GM Mike

Welcome -- We'll need to know the complete list of amenities hotwire shows for each hotel. Then we can make an educated guess. If you can, please purchase using the HOTWIRE link from this site if you do purchase.

Thanks for adding that. Could you also let us know the dates of the stay and the bidding history, especially the immediately previous bid, if you bid more than once?

The airport's economy parking lot just reopened, for $9.00 per day. You'd take a shuttle bus to the internal airport train system to the terminal area. The Hilton is inside the airport.

I think you've pretty much got it. Book your backup and then probably keep bidding, maybe once a week, until you get closer. I'd also have a try at HOTWIRE to get a baseline of the prices there, then sign up to receive e-mail notification if prices drop. That's a good (but not perfect) indicator that cheaper inventory might have been released to priceline, too. What zones are you bidding in? Also let us know the cost of your backup once you book it. Good luck!

Hampton Inn is actually showing as 2.5* :) I wonder if it's the nights of the 25th and 26th that are getting you. Rates don't look different downtown, really, but the Saratoga track opens the 26th and rates outside of downtown are showing some variance. Have you considered splitting your bid? Please tell me you have a backup reservation somewhere at this point.

Wait -- is your winning hotel within the Downtown zone or in some other zone?

Don't know what part of the world you're from, but in the US, that is Labor Day weekend -- Monday 9/4 is a national holiday. It's the last weekend available before kids go back to school in most parts of the country. So, yes, that's a bad weekend to try to find deals. :) What about the techniques noted here about staying in New Jersey or Connecticut for part/all of the stay? Which NYC zones are you bidding in?

Note that the new Hampton Inn downtown MAY be a 3* for bidding. We haven't seen it come up yet but it is brand new and pretty upscale (has a restaurant, etc.). The transparent section of priceline doesn't give it any * rating yet.

Welcome to betterbidding -- Don't worry about bidding other zones. You're almost better off in the Loop or NMA and taking public transportation to the museum campus or Sci&Tech anyway. Better to be north of the campus than south, as far as neighborhoods go. Good luck.

Welcome -- What are the rack (regular) rates at the 4* and 3* hotels in Rochester for your night? How do they compare to rates for other nights, such as the 8/4 you quoted. Have you tried hotwire? Is there anything going on in Rochester that night? What is your actual maximum bid? What is your fully refundable/cancellable backup reservation? Can you only consider the downtown zone?

Welcome to betterbidding -- We'd certainly appreciate knowing what hotel you received, in which zone. Please start a thread for it in the Texas Priceline Bids section. As was noted, it's very difficult to make any changes. However it is possible someone here knows the hotel you received and can offer you some suggestions? Priceline does have a best price guarantee. Have you checked around to see what this hotel has for a rate thru other sites? Maybe you could get some of your bid refunded at least. Please respond by making a new thread with your bid details in the appropriate section of the board. Thanks!

What's your maximum bid? What's your priority: price or quality? (i.e. bid all the way up to your max at 4* before trying 3*?) Also, do you mean the "Downtown San Diego & Harbor Island" and "Mission Valley" zones? Check priceline's bidding map on their site and decide if those are actually the zones you want. What are you going to be doing in San Diego?

Then I'd say stay the course, be patient, and keep bidding. Just make sure you have a cancellable backup somewhere just in case. If you decide for certain on zones, someone here with more NYC experience can help you with a detailed strategy. Good luck!

Did you check by selecting ONLY Hanover/Fort Meade as the ONLY zone? And it listed nothing HIGHER than 2.5*? If so, it's likely that hotel stopped participating in priceline or was downgraded to a 2.5* rating. Happens.

Welcome to betterbidding! You should do a few things, in this order: 1) Book a fully refundable/cancellable backup reservation somewhere, just in case you don't win on priceline. 2) Check hotwire and EasyClickTravel ("Off the Record" results there), using the links above your post, to see if anything good comes up. Make sure you understand the terms of purchase there if you do purchase. 3) Consider staying in other NYC zones, such as MTE and UM-CPS. These are popular for tourists and really only add at the most 20 minutes of commuting time to anything in MTW. 4) Consider STAYING IN NEW JERSEY, or even, STAYING IN CONNECTICUT. Up to you to decide the right balance of price vs. convenience. Also, what does $750 total work out to as a bid amount?

Have you ever been to Baltimore in the summer? It is pretty incredible. I could see rates being very high down there on a weekend with the team in town. Have you checked out the LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM? Can you stay out by the airport and use it to get to the Inner Harbor?

Have you considered splitting your bid? I'm wondering if that Saturday night is what's getting you. You could bid the 8/1-8/3 separately and then either book that hotel directly at a (much?) higher rate the first night or stay at the HGI the first night? (Just make sure in advance the HGI will let you shorten your stay without raising your rate.) For that matter, have you compared general prices in the area for each date to find out if one particular date is significantly higher? The split might be at a different point. Also, did you check hotwire and EasyClickTravel "Off the Record" deals?

Any hotel of that quality level in that zone is a possibility. The two sides of priceline (name-your-own-price and traditional booking) do NOT share inventories. What you see in the traditional side has almost no bearing on the bidding side. Your bid could win you a hotel that appears no where else on priceline's listings nor our listings. It's always a risk. Average retail price on the bidding side is a suspicious figure and shouldn't really have an impact on how you bid. If you want to incorporate retail prices in how you frame your bids, you should do research on pricing for the likely hotels yourself and compile your own average, if you'd find that number helpful. Good luck and welcome to betterbidding!

You're looking at the regular hotel pricing section, with a list of hotels and prices? Those * ratings are not necessarily (and often are not) the same as in the bidding section. The zones are also not necessarily the same. The section of the website you're looking at has nothing to do with what thereuare told you to try. To determine what * levels are available, go to the bidding section and select only that zone, then click "NEXT" and see which * levels are available for bidding.

Welcome to both of you -- Intrigue, please start a new thread for your stay. Include your firm stay dates, acceptable zones/* levels, maximum bid, and any backup plan you've developed. When you take priceline's offer to extend, think of it as just another priceline bid, except that instead of going to all hotels at that quality level, it only goes to the one you already have. So you don't automatically get a lower price -- only if that lower price is available on those additional days. In general, hotels never offer to extend a priceline rate without going back thru the service. Tho I did once use it in my favor in a NEGOTIATION.

First of all, since you have a lot of time, I'd start at a much lower number than that and work your way up. You can bid every day, after all. Before you do any bidding, you should read the INTRO TO PRICELINE and PRICELINE FAQS to decide if the service is right for you. Next, you should book a refundable or cancellable reservation somewhere. Since you say you have to stay no matter what, just find the cheapest place you can right now (that would be an acceptable hotel to you) and book something you can cancel without a penalty. This will be your backup plan in case you don't win on priceline. Then, post here and let us know that you're ready to bid. Only do this when your dates are absolutely firm and you're ready to go. Post your final dates, maximum bid (which, in your case, is probably something close to your backup reservation price), and the zones/* quality levels acceptable to you. We will develop a strategy for you, probably something quite lower than your maximum bid since, again, you've got a lot of time to keep trying. You can go on priceline's bidding section to get a list of the zones in each area. If NYC is also acceptable to you, list the zones there that work. You may be very surprised at how low of a bid priceline might accept. EasyClickTravel offers "Off the Record" deals that are like hotwire -- you don't know the identity of the hotel until you book. There is a tool here that can tell you the identity of many of the hotels before you book, tho. And also, MOST EasyClickTravel reservations are cancellable! Just make sure you check the terms before you book. If you find a good deal there and it's refundable, that could even be your backup reservation. If you do decide to use priceline, make sure you also keep in mind the rates available on hotwire and easyclicktravel to make sure you don't overbid at any point. Please post back when you've decided what you'd like to do or have questions.

Please start your own thread for your stay. Make sure you include what zones you're interested in, * quality level, and $ maximum bid. Thanks -- and welcome!

I have had exceptionally good experiences with maids making sure to save what I forgot, such as: - Recently had a maid at a Best Western save my socks (YES, my socks...) for a few weeks until I came back. Asked about them tongue-in-cheek, not really expecting to get them back! - Had a Radisson save a cell phone charger for me for several months. Happened back through that town, thought it couldn't hurt to ask, and there it was! Back when I worked in hotels, the housekeepers were almost universally respected by everyone in the business as the hardest working employees, by far, and among the most professional. Every housekeeping manager I've encountered has been a very guest-centric professional. And I've seen housekeepers go so far as to save plastic dishware, just in case the guest might want it (and more unbelievably, the guest actually came back for it). One property had the smart idea of logging all lost and found with security and, if not claimed within a certain time period, turning the property over to whomever registered it as a reward for honesty. Obviously there are criminals in any line of work, but I can think of only one or two situations involving a housekeeper in question, and they were dealt with quickly and decisively. I would strongly encourage you to write a letter when you encounter positive service, especially from a housekeeper. It's one of the few ways they can ever be recognized by management.

mcpheejo, please start a new thread for your stay, including the dates, zone(s), and quality star level(s) you're interested in. Thanks and welcome to betterbidding!

I would suggest beginning at the 3* level. This will include the potential for 4* hotels. You could do a round of only 4*, but given your price ranges, it's highly unlikely to yield anything. At 3*, you have 3 free rebid zones. Make sure you read the PRICELINE REBIDDING EXPLAINED page and understand it fully before you bid. Feel free to post what you think your rebid zones are for confirmation before you bid. Since you prefer WTC, I'd start there: Select WTC 3* with bid of $40 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 1 and... Bid $45 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 2 and... Bid $48 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 3 and... Bid $50. If that doesn't work, close your browser, access priceline however you did previously, and start a brand new bid: (NOTE - it is possible to get more bids here by more creatively using combinations of zones, but I think it's a waste of time) Select Cambridge, Downtown Boston, and Copley 3* with bid of $40 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 1 and... Bid $45 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 2 and... Bid $48 -- if rejected, add rebid zone 3 and... Bid $50. If that doesn't work, close your browser, access priceline however you did previously, and start a brand new bid: (NOTE - structure here is a little different. You have no rebid zones at 2.5*) Select Cambridge 2.5* with bid of $40 -- if rejected, add Downtown Boston and... Bid $45 -- if rejected, add Copley and... Bid $50. If that doesn't work, and you're really ok with ANY hotel... close your browser, access priceline however you did previously, and start a brand new bid: Select Cambridge 2* with bid of $40 -- if rejected, add Downtown Boston and... Bid $45 -- if rejected, add Copley and... Bid $50. Let us know how all of that turns out. If you still don't have a room, we can expand the strategy. It's probably better to expand geography than bid 1*. Good luck! [Wow, two different but correct strategies... Now we've certainly confused VonDrake... :) Reading over both, I think I'd do the 3* WTC section in mine, then start a new bid and switch to thereuare's]