get a bad hotel, so being able to figure out what I was getting on Hotwire was a bonus.</p>
<p>We were very happy with our sleeping bag order. The sleeping bags came today. Very nice for $12.50 per bag! Thanks kathiep!</p>
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<p>Toledo, are you my neighbor? We had the garage door repairman here on Saturday and while he was working on our door, a couple from the neighborhood was walking past our house. They cornered him and asked him to come by their place when he was done :)</p>
<p>GA2012MOM–how much (or how little) in advance were your hotel rooms?</p>
<p>patsmom, now that would be a small world, huh?</p>
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<p>Yes, it was awfully nice of him to drive to Toledo when he was finished in Florida.
Seriously, though, I often stop when I see workers in my neighborhood. It’s better than picking a name out of the phonebook/internet.</p>
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<p>Not GAMOM, but my experience has been 7-21 days in advance. I often have a back-up hotel that I can cancel.</p>
<p>It’s a WOOT-OFF!!!</p>
<p>I spent some time getting the warranties to work for both my dad’s & son’s computers. They will be serviced at no charge to us–S has to mail his laptop to Sony & they will be mailing a HP videocard to us to try to fix dad’s computer. It’s doubtful that the Sony can be repaired as it has been attempted several times unsuccessfully. They wrote a note int he file so we’ll see.</p>
<p>Fixing roof for $350 instead of replacing it. i might be sorry about it, but cannot see us spending that much now. Well, we have good number of buckets.</p>
<p>Cancelled my subscription to New York Times as I find little value in their news reporting and the news is free on internet.</p>