Unlike Priceline, these sites name names

I ended up with a successful bid of $103 a night for a four-star hotel in Kensington. The hotel was the more-than-adequate Copthorne Tara. Though it was not what I would consider a four-star hotel, for $103 a night plus taxes and fees, it was an unqualified deal, especially in London, one of the most expensive cities for travelers.

Priceline (www.priceline.com) is a popular website for bargain hunters, but now other sites are offering good deals without all the mystery. One is LuxuryLink (www.luxurylink.com), an auction website for luxury hotels and other travel services.

Unlike on Priceline, the hotels are known to the bidder. For example, I could have bid on a five-night junior suite package for London at the four-star Rubens at the Palace Hotel. A minimum bid recently was $1,272 on a package that included a daily breakfast for two, an afternoon tea and a dinner in the hotel's restaurant. Retail value of the package was $2,544. Obviously, slightly pricier than the Priceline hotel, but it came with some extras -- and I would have known exactly what I was bidding on.

"We adopted a view that, particularly for luxury travel, full disclosure is completely important," said Diane McDavitt, president of Luxury Link.

The average bidder at Luxury Link is professional, 47 years old, takes three leisure trips per year and has a household income of $150,000.

"Everyone loves to get a deal, no matter how affluent," McDavitt said.

Luxury Link is different in other ways as well. It does not sell hotel room nights only but packages that include meals and massages and other perks designed to appeal to luxury travelers.

Had I successfully bid on the Rubens package, I would then have contacted the hotel to make a reservation. That's another difference from Priceline, where the bidding is for specific nights. If you're not flexible with your travel dates, buying travel in this way probably isn't for you.

Another difference is the method of bidding. Luxury Link has three types of auctions: single auctions (only one package for bid); Dutch auctions (multiple packages and all bidders get the package at the lowest bid); and best-shot auctions (you bid once and the top bid gets the package). Make sure you know what type of auction you are in before you bid.