BeachBum

First bid. Used the PRICELINE link.

First bid at 3.5*, upgraded to 4*. Used the PRICELINE link.

Started bidding at $46. Used the PRICELINE link.

Started bidding at $41. Used the PRICELINE link.

First bid, used the PRICELINE link.

Sorry about the late posting, doing some catching up. I was bidding for St. Pete and did not expect any inventory in this zone at this price. Used the PRICELINE link to start bidding.

First bid at this star level after failed 3* bids to $55. Used the PRICELINE link to start my bidding. Happy with the result.

First bid. Used the PRICELINE link. Wonder if I overbid.

My favorite property in this zone - for some reason only available in summer. $46 accepted after $43 and $45 rejected ($53 counteroffer). Used the PRICELINE link to start my bidding.

Started bidding at $43, increased in $2 increments. Had a $56 counteroffer in response to the $45 bid, which has to be the nearest to a winning bid I have ever seen a PL counter. Used the PRICELINE link to start my bidding.

First bid. Used the PRICELINE link.

I was bidding at 3*, $51 and $53 rejected. I was upgraded to this property at $56. Used the PRICELINE link.

First bid. Used the PRICELINE link. The rack rate is $171 for these nights, so chalk up another great deal using BetterBidding.

Started bidding at $39, increasing with $1 increments. Used the PRICELINE link to begin my bidding.

$40 rejected, $41 accepted. Used the PRICELINE link. Hard to beat this deal.

Started bidding at $50 (received $64 counter to 1st bid). Used the PRICELINE link. The convention rate here this night is $189. BetterBidding does it again!

After 2.5* bids of $40-42 were met with +12 counteroffers I jumped to $46 and was upgraded to this property. I used the PRICELINE link to begin my bidding.

First bid. I was halfheartedly hoping for the Hyatt, but this is a great deal. Rack rate is $249 - apparently they don't drop the rates for the holiday except for PRICELINE customers!

Bidding for 3* in this zone, starting at $26. This property was an upgrade from a 3* bid. After I got to $35, I increased my bid in $1 increments, so this is the lowest winning bid.

Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access This appeared suddenly at a price point $20 below anything else in Center City for this particular weekend. I used the HOTWIRE link to start my bid. This is a split trip -- I posted a result for 10/21/09-10/24/09 on the PRICELINE board.

I wound up splitting the trip. 3* Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown $60...10/21/09 - 10/24/09, first bid for these 3 dates after losing bids from 50-60 on various date combinations. Through HOTWIRE I received 3* Doubletree Philadelphia $69 ... 10/24/09-10/25/09, which I will post on the Hotwire side. I used the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to start my bids. Ordinarily I don't mind holding my bids to the last minute in hopes of the lowest rate, but I have seen rack rates for these dates slowly rising over the 3 weeks I've been following this trip. The rack rate at the Courtyard these nights is $199, so I paid 30%. Can't complain about that!

First bid, using the PRICELINE link. A good price for a decent property.

I've had winning bids for $1 more than the previous bid that received a 2 digit counteroffer. I've also had later bids of the counteroffer amount rejected. The only useful information that a counteroffer provides is that there IS inventory for the zone/dates sought.

Thanks! Looks like the Hampton through EasyClickTravel at $91 will be my refundable backup, and we'll see what PRICELINE delivers.

All prices except the Marriott ($279 rack) are higher for Thursday than for Fri-Sat. EasyClickTravel.com has the Hampton Inn for $91, which is going to be the gauge for maximum bid. I ordinarily don't like going above 40% of rack rate before the week of travel unless there's a convention or other event which will reduce availability. I better check.