bigbadbuff

Wanted to go the following weekend but no availability on hotwire and high Hyatt.com rates, so I didn't even try. They were high for this post's weekend as well over the past few weeks until today when they dropped significantly on hotwire. Hotwire for these dates was $143 for 10/04-10/05, $169 10/06. Hyatt.com was $259 10/04, $299 10/05, $479 10/06. I knew Monday was a longshot and I wanted to go ahead and lock in Sat/Sun, so I didn't include it in my original bid. Started out bidding 10/04-10/06 on priceline with 3* in JC only for $85, rejected. Added Elizabeth and increased to $100, accepted and (thankfully) given the opportunity to extend. Tried for $100 on 10/06, it came back with a counter of $131, which I accepted. Total for the 3 nights with taxes is about $400. I'm very happy to a) get a great deal and :) not have to fool with moving to another hotel/continuing to watch rates for that Monday. Used PRICELINE referral links.

I believe for public transit, the port authority bus is the only option from those locations, correct?

I am looking for help with a bidding strategy. I am ok with the Hyatt/DoubleTree/Courtyard JC. For reference: current hyatt.com rates for this Thurs/Fri night stay: $399/239 current doubletree.com rates: 215/215 (though only smoking is listed available, which sucks- all nonsmoking must be booked) current courtyard.com rates: 199/199 Hotwire.com had the Hyatt for $299 as recently as yesterday... not showing up today. I bid yesterday 3* JC for 100, rejected; added 2.5, also rejected. Max I'm willing to go is 120pn before tax. This is just a 'for fun' trip that we're only going to take if we can get a decent hotel deal, so I have the luxury of trying up until 03/26 to book. I'm mainly curious if, given the current rack rates, what # I should be shooting for. Tonight, I'll probably bid $110 for 3* in JC, and if that is rejected, bid $120 in JC/Elizabeth; if that is rejected, close out and try again for JC but this time 3&2.5* for 120. Thoughts?

Tried $115, no luck. Oh well! I guess I'll book thru hyatt.com this time. Thanks for the help all...

Update on my progress... no luck so far. We've decided we are staying in AC on 09/22 so we only need the JC hotel for 09/23. I have bid 3* in JC 3 times on PL, at $71, 81 and 91- no luck. Hotwire's price is $213 and the Hyatt's website rate is $213 all in, I recall reading over the past year that when the prices crept that high you can pretty much forget PL. I'm thinking about just reserving on Hyatt's website and eating $213, as that's the area I want to stay in. I COULD use Starwood points for a free night at the Sheraton on the Hudson a few miles down the road but the logistics of staying there would be too much of a pain for this trip. I figure I'll go up to $100 with 2 more tries over the next week and if that doesn't get it I'll reserve thru Hyatt. Thanks for the help all! We're staying at The Borgata in AC (not thru PL though :))

Yep, I think we've decided to do AC Thursday night and hit NYC Friday night, should give us the best prices and odds of getting a good deal on PL. I'll be trying in a day or 2 and post the results, thanks for the suggestions.

I agree Thursday night will be tough- rates are high on every site that night. Re: risk... I feel pretty good about bidding on just 1 room, but I have NO IDEA what is in town that week, if anything, that could have a dramatic effect on being able to secure a 2-double room. Hmmm, we were going to hit NYC all day Friday, leave and stop in Atlantic City on the way back... if we reversed that, I could get a good room in AC at weekday rate and then only stay in JC Friday night, which has a much better chance of coming up on PL than Thursday...

Let me add that I'm looking for 3*, max rate $125.

Here are some particulars probably worth mentioning that may/may not affect the bidding strategy: - 4 people require a room - Will be checking in somewhere between 8-10pm that Thursday night I have stayed at the Hyatt before and loved it and like everyone else would prefer that, but I see things have changed with it quite a bit since I last bid (November '04). In a perfect world I'd get a 1 room bid accepted at the Hyatt and then call the hotel (or either pray for low occupancy upon check-in) and grab a 2 doubles room. I realize chances are slim though so I'm here for help. I DON'T mind splitting up bids into 1 night increments or bidding for 2 rooms each night if that's what the consensus thinks- not ideal but doable for sure. I also wouldn't mind getting 1 hotel for 1 night and another the next. If I've read here correctly, the Candlewood only has King/Queen options for Priceline folks so I suppose that may force me to bid for 2 rooms. Hyatt is currently showing $249 for 09/22 and $170 for 09/23. DoubleTree is $186 for both nights. I'd appreciate advice on how and how much to bid for this... thanks!!