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From the Vacation Package page: Milwaukee, downtown 3* Ramada Inn Downtown Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Business Center, High-speed Internet Access

Hilton Chicago O'Hare Airport O'Hare Intl Airport - Terminal 2 AMF O'Hare (Chicago), Illinois 60666 (773) 686-8000 1 room; 1 nights Check-in: Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 3:00 PM Check-out: Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 12:00 PM 1 room(s) @ $73.00 per night x 1 nights $73.00 Taxes and Fees: $18.19 Hotel Subtotal: $91.19 Amenities: Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access Trip Advisor Rating: 3.5 with 80+ reviews The Trip Advisor rating confirmed to me that it was the Hilton, and not the Westin (only had 50 reviews). I wanted the Hilton because it is connected to the Airport. Otherwise, I would have bid PRICELINE and would have likely got the Hyatt (or possibly the Westin) for around $45. Sorry, I forgot to use the HOTWIRE link above.

$45 first bid for 3* in Downtown Milwaukee Hyatt Regency Milwaukee 3-star Downtown Milwaukee 333 West Kilbourn Avenue Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 414-276-1234 Check-In Date: Sun, Mar 23, 2008 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Mar 29, 2008 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $45.00 Subtotal: $270.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $49.69 Total Charges*: $319.69 Used PRICELINE link at top of page

Bid History $41 3* Downtown $43 3* Downtown, Northwest $50 3* Downtown Hilton Milwaukee City Center Downtown Milwaukee 509 W Wisconsin Ave Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 414-271-7250 Check-In Date: Mon, Mar 10, 2008 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Mar 11, 2008 / 11:00 AM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $50.00 Subtotal: $50.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $14.62 Total Charges*: $54.62 Used PRICELINE link at top of page

$49 3* Brookfield and Waukesha, Customer Favorite Country Inn and Suites By Carlson Milwaukee West-Brookfield See details 1250 South Moorland Road Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005 (262) 782-1400 Check-in date: Sat, Mar 22, 2008 Check-out date: Mon, Mar 24, 2008 1 room(s) @ silkHotPricePerNight:$49.00 per night x 2 night(s) SubTotal:$98.00 Tax recovery charge and fees:$18.59 Total:$116.59 On the Summary Page (with all the hotels and rates), the Amenities were: Airport Shuttle, Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access, Golf Nearby On the Detail page for the hotel (prior to booking), the following amenity was also listed: Children's Activity Program I think the summary page can only display 8 amenities. Used HOTWIRE link at the top of the web page. I was going to use Priceline, but saw that a lot of recent wins were for the Sheraton, which has a lot of mixed reviews. I was expecting the Doubletree, but did notice the amenities were different. At the time of reservation, hotwire did list a 3.5* hotel for $53 with the following amenities: Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access I'm guessing this is the Sheraton.

Bid $42 and won on first try. Hilton Milwaukee City Center Downtown Milwaukee 509 W Wisconsin Ave Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 414-271-7250 Check-In Date: Fri, Feb 29, 2008 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Mar 1, 2008 / 11:00 AM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $42.00 Subtotal: $42.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.35 Total Charges*: $55.35 Used PRICELINE link off home page.

Bid: $60 for 3* - rejected. After reading reviews, I realized I did not want the 3* Holiday Inn, so.. $50 for 2.5* $55 for 2.5* $60 for 2.5* - accepted for 3 rooms Country Inn And Suites Champaign Champaign - Urbana 602 West Marketview Drive Champaign, Illinois 61822 217-355-6666 Check-In Date: Tue, Dec 25, 2007 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Wed, Dec 26, 2007 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $60.00 Subtotal: $180.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $30.27 Total Charges*: $210.27 Used Savingsbarn link

Check the seating charts of the flights you want. Also check other dates of the same flight, same day of the week. You are looking for very few open seats. You might have to do this on the Airline's website. In order to check seats, start a reservation, and pick the flights you want. Most airlines will allow you to select seats before purchasing the ticket. Flights leaving on Friday at 5pm are usually good candidates for being bumped. However, Dec 27 is a holiday week, and vacation travelers mess everything up. My guess is that the Thursday before Christmas would be a busier day then the Thursday before New Years. More people are likely to skip out a day early for a week off around Christmas than to skip out a day early to make a long New Years weekend. FYI: My guess is that the airlines will not give Priceline seats on their most popular flights (most likely to be overbooked). I would rather save $ upfront through priceline, rather than buy a regular ticket on the hopes of getting bumped. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Hotwire showed Doubletree for $56 ($70.05 total) so I Bid: $40 3* Brookfield - Rejected, offered free rebid if raised price by $12 $45 3* Brookfield, Milwaukee North West (no 3* in Milwaukee NW) - Rejected, free rebid for $13 raise $48 3* Brookfield - Accepted Doubletree Milwaukee Brookfield Brookfield - New Berlin 18155 Bluemound Rd Brookfield, Wisconsin 53045 262-792-1212 Check-In Date: Sat, Sep 15, 2007 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Sep 16, 2007 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $48.00 Subtotal: $48.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $14.32 Total Charges*: $62.32 Used Savings Barn Link

I saw that other people were getting it in the $32-34 range, with $30 being unsuccessful. So I tried $33, and got it on my first bid. Hotwire was showing $49/night for 3* at the airport, and $38 for 2.5*. Bid 2.5* (showing as Best Deal), Indianapolis Airport (IND) $33 accepted (2 rooms for 3 nights, total of 6 nights) Hyatt Place Indianapolis Airport Indianapolis Airport (IND) 5500 Bradbury Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46241 317-227-0950 Check-In Date: Sat, Aug 4, 2007 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Aug 7, 2007 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $33.00 Subtotal: $198.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $38.98 Total Charges*: $236.98 Used savingsbarn link

The Hyatt Place seems to have good reviews (previously the Amerisuites). So I bid on Priceline and got it for $33.night.

Please let us know how the hotel is. It seems to be a new Amerisuite.

Yes, you are right. It is complementary breakfast. It looks like the Hyatt that emanon just won. Wow, prices have gone up in just 2 days.

I'm looking at Indianapolis for 8/4-8/7 (3 nights), and find: 3* Indianapolis Airport: Airport Shuttle, Fitness, Pool, Restaurant, Business Ctr, High Speed Internet, Golf It is the Golf item that puzzels me. Otherwise, it looks like the Holiday Inn Selects mentioned in another post. If you search on 8/4-8/5, the 3* without golf shows up. Any thoughts?

The Founders Inn & Spa 5641 Indian River Road Virginia Beach, Virginia 23464 (757) 424-5511 1 room(s) @ $139.00 per night x 1 nights $139.00 Taxes and Fees: $34.14 Hotel Subtotal: $173.14 Hotel Amenities: Airport Shuttle Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center Tennis Nearby

I researched the hotel, and a lot of people complained it was dirty, etc. I called priceline to express my concern, and got the runaround. Evenutally I talked with someone who said they did a massive review of hotels, and downgraded the Holiday Inn to 2.5* and allowed me to cancel the reservation. Needless to say, I took advantage of the offer. I think I am going with Hotwire for the 4* (hopefully Founders Inn)

3* in Hampton Bid $40 rejected Bid $45 the next day, accepted Hotwire showed a 3* in Hampton for $53. Holiday Inn Hampton Hotel And Conference Center Hampton 1815 W Mercury Blvd Hampton, Virginia 23666 757-838-0200 See Hotel Website View Map and Directions Check-In Date: Wed, Jul 18, 2007 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out Date: Thu, Jul 19, 2007 / 11:00 AM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $45.00 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.46 Total Charges*: $58.46 Used Savingsbarn

My plan is to rebid for the Hampton area. I can't get free rebids in that area (3* is also available in Yorktown, but that is too far). Although Hampton and Virginia Beach are adjacent, I haven't figured out how to get Priceline to offer them as one combined area. Any ideas? If I don't get Hampton for around $45, I'll just go with HOTWIRE for $53. I may still raise my bid for 4* in Virginia Beach. Given that I can get a 3* for $54, I am not inclined to go much higher than $105 for a 4*.

Tried bidding $50 - $105 using various combinations for 4* Virginia Beach - Pembroke Area, and all failed. Note: 4* is only available in Virginia Beach - Pembroke Area. HOTWIRE shows a 4* in Virginai Beach for $139 (if you search in Virginia Beach, but shows as $142 if you search in Hampton). I also bid $40 for 3* Hampton that failed. Hotwire shows $53 for 3* in Hampton.

Hotwire showed the Hilton at $76/night. $47 Newark Airport, rejected (offered rebid if I raised bid by $13) $50 Newark Airport & Elizabeth (free rebid, no 3* in Elizabeth), rejected $55 Newark Airport, accpted Congratulations, you got your price of $55 for a 3-star hotel room. Hilton Newark Airport 3-star Newark - Newark Airport 1170 Spring Street Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201 908-351-3900 Check-In Date: Mon, Jun 25, 2007 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Jun 26, 2007 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $55.00 Subtotal: $55.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.04 Total Charges*: $71.04 Used Savingsbarn Link

The Wyndham appears now to be the Doubletree (same address as the Wyndham). Doubletree Hotel Milwaukee/Brookfield 18155 Bluemound Road Brookfield, Wisconsin 53045 (262) 792-1212 $55 ($68.05 including fees/taxes) for one night 6/9/07-6/10/07 Amenities: Customer Favorite Airport Shuttle, Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, High-speed Internet Access, Tennis Nearby The relatives wanted to know the hotel before purchase, otherwise, I would have used Priceline. Used Savings Barn link.

$85 +20.56 fees = 105.56 5/10/07 for 1 night Hilton Chicago 4* 720 S. Michigan Ave Bidding History 4* $70 Loop 4* $75 Loop, Midway (no 4* at Midway) 4* $80 Loop, Midway, Greater Chicago (should have dropped Midway to allow for another rebid) 3* $80 Loop 3* $85 Loop, Greater Chicago - Accepted Hotwire was showing the Hyatt Regency for $102, so $90 would have been my limit.

Milwaukee (Brookfield - New Berlin) Homestead Milwaukee-Brookfield Brookfield - New Berlin 325 North Brookfield Road Brookfield, Wisconsin 53045 $35/night, $17.79 taxes & fees. $87.79 total May 6 - May 8 $40 Milwaukee (Downtown) 3* denied (hoping for the Hyatt/Hilton) $30 Milwaukee (Brookfield - New Berlin) 2* denied (trying to get the Homestead cheap) $35 Milwaukee (Downtown, Brookfield - New Berlin) 2* accepted Used Savingsbarn. Had problems getting the link to work. You need to update to a direct link to PRICELINE. All the redirects where causing problems.

Hotwire shows $250+/night for those dates. Travelocity shows many hotels are booked. I don't think you will get it for less than $100. I would book a room that you can cancel, and hope something comes up at the last minute.

Hyatt Regency San Francisco Union Square East - Embarcadero 5 Embarcadero Center San Francisco, California 94111 415-788-1234 $84 4* Union Sq East 5/24-27 $252 + 46.35 = $298.35 USE and USW were the target areas. Civic Center and Cathedral Hill were used for free rebid (no 4* hotel). Research showed I was likely to get the Hyatt in USE, so that is where I concentrated my efforts. Hotwire showed simlar quality hotels in Union Sq area for $100, so that was my limit (Westin?). $65 was a little of an underbid, but I thought I would give it a try. I was hoping to get it in the $70-75 range. Thursday night, holiday weekend, or a small convention at the Sir Francis Drake nearby (that's where I am going, but I did not like the reviews of the hotel) may have limited availability at the cheaper price. Date Bid star zone 2/14/2007 65 4 use 2/14/2007 67 4 use,usw 2/15/2007 68 4 use 2/15/2007 70 4 use,usw 2/15/2007 72 4 use,usw,civic 2/15/2007 76 4 use,usw,civic,ch 2/16/2007 78 4 use 2/16/2007 80 4 use,usw 2/16/2007 82 4 use,usw,civic 2/16/2007 84 4 use,usw,civic,ch Used savingsbarn.com link