hottieandginger

Third day of bidding. Started at $80 and increased in $2 increments until $102. Still no luck. Fourth day tomorrow.

My second day of bidding. I started at $75 and increased in $2 increments through $97. No luck, will try again tomorrow.

Agreed ... I'm taking some risk that prices could increase.

After browsing the forum (5* options, North and South), my gut is that I should be able to land something 5* on the North Strip or South Strip in the $150 range. I'm okay with that at the top end. But I'm looking to do better and I'm starting out focused on the North Strip.

Thanks

I'm going for a 5* on the North Strip from 10/5 through 10/8.

I started the bidding at $70 -- admittedly lowball -- I figure that I can exercise patience for a couple weeks and creep up the starting bid.

I went from $70 to $92 in $2 increments. No luck today. I'll try again in 24 hours!

As always, I used the PRICELINE link to commence bidding.

Finally, a quick question. It appears that the 5* hotels on the South Strip consistently go at lower prices than the 5* hotels on the North Strip. Is there some reason for the discrepancy? Is the North Strip better from a "location location location" perspective? Or are the 5* hotels on the South Strip lower-quality hotels? Thanks for any views!

Sorry, the car rental agency is Alamo.

Yes, good deal compared to retail rates.

One observation on the Priceline bidding process. Priceline appears to employ a "bait and switch" technique, trying to induce "high" bids from "suckers." Each time that I bid on Priceline, I got a message along these lines: 'your bid has almost no chance of being accepted ... a bid of $30-35 has a strong chance of being accepted.' And yet my $14 bid for a mid-size car was accepted; roughly 60% lower than the bid that Priceline advised 'had a strong chance of being accepted.'

Then Hotwire confirmed that $14 was "market" for a mid size in Maui during this date range.

I'll keep using Priceline for bids, but watch out for the sneaky tactics!!

Used Priceline to bid for a rental car in Maui for week of July 6 through July 13.

Bid $11 Economy, rejected; $12 Compact, rejected; $14 Mid-Size, accepted.

Good deal, but I could have booked a car for the same price on Hotwire.

I used the PRICELINE link to initiate the bid.

Sorry ... it was Hertz!

First, a clarification. I actually bid $12 yesterday on a compact (failed). Not an economy.

Today I bid $13 on a compact (failed) and bid $15 on a mid-sized (accepted).

Three-day price for a mid-size, including taxes and fees, was $65.87. ($45 + $20.87 in taxes and fees)

As always, I used the PRICELINE link to initiate the bidding.

I'm bidding on a car rental in OKC for the weekend 4/6/12 through 4/9/12.

Started the bidding today ... bid $12 on an economy (failed) and $14 on a mid-size (failed).

I'll bid again tomorrow and work my way up. Sounds like the economy bid at $15 may be competitive.

As always, I used the PRICELINE link to initiate the bidding.

Finally, success!

Bid $21 for a Compact car and Priceline made it happen. Total for three days (with taxes and fees): $76.55. Lowest published price (including taxes and fees): $93.59. 18% savings

I was surprised that it took so long for a bid to "stick." But saved about $20 and I have a couple minutes to bid each day.

Today, had a slow moment and entered the same bids as Monday. Compact bid $20 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid $21 (rejected) ...

Today, increased Compact bid to $20 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $21 (rejected) ...

No love from Priceline. So much for "Naomi Price."

That's okay -- I should win a bid within the next 4 days.

Today, increased Compact bid to $19 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $20 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $21 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $22 (rejected).

Another day, a bunch more rejections:

Increased Compact bid to $18 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $19 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $20 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $21 (rejected).

I'm getting close to the lowest retail price for the Compact ($24).

Actually, now it works. However, still no positive results.

Increased Compact bid to $17 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $18 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $19 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $20 (rejected).

Priceline must not have good "name your price" contracts in OKC -- maybe small markets generally. For example, Priceline lists the "lowest retail price" on compact cars at $24 and says I have a "very good chance" of winning a bid at $23. What is that -- a whopping 3.5% savings? Where is my 40%? LOL

Anyway, we'll see where I land on this.

Weird, I just went on and tried to bid for a car. But kept getting a message that "my bid had already been received" before I could actually confirm/place my bid.

Guess I'll try later today or tomorrow.

Another day of bidding with no success.

Increased Compact bid to $16 (rejected) ... [Economy bid to $17, not sure how I did this, rejected] ... Mid-Size bid to $18 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $19 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $20 (rejected).

Back tomorrow afternoon.

Turns out, my fiance needed to be in OKC from 7/29/11 through 8/1/11. However, she needed to stay in the Quail Springs area to make social commitments work out.

Bid $40, $45 and $50 on the first day ... all bids rejected. (OKC Quail Springs has two re-bid zones.)

Bid $51 and $55 on the second day. The $55 bid was accepted by the Four Points by Sheraton.

This hotel is very new, opened around May 2010. My fiance is excited about the "upgrade" in terms of location for her social commitments.

As usual, I used the PRICELINE link to commence the bidding.

Another day of rejection:

Increased Compact bid to $15 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $16 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $17 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $18 (rejected).

I'll re-try tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon. The rental agencies are in no hurry to deal.

Today, increased Compact bid to $14 (rejected) ... Mid-Size bid to $15 (rejected) ... Standard bid to $16 (rejected) ... Full-Size bid to $17 (rejected).

I'll re-try on Monday morning.

I'm bidding for a rental car in OKC from 7/29/11 to 8/1/11.

Started bidding on a Compact for $13, bid was rejected

Then bid on a Mid-Size for $14, bid was rejected

Then bid on a Standard for $15, bid was rejected

Then bid on a Full-Size for $16, bid was rejected

We've got plenty of time, so I'll be back tomorrow night or Sunday and bump everything up by a $1.

Tentatively arriving in OKC on Friday, July 29 ... departing on Monday, August 1.

I started bidding in Zone 5 at $40. I re-bid at $50 and the Best Western accepted. Total cost (including taxes and fees) was $180.

Good price, but then my fiance told me that the travel dates may have to change. I immediately called Priceline and they cancelled the res for a $60 fee. If I re-book on Priceline for the new dates, I get to apply $35 to the re-booking.

Anyway, bad luck for me. But wanted to report the result. Thanks again for maintaining this website.

Booked an SUV for a trip to Tahoe through HOTWIRE. Tried bidding through PRICELINE, but Priceline wasn't competitive (PRICELINE's estimate of a bid that was "likely to be accepted" was higher than the HOTWIRE quote).

Price was $62.95/day for three days. Including taxes, $272.97. We're happy with the result!

I tried again today ... seems like I'm just out of luck ... should have booked earlier so learned my lesson.

I ended up booking through the PRICELINE website ... after the error message, PRICELINE gave me an option to rent for two days through Advantage Car Rentals. The rental is from Monday, 12/6 through Wednesday, 12/8 (Oklahoma City). Total price for the two days (including taxes and fees:) $178.87.

I've rented a car before for $11/day in OKC. So this is crazy.

Has anyone ever received this message?

"Unfortunately, our Name Your Own Price service was unable to locate an available rental car for the area and dates you selected. However, we have found a broad selection of rental car options below."

I waited until pretty late thinking that I could get a decent rate on a car rental in OKC. But it appears that Priceline may not have any inventory...and prices on all other search engines (including Hotwire) are crazy.

Am I hosed?