Offer: $60/night
Taxes & Fees: $22.40
Total: $142.
Only one rejected bid at $55.
Also got additional bid at same hotel for 6/10-6/11 at $65.
Was hoping to get the DoubleTree, but also not the Ontario Hilton... so I suppose this is a fair compromise.
Used PRICELINE link.
Offer Price: $440.00
Taxes & Fees: $88.14
Total: $528.14
About half off the best published rate for the same nights.
Details of bid: Got full stay from three separate bids. First was for 6/12 - 6/14. Seemed like a nice property at a great rate, so I tried and got the "Extend your stay" bid for 6/11 - 6/12, followed by another standalone bid for the last night. Originally tried 5* in Beverly Hills - West Hollywood up to $140 (unlikely, I know). Then tried various bids at 4* in Beverly Hills/West Hollywood and Brentwood/Westwood starting at $70 with $10 increments to $110.
I almost made a major careless mistake. When starting a new round of bidding, I forgot to select the date. It was only after my 3rd rejection that I realized I was bidding for a hotel for the same night. For once I was very glad that by bids were rejected. Hopefully this will remind me to always pay attention when bidding.
Used the BetterBidding PRICELINE link.
Admin: The dates in the title should be for 2011 (If I can change that, I'm not seeing where). I'm really not doing well with dates this week. Thanks.
The Luxe is a much better hotel in my opinion.
It's tucked away on a hillside and split into multiple levels. It feels more like you're in a resort outside of the city. The Polomar is great too, but it's just a standard building on a typical Hollywood city street.
Hope you enjoy your stay.
Taxes and Fees: $25.40
Total Charges: $113.40
Lowest Published Price: $187.03
Total Savings: $73.63 (You saved 39%)
Tried $45 for Convertible first, but there were none left. :)
Used PRICELINE link.
Started bidding at $40, increased by $10 until $100 using free rebids.
Taxes & Fees: $19.09
Total: $119.09
About 50% off published rate, plus it's a new Westin - one of my favorites.
Used PRICELINE link.
Airline Ticket Cost: $211.00
Taxes and Fees: $48.75
Total Trip Cost: $259.75
Flight times aren't great. Coming and going flights are each two legs, with two to three hour layovers (which would probably be the case anyway), but I arrive (both coming and going) at about 11PM. However, I'm saving about $100 off published price (or 10 organic T-bone steaks), so I'm happy.
Used PRICELINE link.
Wow. This is the most difficult bid I've ever had!
50+ rebids, I kid you not. I stopped keeping track after about 10. Basically nothing worked for either 4* or 3.5* for under $175 for these dates, plus or minus one day, for the following regions: White House/Downtown, Georgetown/Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, Convention Center and Arlington.
Oddly, I ended up getting a 4* with a 3.5* bid. I've never had that happen before. I only started trying 3.5* after conceding to not getting a 4* for up to $200/night in the Downtown area.
Final Result:
Bonus Cash Per Room, Per Night: $5.00
(discount from previous airline bid - awesome deal at 30% off best published rate, by the way)
Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $170.00
Total Offer Price Per Room, Per Night with Bonus: $175.00
Taxes & Fees: $114.12
Total Charges*: $794.12
I'm going to DC for Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert's March to Keep Fear Alive on October 30th, which I'm guessing has something to do with these ridiculously high rates. I checked the hotel's website to see how much I saved (nearly 50% by the way, so I won't complain), and there was a note stating that rates would drop significantly after the 30th (although perhaps that's just the start of the winter season).
Anyway, hope this info helps with others' bidding.
Used the PRICELINE link.
Cheers.
Bid history using free rebids:
35, 40, 45, 50 (accepted)
Nights: 4
Subtotal: $200
Taxes & Fees: $33.24
Total Cost: $233.24
Getting more than half off the lowest published rate: Priceless (okay, $300, but it feels priceless)
Used PRICELINE link as always.
Very nice, I just realized that these are all suites. Even the studios (which I'm assuming is the Priceline-rate room) are spacious and have a kitchen. Plus free parking, internet and breakfast buffet - I haven't seen that in a while.
Thanks BetterBidding!
Started bidding yesterday at $30, incrementing by $5 until $70.
Accepted bid: $70
Taxes + Fees: 13.36
Total: 83.36 (lowest published rate was $118 w/ advanced purchase).
Also, this hotel is not on the list yet.
Used PRICELINE link.
Cheers.
Casper, Wyoming. Hotel is on opposite end of town from events center, but it's still only 8 miles away, so this is a pretty good deal - the cheapest rate from the hotel's web site was over $100.
Bid: 50
Taxes & Fees: 11.90
Total: 61.90
Tried bidding 30 and 40 first.
Also, this hotel is not on the list (actually there aren't any for Casper yet).
Used PRICELINE link.
Thanks.
Forgot to mention that I did use the PRICELINE link.
Forgot to mention that I did use the PRICELINE link.
I just realized that 5/31 is memorial day, which I think might explain the extra cost.
Room Cost: $100
Taxes and Fees: $22.36
Total: $122.36
Just won bid for same hotel for 5/29-5/31 at $85.
Tried 5/31-6/1 at $85, then incremented by $5 using free rebids.
I found it interesting that a Monday would be more, but I'm glad I was able to get the same hotel for all 3 nights (I only started with one night in the previous bid in case I got one that I really didn't want).
Room Cost: $85
Number of Nights: 2
Taxes and Fees: $40.02
Total: $210.02
Started at $75 for one night for Downtown and Brentwood, incremented by $5 using free rebids, won at $85 and successfully added 1 night.
Room Cost: $45
Taxes & Fees: $13.75
Total: $58.74
I was not able to get a 4* in LAX area for this date under $70, so I thought I'd put up with a low-class hotel for once (Priceline has permanently spoiled my taste in hotels). :)
This hotel is actually just fine with me, and it's only a minute's walk from the Sheridan Gateway (for better restaurants and lounges).
Started at $30 with $5 increments using free rebids.
Used the PRICELINE link.
Room Cost: $55.00
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Nights: 2
Room Subtotal: $110.00
Taxes and Fees: $27.98
Total Room Cost: $137.98
Started at $40, incremented by $5 using free rebids, then switched to from two nights to one, and won at $55 then added an additional night.
It looks like some others recently got the same hotel for as low as $37, but I'm very happy with the result nonetheless. I usually get the Hilton Ontario Airport for this region, which is okay, but it's nice to get something different - especially if it's the DoubleTree.
Used the PRICELINE link.
Offer Price: $60.00
Taxes & Fees: $16.08
Total Charges: $76.08
Not the one I wanted, but this is Priceline, so I won't complain.
Used PRICELINE link.
Standard Convertible (unlimited mileage)
Offer Price: $24
Total Rental Days: 7
Subtotal: $168
Taxes & Fees: $68.87
:) Total Charges: $236.87
Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $95.00 (USD)
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Nights: 1
Room Subtotal: $95.00 (USD)
Taxes and Fees: $19.99 (USD)
Total Room Cost: $114.99 (USD)
Started bidding (all 4* bids) at $40 in $5 increments using free rebids (ran out but continued by using 2nd card, email and IP address).
I avoided Westshore because I didn't want the InterContinental. I was hoping for the Grand Hyatt, which as far as I can tell should be in the Tampa Airprort West region based on Priceline's map. I didn't realize until afterward that they seem to have it in the Westshore region, though. This was a bit more than I wanted to spend but it's still well below the published rate.
Also, Westin Tampa Bay is a relatively new hotel and it looks like it's not in the list yet.
Used PRICELINE link.
Forgot to mention that I did use the PRICELINE link.
Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $70.00 (USD)
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Nights: 3
Room Subtotal: $210.00 (USD)
Taxes and Fees: $36.30 (USD)
Total Room Cost: $246.30 (USD)
Was trying for JW Marriott, used more rebids than I can recall... this place look a little out of the way but very nice.
Meant to type $61, not $62...
Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $61.00 (USD)
Number of Rooms: 1
Number of Nights: 1
Room Subtotal: $61.00 (USD)
Taxes and Fees: $16.27 (USD)
Total Room Cost: $77.27 (USD)
First bid $51 for 4* LAX rejected.
Used free rebid at $61, accepted.
3.5* Ontario (Ontario West-Upland) Sheraton Ontario Airport
in Priceline Hotels - California (all other cities)
Posted
Bid: $65
Taxes & fees: $15.18
Total: $80.19
Also got same property for 6/8/11-6/10/11 at $60.
Used PRICELINE link.