Melissa

Thanks for the tip, Aaron! Wildberry does look tasty! I will keep that in mind as I start sorting out more details for this trip. :)

And just to confirm, I did use the PRICELINE links on this site for all my research and bids. :) Thanks for keeping this site going!

I tried bidding the 4 downtown areas yesterday in the 120-135 range for my dates, but was not successful. I did get 2 counter offers for 179 but declined them. Hotel prices seemed to go down a little today so tried bidding again. Bids: 1. River North, 4*, 140 got counter offer for 179; declined 2. River North, Downtown-Millenium Pk, 4*, 145--accepted Going rate on PL with open prices is $225, so I feel like I got a good deal. There were a few options for a little more than I bid on the Express site, but luckily didn't have to pursue those. :)

Forgot to mention that I did use links on this site to get to HOTWIRE, both for research and booking. :)

No bidding options offered in hotwire (did not try priceline). "Special Car" is a compact or larger car but priced like a compact (actually compact was $18). Note on site that demand was high for San Jose Airport for month of August. Car daily rate: $16.20 Rental days: 5 Estimated taxes and fees: $202.08 Estimated subtotal: $283.08 Estimated trip total: $283.08

Sorry, knew I was forgetting something. Guaranteed Amenities: Indoor or Outdoor Pool Restaurant Fitness Center One more thing to note--this hotel was apparently the Holiday Inn French Quarter until about March this year when it was taken over by Wyndham. Reviews on Tripadvisor suggest they are doing a big remodel.

Used Priceline Express deal (through link on this site). Saved another $10 with the READYSET5 deal going on at Priceline thru 6/3 (they have a note right on the page where you enter your information for the Express bid to remind you to enter the code). As always, thank you for this site--I appreciate everyone's contributions and it always helps me make informed bids!

Started bidding today using links on this site. 1. 4*, White House-Downtown, $80; got counter for $100 2. 4*, White House-Downtown + Georgetown North, $85 3. 4*, White House-Downtown + Georgetown North + Crystal City, $90-accepted. This hotel had a posted rate on the Starwood site of $109 as recently as a few days ago, but the price has gone up to $219(and $259 on other travel sites). Will be sightseeing for a couple days, so really looking forward to this location. :)

Looks like I got my other hotel squared away. I may have been able to get a better deal if I'd been more patient, but this still looks like a cute boutique hotel in a good area. I'm glad to have this taken care of and not have to split my hotel stay as another poster did. This appears to be a new hotel for your list. :) Today's bids: 1. 4*, Miami Beach, $145 2. 4*, Miami Beach, South Beach - Collins, $150 3. 4*, Miami Beach, South Beach - Collins, South Beach - Ocean Drive, $155 4. 4*, Miami Beach, South Beach - Collins, South Beach - Ocean Drive, North Miami (no 4*, no 3.5*), $160 5. 4*, Miami Beach, South Beach - Collins, South Beach - Ocean Drive, North Miami (no 3.5*, 4*), Dadeland (no 3.5*, 4*), $165 6. 3.5*, 4*, Miami Beach, South Beach - Collins, South Beach - Ocean Drive, North Miami (no 4*, no 3.5*), Dadeland (no 3.5*, 4*), $170 Offer Price: $170.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $680.00 Taxes & Fees: $107.96 Total Charged to Card: $787.96

Have been bidding here and there for a few weeks...without much luck. Finally was successful on 9/25/11 (sorry for the late post!). This room is just for the night prior to a cruise. Will also be booking a few nights after the cruise, but haven't won that yet. (and of course, I'm using the Better Bidding links to get to PRICELINE and HOTWIRE) Bid details: 1. 4* Downtown $115 2. 4* Downtown, South Beach-Ocean Drive $120 3. 4* Downtown, South Beach-Ocean Drive, South Beach-Collins $125 4. 4* Downtown, South Beach-Ocean Drive, South Beach-Collins, Miami Beach $130 Win: Intercontinental for $130 Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $130.00 (USD) Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Guests Per Room: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $130.00 (USD) Taxes and Fees: $26.08 (USD) Total Room Cost: $156.08 (USD) Intercontinental's site is currently quoting $313.00 for a room on this date. Rates have definitely gone up as when I checked a few weeks ago on Expedia the room rate was $172! Thank you to the moderators for all of the help you give all of us!! It IS appreciated. :) Melissa

Started bidding a few days ago at $80. Today's bids: Resort, $110-countered at 135 (I did not accept the counter) 4*, $115-accepted Your Offer Price: $115.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $115.00 Taxes and Fees: $21.10 Total Charges*: $136.10 all bids used this site's PRICELINE link. :)

Used Better Bidding's PRICELINE link. First bid 4*, San Juan, $80, rejected Second bid added 3.5*, and raised bid to $85--accepted Subtotal: $85.00 Taxes and fees: $17.37 Total: $102.37 As always--appreciate all of the data and advice posted on this site. Thanks to everyone!! :)

Thank you so much for having this site. I've used it once before and had great luck with priceline because of it. :) Bidding History: 4/13: 1. $65, 4*, N Michigan 2. $70, 4*, N Michigan, Lincoln Park 3. $78, 4*, N Michigan, Lincoln Park, Midway 4. $90, 4*, N Michigan, Lincoln park, Midway, Skokie all failed, no counterbids. waited over 24 hours 4/15: 1. $70, 4*, N Michigan 2. $83, 4*, N Michigan, Lincoln Park **then i noticed that it looked like the median price changed when I had added Lincoln Park, so i closed that window, opened a new one and started over. I had noticed the same kind of change when I was bidding previously and tried to add OHare South (so didn't use that area). I'm not sure if that really indicates anything, but I wanted to play it safe. 3. $91, 4*, N Michigan, Midway Won bid, with no counterbid offered (so i might not have had to bid quite so high). I was really hoping for the Drake because a friend recommended it, so quite happy with my win!

Jedikiah--thank you for the bus information--that will come in handy. WillTravel--good idea. I'm not sure what time I'm arriving that day (spending the weekend in Oxford), but hoping I have time for some sight seeing there. Thanks for the Journey Planner--I hadn't looked at that yet---I like the walk option with time it takes! :)

Hi, I recently posted some winning bids for London, but now I'm looking for a hotel in Paris. The advice I've gotten from friends so far is to stay north of the Seine and kind of in the Eiffel Tower/Hotel des Invalides area (which I notice are both south of the Seine). From the winning bids posted here, it seems that most hotels that are on Priceline for Paris are kind of further out. Is this correct? If so, does anyone know of good places to find hotels for this general area of Paris? My dates there will be: 9/12-9/15--2 people, prefer 2 twin beds if possible, something that isn't below a Motel 6 level and maybe closer to Holiday Inn (or better, but I doubt that is in our range). I'm hoping that we can find something in the $100-140 a night range. Is this a reasonable range? Any other suggestions? Any help is much appreciated! Thank you!!

Thanks!! This will be my first Europe trip so I'm really excited about going. Actually I did use your map for London---it is quite helpful and I love the balloon links--it did help me to better envision where things are and how I will get from place to place. :) I'll try to take some pictures of the hotels while I'm there and write up a nice review for the board. This board has been SO helpful--I was truly afraid of Priceline before this and wasn't sure about the whole "blind" bid part, but the information that people have shared here has made the difference. I'm a convert now!! I unfortunately do not get to travel much, but when I do, I'll be coming here.

4* London (Bloomsbury-Marble Arch) Thistle Marble Arch 9/15/05-9/19/05 Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 4 Subtotal: $220.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $48.30 Total Charges: $268.30 1st bid: Mayfair, 4*, $80 --> counteroffer $134 2nd bid: added Westminster, $84 --> rejected 3rd bid: added Bloomsbury, $55 --> accepted Thistle Marble Arch While I am happy with this bid, it makes me wonder if I could have gone lower on the 3rd bid price....although $60 was the best recorded price here. Just something to think about....

3*, London (Westminster) Novotel Waterloo, 9/11/05-9/12/05 Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $20.88 Total Charges: $95.88 Bids: 1st bid: Westminster 4* $70 (median price for this area showed as $110) --> counteroffered at $92, I didn't accept the counteroffer as I was looking for a better deal if I could get one. 2nd bid: added Mayfair/Soho and 5* $78 --> rejected 3rd bid: changed rating to 3* $75 --> accepted Novotel Waterloo In retrospect, I think I should have dropped the 3rd bid price lower, but based on bid data, I didn't think there was much of a chance of me getting a 3* in this area. This might be a new hotel for the list too as I didn't see it listed here on betterbidding.com. Web rate for this hotel for same night shows "best" rate as $198.20. From information on TripAdvisor, it appears that this hotel may be a bit away from local amenities. I will do my best to write up some reviews of the hotels I stay at on this trip. :)

I apologize in advance if the format isn't quite right....I appreciate all the data on this site which has definitely helped me to make decent winning bids!!! 4*, London (Kensington