Priceline became famous for its name your own price discounted rates for hotels and rental cars, among others.

If you do well, you'll get a great travel deal. If not, you'd have a losing "bid" or, worse, you'd pay a lot for what could have been a great deal.

Many people have used priceline often enough that they have found ways around it. They have found out how to beat the bidding system.

"Many Priceline customers are taking advantage of a loophole in the system, casually known as "using non 4 star zones," to turn in a free re-bid immediately. It sounds complicated, but it's fairly simple -- and effective -- to re-bid on hotel rooms once you get the hang of it."

Unfortunately, you do not always get the best deals from one site. It may differ, depending on what your needs are. Sometimes, no matter how much one site is touted to have the best deal, it may not be the case. This also applies to Priceline. And Dummies has the lowdown on Knowing When Not to Use Priceline.

Aren't you glad that someone else is doing all that research? I know that I am.