AdGuy

Started at $36 for a 3* in the Universal Studios/Sea World zone, hoping to get the Hilton Garden Inn. Raised my bid (using free rebids) in $1 increments and hit at $39/night for three nights: Hilton Garden Inn Orlando Seaworld International Center 6850 Westwood Boulevard Orlando, Florida 32821 Offer Price: $39.00 Nights: 3 Subtotal: $117.00 Taxes/Fees: $23.73 Total Charges: $140.73

Bid for a one-night stay in Jacksonville South thinking I might snag the Hilton Garden Inn. Started at $40 but was declined. Moved up to $43 using a free rebid and still nothing. Another free rebid at $46 landed me this new hotel, the Sheraton Hotel in Deerwood. This hotel was just opened in July and does not yet appear on the hotel list... Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel 10605 Deerwood Park Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32256 904/564-4772

Using a $10/day Priceline bonus offer, started bidding for a 3* in the Universal zone at $27 and was declined. Moved up by $1 using free rebids and hit at $29 (+ bonus money) at the Wyndham International. Have stayed here many times over the years and had a great stay this time as well.

Quality Inn And Suites Eastgate Kissimmee 4960 West Irlo Bronson Highway Kissimmee, Florida 34746 407-396-1376

This is a new hotel to add to the Hotel List... Warwick Hotel Denver 1776 Grant Street Denver, Colorado 80203 (303) 861-2000 Amenities: Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Business Center, High-Speed Internet It's currently ranking at 47 out of 130 Denver hotels on TripAdvisor and will work out perfectly for an upcoming convention. Current rate on their website was $205/night. :)

Started at $35 and was denied but received a counteroffer for $44. Refused and (using free rebids) raised bid increments by $1 and finally hit at $39.

Ted, Thanks for "filling in the blanks" for me. This hotel is your typical corporate extended stay spot. I actually stayed here two times before...once when a hurricane blew through in 2004. It's a bit tough to find (head south on John Youngerman past Sand Lake...you'll see a huge multilevel car dealership on the west "passenger" side of the street and it will be shortly there after). Nice rooms with at least a Queen bed and very safe. The lobby is the pits and the front staff is not very helpful. Great location to get to Universal Studios and Sea World through the back ways, avoiding the traffic of International. Also, there's plenty of restaurants and a WalMart right across the street should you need anything. AdGuy

After unsuccessfully bidding up to $27/night for a 2* on Priceline, I saw Hotwire had the Homestead Orlando South for $28/night. I've stayed at this hotel in the past (once during a hurricane) so I purchased it through Hotwire. FYI...When I called to confirm that it was a non-smoking room with Homestead's national reservation system, they told me Hotwire had paid $22.98/night for the room. AdGuy :)

Looks like you were able to duplicate my price/win (see 11/30 post) as we had identical dates and star level. I raised my bids by $1 so $43 for the Universal zone was the absolute cheapest to be had on that weekend. If you hadn't stayed at the Wyndham International in the past, you'll love it. It's close to a ton of things and the grounds/rooms are lovely. Enjoy! AdGuy :)

No big surprise here. Started at $40 in Universal zone and was rejected. Added $1 to each of three free rebids (Kissimmee, East, and Sand Lake) and received the Wyndham Orlando International for $43/night for an upcoming Friday and Saturday night stay. Have stayed here a number of times and have always had a nice stay (even when one of them was during Hurricane Francis) so this should work out well for visiting Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Of course, I used savingsbarn.com to place my bid, AdGuy :)

Looking for an overnight stay near Universal Studios to relax after what will most likely be a stressful Thanksgiving Day visit with the in-laws at Walt Disney World. My wife and I will be driving down that morning from our NE Florida home, hang out with her family who will be visiting WDW for the week, have dinner at a WDW restaurant ...along with a gazillion other tourists :) ...and then debrief at a local watering hole! :) Using the Savingsbarn.com link, I put in a $45 bid in the Universal Studios/Sea World zone for a 3* hotel. I thought I'd snag the Wyndham International but instead got: Sheraton Studio City Hotel 5905 International Drive Orlando, Florida 32819 Your Offer Price: $45.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.96 Total Charges: $57.96 First time staying at this hotel so I'm not sure what to expect. It looks nice and the location is great. Have driven and walked by the place several times but never went in. The best price I've seen is $69+tax...this plus the fact it's Thanksgiving night makes me feel okay about the value. AdGuy

Needed a local rental for the week. Best price I could find online was running $200+ for 7 days so I put in a $15/day bid on Priceline for a Compact but was denied. They gave a 'free rebid' which I raised to $16/day but was still denied. Dropped to an Economy and lowered bid back to $15 and was accepted with Avis (right at the JAX airport). They upgraded me to a Compact. Needed a car for a second week (10/23-10/30) and went through the exact same process. No surprise...my bid for $15 for an Economy car with Avis was accepted. This time however, I was upgraded to a Midsize! :) Of course, both bids went through the Savingsbarn.com link! AdGuy

Hey...don't knock her too badly. She's this board's best source of new members!!! :)

Normally, I don't go through Priceline for rental cars but rates were a bit higher through traditional means for an upcoming business trip. Rates were running $24/day for a compact through all the majors at Jacksonville airport (JAX) so I put in a bid of $16 and was rejected. I waited for three days and bumped it up to $18 and was accepted: Avis Rent a Car 2035 Rental Car Lane Jacksonville, FL 32218 Your Offer Price: $18.00 Total Rental Days: 3 Subtotal: $54.00 Taxes & Fees: $26.80 Total Charges: $80.80 Maybe the savings will buy me a tank (no wait...make that a gallon) of gas!

Looking for a cheap yet comfortable spot just off I-95 near Savannah (heading from Jacksonville, FL after work up to Raleigh, NC and wanted to get a few hours under my belt). After some quick research, I started with a bid of $32 for a 2* and hit immediately. This always make me feel like I overpaid but LaQuinta's website has it down for $54/night and I didn't see anything else on the boards that came in cheaper. La Quinta Inn Savannah I-95 6 Gateway Blvd South Savannah, Georgia 31419 Your Offer Price: $32.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $32.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $11.20 Total Charges: $43.20

Looking for a decent place to stay for an upcoming visit to a past 'home town'. Knew the area very well and was familar with free rebids. Bidding went as follows: $33 for a 3* in the Raleigh zone - REJECTED (but offered a $9 rebid offer) + South Raleigh (free rebid) and raised to $35 - REJECTED + Cary (free rebid) and raised $1 to $36 - ACCEPTED! Hilton North Raleigh 3415 Old Wake Forest Road Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 Your Offer Price: $36.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $72.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $17.25 Total Charges: $89.25 This price matches up exactly with the cheapest I've seen this hotel go for recently. As it is located in the original "Raleigh" zone and was won by increasing by just a dollar, I'd say this was the lowest bid accepted for this weekend stay. I've stayed here before...great hotel in a perfect location. Going rate on Hilton's website is $78/night.

Great deal and FANTASTIC that you've uncovered an unknown property!! AdGuy :)

I seem to recall Priceline used to reward users for completing the followup surveys they would send after a completed hotel stay. Not sure of the exact number, but perhaps after completing 5 surveys for 5 different stays they'd send an email with a $5-$10 bonus money certificate. This could be used on future bids. I've probably completed a dozen of these but never received anything. Does Priceline still do this? AdGuy

At this point, I'm still going. Why should all those folks in Key West have ALL the fun? :) Assuming the place is still standing, I'll write a hotel review and try to take some pictures. AdGuy :)

ufjoe21, I probably should have warned you...I have the ability to ATTRACT hurricanes. In the past nine years, I've been directly affected by SIX of them. Remember last year when everyone thought Tampa was going to get hit? I thought I'd be smart and head to Orlando for the weekend. BAD CHOICE!! The hurricane ended up coming right through Disney/SeaWorld (one of the few times in history they closed the parks) and knocked out my hotel's power for two days. A few weeks later, I tried again and same thing...it shut down the Wyndham and stopped travel on all the roads. Thankfully, my wife had her nursing license on us and we were able to get head out. What normally takes 2 hours took us 4 hours! :)

I hope you're right. I live near Gainesville and had the uncanny ability to travel near all four last year! It's that darn "D" one sitting out there that has me concerned!! :) As this is a new hotel, I'll make sure to write a review upon return. AdGuy

Add this new hotel to the list (and it looks we've uncovered the minimum bid based on the following): Started in the Clearwater zone with a $25 bid for a 1* - REJECTED (but received a $31 counteroffer) + St. Petersburg Beach zone and increased to $27 - REJECTED + South St. Petersburg zone and increased a dollar to $28 - ACCEPTED (in the original Clearwater zone) Extended Stay America St. Petersburg - Clearwater Clearwater Zone 3089 Executive Drive Clearwater, Florida 33762 Your Offer Price: $28.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $28.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $10.36 Total Charges: $38.36 This will be perfect for a quick trip to the #1 beach in the U.S...Fort DeSoto in St. Petersburg. Hopefully the hurricanes will stay away!! :) AdGuy

You should definitely make a traditional CANCELLABLE reservation. My guess is you'll be spending $125-$150/night minimum in the White House/Convention Center area for a 1* or 2* place. That said, you may want to stretch your $85 max bid up to $100. Also, you may see things turn around once you get to July...if you're willing to wait that long.

Keep trying...Priceline's inventory changes all the time. Also, if you haven't yet I would secure a refundable/cancelable reservation through "traditional" means just in case. :) By knowing the exact price of the traditional reservation it may help you rethink your Priceline max bid. You mentioned $80 was your max bid but the cheapest thing through traditional methods (at a comparable level) was going for $119. You might need to raise this figure (especially at a 4* level) to see success on Priceline this time.

Started with a $55 bid for a 3* in Convention Center/Capitol Hill Zone - REJECTED Added Springfield (FREE REBID) and increased to $57 - REJECTED Added White House Zone (not a free rebid but okay if we ended here) and increased to $60 - ACCEPTED Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel Convention Ctr - Capitol Hill Area 999 9th Street Nw Washington, District Of Columbia 20001 Your Offer Price: $60.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $120.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $24.71 Total Charges: $144.71 Upon receipt of my confirmation number, I went to the website to see how much this was going for and found they were sold out! It looks like it was $205/night according to Orbitz but again when I tried to find additional detail on the Orbitz site, they indicated it was sold out...I must have the last room!! :) Also, when I called reservations to request a non-smoking room, I was told by the agent she "couldn't touch the reservation since it was booked via Priceline". I mentioned I had just yesterday had a Priceline room at the Renaissance Inner Harbor updated my reservations but she remained firm. I hung up, redialed, got a new agent and...surprise...no problem guaranteeing a non-smoking room and requesting a King bed! :) AdGuy