3.5* Newark (Jersey City) Hyatt Regency on the Hudson, $71 ... 2/13/09-2/20/09 Options

[Andybolton]

Hi everyone.

Have been show this excellent website by a friend who suggested i attempt to book my upcoming trip to NYC through. Hopefully someone can advise me of a good action plan for a starting bid for my travel dates.

I have stayed at the Hyatt on the hudson once before for a couple of nights (paying full rate!!) and have seen that some people have got very competative rates through priceline. Having never used priceline before i thought i'd ask for some help from you guys.

Our travel dates are as follows...arrive 2/13 till 2/20. Ideally i'd like to get the Hyatt (i understand that you are not always guaranteed the hotel you want on priceline but most successful bidders seem to get it by choosing jersey city and 3 1/2 stars on the priceline page)

So, sorry for babbling on but can anyone suggest a reasonalbe starting bid for these dates?

Thanks in advance

Andy

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Note that the Westin in Jersey City just opened and is another possibility at this star level (it's not yet been reported to the board as they just opened in the last few days)

To determine a starting bid we'll need a sense of where your maximum bid is? Rates in NYC right now are so inexpensive (on a relative basis) that once you start to get to 'typicaly' jersey city rates it may just pay to stay directly in Manhattan.

I think it's likely that you coudl get a 4* hotel in NYC for a winning bid of ~$100-$120... if this were to be the case, how high would you be willing to bid in order to make staying in Jersey City a worthwhile option?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know your thoughts and we'll advise accordingly.

[Andybolton]

Hi Thereuare,

As we are travelling from the UK and the exchange rate isn't the best at the moment i was looking at trying to get something for around the $70 - $80 a night bracket. I noticed that people have recently won the hyatt for similar amounts but am not sure if the dates and length of my stay will afford me such good deals. Also having stayed at the hyatt before we didn't mind the commute on the path train into manhatten and there is a great breakfast diner just round the corner from the hyatt!

Having said that, you mention we might get a good hotel in manhatten for around $100....i did at one time see what matched room mate grace on hotwire for our dates and that hotel would have been perfect (breakfast and pool!) i think it was on at $120 but it has gone now Obviously the need to commute will be slightly less if we won a hotel in manhatten but am i likely to get a hotel that matches the spec of the hyatt for the money?

Your advice is greatly appreciated

Cheers, Andy

[thereuare]

Having said that, you mention we might get a good hotel in manhatten for around $100....

Actually, i said $100-$120, and i make the distinction as i think it will likely be closer to $110-$120, and perhaps even close to $120, but we would obviously start low and work our way up to your maximum bid.

If successful at this rate the most likely outome would be the Inter-Continental Barclay, which is a 4* rated hotel... this isn't necessarily the hotel you will win, but is a likely outcome, to give you a feel for the quality vs. the Hyatt.

With this noted the Westin in Jersey City is fairly inexpensive for your dates ($156/nite), so if they are participating with PRICELINE, i suppose it's possible you could land something in Jersey City for a 'reasonable' price. As well, there is a 4* hotel in Jersey City offered via HOTWIRE for $116/nite... best guess is that this is the Hyatt or the Westin, but not sure which.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

[Andybolton]

Hi there

I think im going to stick with my original idea of attempting to get the hyatt in jersey city (or similar, i know you can't always guarantee which hotel you WILL get but people TEND to get the hyatt when bidding for a 3 1/2 star on priceline)

We actually enjoyed he commute each day into manhatten and didn't find it too much of a hassle. Also i think we may go searching for Jay and Silent Bob's secret stash in new jersey too! (or is that miles away from jersey city, sorry to be ignorant if it is

So with that in mind, what would you suggest is a good starting bid on priceline for a hotel such as the Hyatt? Oh and does the red box mean anything when you initially put a price in to the bid box? (sometimes it comes up with a message saying you are unlikely to win with that price based on recent wins) I guess what im asking is is that an indication of what your starting bid should be??

Thanks in advance

Andy

[thereuare]

If you let us know your maximum bid we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

I'm not sure where "Jay and Silent Bob's secret stash" is located, but if you let me know the city or general area i'll be able to tell you how far it is from Jersey City.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Andybolton]

Hi,

I think my maxium priceline bid would have to be $90 (before tax etc...). Is this unreasonable?

Jay and silent bob's sectret stash address is:

Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash 35 Broad Street Red Bank, NJ 07701

Thanks again

Andy

[thereuare]

Was just doublechecking your re-bid zones and there is now a 4* offered in Jersey City... believed to be the Westin.

Through the retail product:
Hyatt Regency on the Hudson
Westin Jersey City Newport

If you click the above links you can see the current rating for each thru the "retail" version of PRICELINE (at time of this post the Westin is 4* and the Hyatt 3.5*)... although no guarantees that the star ratings will be the same thru the retail version and the 'name your own price' version.

Do you want to try for the 4* first or start with the 3.5* (realizing that if the 4* is cheap enough you may be upgraded)

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

[Andybolton]

Hi thereuare,

If i start with the 3 1/2 star and am unsuccessful, would adding the 4 star bracket in jersey city allow me a re-bid, or would i have to do it the other way round?

I'd be happy to start at the four star mark and would be equally happy to get the westin (assuming that this is what has been added under the new 4* rating in the name your own price area) The westin is still within good reach of the PATH station for our travel needs.

What do you advise?

Thanks, Andy

[thereuare]

Since you have more re-bid zones at the 4* level than the 3* level it's possible to bid the 3.5* first and then the 4*... just let us know which way you'd like to play it and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Andybolton]

Hi there,

I think i will take your advice and go for the 3 1/5 level first then try the 4* if all bids fail.

What do you suggest as a starting bid and strategy?

[thereuare]

At the 3.5* level you have THREE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.
(NOTE: 're-bid zone1' is not the same as priceline's Zone1, 're-bid zone2' is not the same as priceline's Zone2, etc, etc)

Select 3.5* Jersey City...
Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone1...
Bid $60, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* Jersey City and re-bid zone2...
Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone1...
Bid $70, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* Jersey City and re-bid zone3...
Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1...
Bid $80, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3.5* Jersey City and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone3...
Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone1...
Bid $90

Any questions feel free to ask.

Remember which zones you use as your re-bid zones as you'll need to remember which ones you used above if it's necessary to go on to a strategy for a 4*.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Andybolton]

Hi Thereuare,

After trying your strategy a couple of days ago and starting at $55 i was not getting any success and decided to call it a day at $80 and leave it for a day or two. I have been monitoring the hotwire rates and keeping an eye on what else is going on in NYC then noticed someone had won the westin for $91 so i decided to try again today. This time i started my bidding at $68 as i was prepared to go a bit higher...

Select 3.5* Jersey city....

Bid $68 - rejected BUT was offered a 'one time oppertunity' to bid again without changing anything providing i add $17 to the bid. Seeing this i thought i may be quite close to what they would actually take so i declined the offer and bid as follows.

Bid $71 and added zone 1 (west orange) - Accepted for the Hyatt onthe Hudson The hotel we were hoping to get all along

I am VERY happy with these results and can't thank you enough for your help and support. Oh and i used the PRICELINE link through betterbidding at all times.

Thanks again.

Andy

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you received the hotel you were hoping for from the onset and that you're happy with the results... even cheaper than you had previously bid! An excellent deal, even more so given the length of your stay.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and for using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.

Have a great stay.