gleff

This was a same day bid placed at 5pm .. just before the cutoff of 6pm for same day bids. At the end of this long holiday weekend, airport hotels were looking pretty pricey -- the Marriott right at the airport was $220, the airport Hilton was $150. I didn't want to mess with rebids and I wanted to be sure to get the room... Marriott Tampa Westshore Tampa Airport (TPA) & Westshore 1001 N Westshore Dr Tampa, Florida 33607 813-287-2555 Your Offer Price: $50.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $50.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.71 Total Charges: $62.71

Deals were really hard to come by for this weekend (which bumps up against the 4th of July - in DC). I had bid up to $87 for 4* Downtown or Dupont. $48 3* had already been rejected in this zone. So while this wouldn't be my first choice hotel it certainly works in a constrained world. Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $165.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $29.89 Total Charges: $194.89

Your Offer Price: $67.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $201.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $35.32 Total Charges: $236.32

First try, didn't use any of my 3 rebids at the 4* level. Your Offer Price: $80.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $240.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $39.67 Total Charges: $279.67

First bid $38, Arlington zone. Only one re-bid at the 3* level (Springfield). Got the one hotel that comes up in the zone that I really think is in the Crystal City/DCA zone... (and truth is that I would have been just as happy with a Crystal City option, so I should have added that zone and viewed myself as having 2 rebids and thus not bid $52 next.. but I really did want to be in Arlington rather than the District or Alexandria for this bid.. and it's tomorrow night... Lo siento... :) ) Sheraton National Hotel 900 S Orme Street Arlington, Virginia 22204 703-521-1900 Your Offer Price: $52.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $52.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $13.16 Total Charges: $65.16

Turns out just an hour or two later that I needed a second room for same place, same night. GRRR. But Priceline accepted another bid, same parameters, and returned the same property.

First bid. Grand Hyatt Washington 1000 H Street NW Washington, DC 20001 202-582-1234 http://grandwashington.hyatt.com/property/index.jhtml Your Offer Price: $70.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $70.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $15.76 Total Charges: $85.76 Pre-paid web rate on the Hyatt site is $179. Lowest refundable rate is $209.

First bid. The Westin Los Angeles Airport 5400 West Century Blvd Los Angeles, California 90045 310-216-5858 Your Offer Price: $52.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $52.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $13.63 Total Charges: $65.63

Westin Southfield Detroit 1500 Town Center Southfield, Michigan 48075 248-827-4000 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $41.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $11.64 Total Charges: $52.64

Is it actually random? Or does your bid need to be within x $ or % of a potential winning bid? I've never seen Priceline counter with the lowest possible successful bid, either. Strange huh?

The idea of Priceline runs counter to choosing a specific hotel property. Sometimes you're still able to do it -- such as when Priceline appears to work with only one property of a given quality level in a particular zone -- but alas this doesn't seem to be the case in your situation. First, I haven't ever seen the Wyndham El San Juan come up on Priceline. The Wyndham OLD San Juan does come up (3*, San Juan zone) but that is a different hotel. If you must stay at the Wyndham El San Juan then Priceline probably isn't the way to do it. Second, some pretty good properties can and do come up on Priceline in Puerto Rico. Currently Resort bids of $65 in San Juan have been frequently producing the Caribe Hilton. Not a guarantee, because such things are subject to availability of course, but a rough guide to what one can accomplish there. And you have so much time between now and your stay that if you bid too low you can always wait . . . In the Rio Grande - Humacao zone I've seen the Wyndham El Conquistador come up for ~ $120. Personally I'm staying there at the end of January on a free stay arranged by Wyndham and I'm really looking forward to it. Rooms there run ~ $400/night. :) Careful in that zone, though, because I've seen the Westin Rio Mar come up (also a resort bid in Rio Grande) for $65. You run the risk of a significant overbid if you're offering up $120. I guess my question for you would be where (location) do you want to stay in San Juan? And what kind of a property/experience are you looking for?

*4 Downtown, $50 rejected Added Business I-80 Corridor - Arden, $60 rejected Added Folsom, $70 rejected Added Roseville, $80 rejected Added South Natomas, $90 accepted (I still had university zone as a re-bid) Hyatt Regency Sacramento Sacramento Downtown 1209 L Street Sacramento, California 95814 916-443-1234 Your Offer Price: $90.00 Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $180.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $30.82 Total Charges: $210.82

Update: change of plans required going to LA a day early. So for the first time I took advantage of Priceline's ability to EXTEND A SUCCESSFUL BID. You can bid ON A SPECIFIC HOTEL (i.e. the one you've already successfully bid) for days before or after your successful bid. So my $46 bid for one night now is 2 nights, with the second night booked at the same price. From the Priceline Help section:

Go to https://www.hiltonhhonors.com/aeroplan/index.aspx Enter offer code ACAT This will create a new Hilton HHonors account with Gold status. If you already have an HHonors account, you can even combine the two online and you'll have both gold status and your existing points. You're welcome. :)

Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 3 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $450.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $67.86 Total Charges: $517.86

Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $110.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $20.08 Total Charges: $130.08

I bid $36 on 3* LAX for earlier this week (I had already blown all my 4* bids and rebids). As I didn't have days left for rebidding and no rebids either, I took Priceline's counter offer for $46. :)

Done as 2 separate bids, obviously, because Priceline won't permit bidding more than 4 rooms at a time. Bid 4* $95, $105, $115, $130 and wound up with the NY Hilton for my first (4) rooms. Probably an overbid, but didn't want to spend more time on this. NY hotel business really seems to have picked up! Then I started another bid 4* MTW and was told that I had already bid and needed to wait 72 hours! Priceline glitch? So I added a free re-bid and bid again and it worked. Total of the 5 rooms for the 1 night that I needed them, and nothing to complain about. But the days of $75 4* bids (albeit at the Grand Hyatt) seem to have dissipated for awhile. :)

This was when Bush was in New York at the Waldorf Astoria (and an escape train was kept running 24 hours a day underneath the hotel) and the UN was opening its session. Hotels were just packed! Started out bidding 4* at $75 and wound up all the way at $105 for a 3* -- but that was still a steal for the days in question. The Roosevelt Hotel New York Midtown East 45th And Madison Ave New York, New York 10017 212-661-9600 Check-In Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 Check-Out Date: Thursday, September 25, 2003 Your Offer Price: $105.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $210.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $37.98 Total Charges: $247.98

Started bidding at $65 and increased my bid $5 at a time with free rebids. Marriott Copley Place Back Bay - Copley - Theater District 110 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02116 617-236-5800 Check-In Date: Monday, October 6, 2003 Check-Out Date: Thursday, October 9, 2003 Your Offer Price: $80.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $240.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $39.38 Total Charges: $279.38

Your Offer Price: $50.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $100.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $17.55 Total Charges: $117.55 This was my second bid. I bid $45 and was rejected. Added $5 with my first rebid and was successful.

Same author who mentioned betterbidding in the Washington Post last month, btw.

I've actually never booked through Hotwire... jlcyclone refers to getting the $30 difference in price refuded. thereuare refers to the guarantee being for DOUBLE the difference. Was $60 in fact due back to jlcyclone in this case? And was only half that refunded?

Had about 5 minutes to make a same-day reservation, so I didn't mess with starting out as low as I thought might be successful. Didn't want to spend the time with my three free re-bids, so I started out with a $75 bid. Park Hyatt Los Angeles 2151 Avenue Of The Stars Los Angeles, California 90067 310-277-2777 Your Offer Price: $75.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $17.09 Total Charges: $92.09

Definitely not something for the uninitiated, but you can also nab free re-bids in certain zones that DO offer the quality level you're looking for. This is true if a zone is uniquely pricey compared to where you're actually bidding. THe classic example of this phenomenon is the Midtown South zone in New York City. Although it offers a 4* hotel, adding 4* in this zone works as a free re-bid for the rest of New York City AS LONG AS YOU KEEP YOUR BID UNDER $120 OR SO. That's because I've never ever ever seen a successful 4* bid in the Midtown South zone for even close to that price. The hotel in that zone simply has Priceline rates which are much higher. So if I want a free re-bid so that I can bid $95 for a 4* in Midtown East and I've already used the Upper West Side free re-bid, I can easily add MTS. :)