Calendar View of Priceline and Hotwire Wins!!, -new BetterBidding feature!! Options

[thereuare]

We're happy to announce the newest feature of the board:

Priceline and Hotwire Wins Calendar

This new feature will display a calendar for any given date range with the number of reported wins for each day shown in the calendar. Click any date in the calendar and be shown the wins for that date as well as links to each corresponding thread in the forum.

Since this is an "add on", the calendar only contains posted wins since August 2007 (regardless of hotel stay date). Of course, all wins posted to the board going forward will be included.

We have a few more features to add (such as selecting multiple categories so that you can select both the Priceline and Hotwire forums of a category at the same time) but we wanted to first make sure things ran smoothly before adding multiple forum searches.

As always... any quesitons, problems, comments, suggestions please feel free to pass them along.

A "thank you" to zbenye who had the vision and requested this feature, and a bigger thank you to my wife and family who have had to spend a few hours less with me over the last month as i became consumed (as i often do) with this project.

Go to: Priceline and Hotwire Calendar View

PS- this is one of three new features we've been working on. The next one should be out in a few weeks, and in that regard we can use the help of any board members who are "experts" in a given area... not just priceline/hotwire experts but also those who can offer "inside or local advice" for a given area. If you're interested in helping please send us a message.

[Scandinavian777]

Dear thereuare etc,

thanks for this site and thanks also for the new initiatives you are taking.

I am a little uncertain about this calendar function - could you perhaps elaborate a little on how you consider this functionality useful?

An idea:
From a stay lately at the Sheraton, Burlington, VT, I understood that the hotwire price (I got it for 67 USD+taxes) is only available on weekdays not Saturdays/Sundays. Generally, as far as I know many -but not all- US hotels and motels have increased prices in weekends, so the Hotwire price might vary accordingly. If this is so then 'day of the week' could be at least as important as 'day of the month' when ID'ing certain hotels. Of course knowledge of 'day of the week' is implicit when one reads about won bids at where the date is fully specified, but why not be a little more explicit about 'day of the week' when describing hotels when & where?

Expressio unius est exclusio alterius.

S.

[thereuare]

I am a little uncertain about this calendar function - could you perhaps elaborate a little on how you consider this functionality useful?

I think you touched upon one of them and there are, of course, others. I'm sure many will use this feature differently... and less than an hour after "annoucing" this feature, a user who apparently hadn't seen this thread yet, asked if something like this was possible (see thread)... so this does fufill a need.

Using your example, let's assume a business park area where rates are usually higher midweek and cheaper on weekends.
Since the calendar view clearly shows the days of the week, it is therefore easy to click on various weekend dates to see if the same hotel continually re-appears for the weekend dates vs. midweek dates (and also easily compare those weekend rates to the midweek rates of that same hotel)

Another use is for busier sections of the board... let's say New York. As most posts are for stays in the near future, the front page of that forum typically only has stays in the near future. But what if 2 months ago somebody won a bid for March 2008... for a user currently looking for that same timeframe they would need to manually go thru pages and pages of the New York Forum to find a thread for that time period. This calendar view feature allows that user to quickly and easily find threads for the time period they're seeking.

We also often see users ask "I'm looking for a hotel on xx/xx/xx... anybody win anything around this time frame"... this enables them to quickly see if there are any wins on/near the dates they're looking for.

I'm sure there are other uses which we'll uncover in time as this feature begins to get used.

[123slb]

You are so awesome! This feature is exactly what I hoped for and thanks to you and to your dear family for allowing you to follow your passion to the benefit of so very many!

[ebowers]

OMG thank you for this AMAZING feature!! You rule!!!

[KatiesMom]

I'm planning a trip to New York City, and just used this feature. It really helped me cut to the chase. I am going during a busy time, and so far no one is successful for my travel date on priceline. It saved me an hour or so of scouring the New York board.

Nice feature. Thank you!

[thereuare]

Glad to hear it has been well received.

I should have noted above, and have since edited the first post, that the calendar only contains wins posted to the board since apporximately the beginning of August 2007. (NOTE: this is based upon posting date date and not stay date)

So in other words, if a user in June of '07 posted a stay for 3/5/08, this win would not be on the calendar (since it was posted before August '07... if today somebody posted a previous win for January '07, that win would be on the calendar since it was posted after August '07 (even though the stay date is before August '07)

Of course all posts going forward will be included in the calendar.

[BEAV]

Thank you for yet another excellent tool. Definitely a time-saving feature.

[dhammer53]

Nothing beats a visual!

Thanks for this great feature.

[DHohio]

This will for sure be more useful as more time goes by and the history for this feature builds.

I'm going to NYC next month. Since this is a busier time of year, I had gone back many many pages of threads to see what wins people had for around the same time of year one year prior.

This will eventually make thisi kind of search much much easier for people.

Great idea, and Thank you!!!

[powerplantop]

I just wanted to add my thumbs up for everyone involved with this great idea.

[dizy]

Thereuare,

Thanks to you (and your wife and family!) for this great new tool! This is such a clear and easy way to go about making plans for a potential trip.

One question - as time goes on will we be able to view previous months (years) wins? I know rates change as time passes, but I have found myself in the past going way back in time trying to see if there were any good deals offered during certain time frames (that might include spring break or a certain event or festival). Just curious.

Also, I have an idea for something I'd like to see, though I don't want to take you away from your family anymore than you already are. For some of the more unpopular areas, you can find the areas and hotels in the hotel list, but you often have to go way back in time and read many pages to try to find a win in those areas. It would be great (but probably a pain for you) if you could click on an area in the hotel list and it would pop up links to the posted wins in those areas. This might be impossible, but I thought I would bring it up.

Thanks again for all your wonderful work on this board.

Dizy

[thereuare]

One question - as time goes on will we be able to view previous months (years) wins?

Yes.

you can find the areas and hotels in the hotel list, but you often have to go way back in time and read many pages to try to find a win in those areas

All topic titles are in the same format so that you can easily find wins for that particular hotel using the SEARCH function on the board.

As an example, i see you have two reported wins on the board, using this win:
3* Philadelphia (Bensalem-Northeast) Radisson

You could fill out the SEARCH form as follows:
Keyword: Bensalem
Search Where (left side): select Hotwire-Pennsylvania and Priceline-Pennsylvania (select both by holding down CTRL on your keyboard when selecting the second forum to seach by)
Search Where (right side): select "Topic Titles Only"

Click "Perform the Search"

You'll then see any wins in either of the Pennsylvania forums for which Bensalem is in the topic title.

Hope this works for your needs... if not, please start a NEW TOPIC so that this thread remains on topic for the discussion of the calendar.

Thanks.

EDIT TO ADD: the searching described above can now be done by simply typing 'bensalem' in the QUICK SEARCH text box in the blue banner at the top of the board

[dizy]

Excellent search function - that works great for me!

Thanks so much. Great board here. So friendly and so much info. You clearly know your stuff Thereuare!

Dizy

[mjb]

How do we add our wins to the calnedar? I can't figure it out. give me a few months and I will quit asking stupid questions! But, what an AWESOME FEATURE!

[thereuare]

Just post your wins as usual in the appropriate state/country category from the main page of the forum... it will automatically be added to the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar.

[nick5]

Oh my! What a wonder you are!! Thanks ever so much Thereuare! You just keep taking a great thing and making it better and better. I highly recommend you and your site to anyone that will stand still long enough. (when ever the subject of travel comes up in conversataion anyway)

Thanks again,
Cheryl

[Tjorven]

Hi, I am new to this site, I have just won a hotel on Priceline - how do I upload my wins to the calendar?
Thanks

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Simply post your win to the board in the appropriate state category and it will automatically be included in the Priceline Calendar. If it doesn't appear there right away there's probably a problem with not conforming to the board's topic title format, but we'll edit any 'mistakes' once we see it and it will appear instantly thereafter.

[coast2coast21]

Is there a way to see wins in a specific area? For example, if I want to only see wins in the BevHills/WeHo area instead of the whole LA area....is that possible? BTW, great feature.

[thereuare]

You can't view the calendar by zone, but if you use the other new features of the board, QUICK SEARCH, you can filter down to exactly what you're seeking (and the results should be limited so that you can easily find what you're looking for)

In the blue banner at the top of the board, in the quick search box, enter "West Hollywood" or "Beverly Hills" (without the quotes) and you'll get reported wins for just that zone

[rewp]

What a great feature.... no wonder your the best around... thanks for all the hard work as it is really appreciated

[tweekerz]

Here is to the New Year, and for your calendar, in conjunction with HOTWIRE's pricing helped me get rooms in Reno for a 3.5 hotel (Grand Sierra Resort, or Peppermill for that matter) for less than $50, which includes tax.

The calendar is great......

[TPXB]

The calendar feature is great. Although it did point out that I didn't get the lowest rate for the weekend.

[john h]

I was looking at the callendar for orange county and it said $47 for March 15-22 3***, this is a spring break period and I followed what the poster said however I am not sure it will work for those dates...is that the way the callendar should be used?