Romelle

I'd suggest doing a search on "dublin" here before starting bidding. The search box is right at the top of the page, center. That will give you an idea of what recent wins have been. Also, it is never a bad idea to plug your dates into Hotwire first to see what they are offering. That "sort of" lets you know how far you might have to go to win on PL. But do keep in mind that sometimes Hotwire will be more generous with it's ratings than PL is. A recent Vienna hotel was a 5* on Hotwire, but a 4* on PL. If you want more specific bidding advice, post back your dates, the zones in which you are interested, and the star level at which you'd like to bid. With the weak economy, there have been some surprisingly low wins. So - if you have time for the bidding, don't be afraid to first explore the lower levels. Romelle FYI - you can also win hotels on PL that have never been seen there before. I speak from experience! Twice!! (Though both times I was happy with the results.)

Priceline currently also has the Westin and the Conrad on their direct buy (retail) side. Those would be possibilities when bidding. There isn't a perfect correlation between the two sides, but it at least gives you an idea of what could occur. Romelle

I'm glad it finally worked out for you. Thanks for reporting back. Beyond the fact that I really like to hear the ends of stories, there are undoubtedly other other people reading this thread that now will know to try that little "city specials" button. Hope you have a great visit. Romelle You mentioned using the links here for PRICELINE and HOTWIRE, but did you also know there were links to the various auto rental companies under the "support page Links" tab? Just making sure you've found them....

I tried some things I usually try, and seemed to run into pretty much the same ugly numbers you have been seeing. I've no idea what your plans are, but have you even thought of just using public transportation? It is a well concealed secret, but LA actually has a pretty functional network of trains and buses. It takes some advanced planning, some study, and some adjustment, but is at least worth considering IMHO. And then combine it with a few cab rides to close any gaps you can't fill with the trains and buses. When you are doing the math, by the time you add in gas and insurance and the extras those rental places always add, the total for car rental would support quite a few cab rides. LA is tough to drive in, and there is something very liberating about just stepping off public transportation and not having to find a parking place. Romelle

I know you said "road trip" for this one, but you might find some interesting comments if you also posted on: www.flyertalk.com/forum/south-454/ The core interest is flying, but one has to land somewhere, and somebody (or lots of somebodies) are usually also interested in discussing destinations (or almost anything else, for that matter). Romelle And maybe you will fly your next trip? FlyerTalk fits right in with the other sites you mentioned.

Le Meridien is also a 4* on their direct buy (non-bid) side. Romelle Another good example of HOTWIRE ratings being higher than PRICELINE's. I usually assume about 1/2*, but this is a full star!

I'm on my second ban. But I learned that within a couple weeks I could again freely browse TOBB results. Somehow my address gets reset or something. I use a Mac, OS X, Safari, Comcast if any of that makes a difference. While an anonymizer works, straight in is much faster. You might check to see if you again have access. Don't try to actually sign on again though or you will immediately be banned again, as I suppose there is also a list of banned ScreenNames. I think we will very soon have another new member here. I just read a posted win (nice detail, too) on TOBB that carefully apologizes The Link wasn't used..... Zap. Anyway, may I add my welcome to the newest refugees here! I'm a rule follower too, and respectful of other's turf. Had never been banned anywhere else either. No life of crime. I felt bad at first, but now guess the reaction is more sort of proud. Romelle

Try putting your dates in HOTWIRE (top of screen here, left hand side). That will give you an idea of what might be feasible for your dates. One tends to be able to do a little better bidding via Priceline, so the Hotwire numbers will be sort of a max. Then look down in the New York area to see if there are any PL bidding results reported for your dates. Rates vary a lot by date though, so it needs to be the same dates, not just in the same month or close. There also are a number of good discussions about areas in the New York general area (first one, above the HOTWIRE and PRICELINE specific ones). The post by mommysaver elicited a nice list of areas, and some reasons why. One caveat - HOTWIRE sometimes is a little more generous in their hotel rating than Priceline - perhaps 1/2 a star. Romelle

www.dcducks.com is great fun for kids. A sleeping bag for third kid? I think they will love the metro. When I've had kids there, after I explained the logic of the thing (routes marked with names of end points, etc.) they were mapping far faster than I could. I gave up and let them lead. Romelle

I think you'll be happy with the Sheraton. I stayed there with a granddaughter a couple years ago for 6 nights. You will be just across the street from where a lot of the big cruise ships dock. And next door is a ColdStone Creamery. Our program rapidly became to rush out in the morning to see what new ships had arrived. And then to top off the day sitting outside with our incredible ice cream, watching one of the ships majestically ease out while sounding that unforgettable horn. You are also right on the edge of Old Town, so it is easy to stroll all over it. The ferry down the street was only 50 cents for seniors! And took us over to where we could tour the Baccardi Rum factory. Well, it also took a short cab ride from the ferry stop to the factory, but still was a great deal. Romelle And you got a great price too!

London is wonderful, amazing, and I'm sure you will have a great time. For getting your body moved around, the Underground or "Tube" is can't be beat. Check into the offerings for "all you can ride". It's been a while since I've been there, so don't have current details, but some people swear by an "Oyster Card". The beauty of any of the "all you can ride" deals is you don't have to fumble with unfamiliar change and queue up to buy tickets all the time. And when you inevitably take some train in the wrong direction, you just step off and get on the right one without buying yet another ticket. "Pub grub" is fun and good, people tend to walk on the sidewalks as they drive (the opposite side from the US), the British Museum is FREE!, bus tours on those double deckers are an effective/inexpensive way to cover a lot of ground, I highly recommend an armload of guide books from your local library, and I really highly recommend the Lonely Planet London guide book for taking with you (great maps and directions and details). Oh yes, pick your lunch places by choosing the ones with the longest line. Romelle

Nicely done! I didn't think one could do that well in London. And the Holiday Inn Express is a safe bet. I haven't stayed with them in London but have elsewhere, and I think you've be happy with the whole deal. The rooms are basic, but have everything one needs for a comfortable stay. Regarding an extra charge because you are traveling alone but booked for '2 adults' - I've done that before and it has never been an issue. All I do when registering is NOT volunteer anything. If (and only if) I'm asked for the other name, I just say it is just me. The conversation has never gone beyond that. Actually, you are saving them a breakfast, so if you even get into any discussion, ask for a reduction for the saved meal! You won't get it, but it will give them something else to discuss and that will indeed be the end of the conversation. Romelle

SanAntoman There really are a lot of current threads, especially for San Juan. I almost wonder if you were having the same problem I've had. For a while, I was looking at the "Join Date" on the left of a post which is of course when somebody became a member, rather than the "Post Date" at the top center of a post, and then thinking the posts were really old. ??? Have you found the "Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins" yet? A link to it follows bright red "***NEW BOARD FEATURE". It can be pretty helpful. And if you haven't already done so, you might want to read through the FAQs and other information posted up top of this site. Romelle

Any chance it is the Fairfield Inn? I know there is one in the area. Romelle

The 5* Taj in Boston is reported as a PL win, but I couldn't find it in the Priceline hotel list pinned at the top of the area? Does it need reported somewhere else or differently to get in the list? Thank you, Romelle

New York City Los Angeles Chicago Houston Phoenix* Philadelphia San Antonio San Diego Dallas San Jose Detroit Jacksonville San Francisco Indianapolis Columbus Austin Fort Worth Memphis Charlotte Baltimore Boston 5* El Paso Milwaukee Seattle Nashville Of the top 25 cities in the US (listed above according to Wikipedia), only Phoenix and Boston have 5* hotels offered via Priceline bidding. And there weren't any 4 1/2*s either. I was going to check out the top ten by starting to bid on PL, thinking there would be several cities that had 5* possibilities. I was then going to offer you a deal that if you bid and won a 5*, and reported it here, I'd look up another 10. But with the pickings so slim, I worked my way on down the list. First was only going to another 5, but no 5*s. And then another 5. Still not another hit. Finally, on #21-Boston there was 5* availability. I kept going on to 25 just to have a nice round number, and then also checked my home town area (Minneapolis and Saint Paul - also NO). So - I'm hoping if indeed you do bid for a 5* in either Phoenix or Boston you will report the win back here. And maybe even throw in a review after your stay? We don't have reported winnings for either city at the 5* level. I didn't watch for Resort level as I was checking. Hope we hear from you again. Romelle

Yes, you have to start again when your 24 hours is up, assuming you can't change your dates. You used your free rebid for this time period. Did you read that thread slick_gd mentioned? It was a good suggestion. Romelle

To see if there are any zones that do not have 4* Priceline offerings, all you have to do is be on PL and hit the button for that zone. Then look down below and see which zones get highlighted as biddable. I haven't looked there lately, but last time I looked there was only one zone available to be used as a free rebid. Check each zone individually. It is important that people do this just before a bidding session as it can change at any moment. You were right to not accept the counter offer. Just gradually work up though that range until you get a hit. You have so much time until your trip. Sometimes hotels don't give inventory to PL until the very last minute. For now, if you want to keep bidding, do stay down at a comfortable level and see what happens. You can always go higher later. The other thing you can change in a bidding session is your dates. Often that really isn't an option, but sometimes it is. Romelle

I'm a little unsure of your question. To insure getting a 4* hotel in New York City, all you have to do is check the 4* area. Priceline will only award you a 4* (or higher in the case of an upgrade). Maybe you were thinking of free-rebids? A number of zones in NYC don't have hotels at or higher than 4*. So you can add those zones "freely" and continue to increase your bid in a 24 hour time period, knowing you won't (can't) get a hotel in those zones. Doing this allows you to make more bids in the same 24 hours. Romelle

If you split your dates and look at two separate bookings via Hotwire, does at least part of the dates show up at the original better rate? Or work them down one by one and see if there is a single day that is spiking on you? I agree with yellowdog's suggestion on trying a different browser too. There is some evidence that Hotwire is able to target price like that. And I add my welcome to yellowdog's. I'm sure you will continue to find this board of great use in your travels. Romelle

One of my favorite Viennese experiences there is the true Sacher Torte at the Sacher hotel. (In fact, I bought one boxed up to go, and carried it the rest of my trip, and brought it back for my brother's birthday.) But any of their wonderful pastries will do. One of my less favorite ones was an attempt to eat at a university student cafe. I like to do things like that to get "for real" adventures. Anyway, mapped my way to the place. It turned out to be downstairs in an old building. Long wooden tables and benches. Outside was a chalkboard sign with something like "Taglish Especiality". My German is rusty, and never was that good, but I got daily special out of that. The only other word I got was "Lasagna". Sounded fine to me. So I ordered it. It sort of looked like lasagna but was white?? At least in the style of lasagna, wide thick noodles and layers of stuff. What I had missed from the sign was the word for fish..... Seems it was Friday, and on that day the lasagna served was made with fish! Not bad actually, and probably reasonably healthy. Just a surprise. If you are interested in such things, there is a wonderful museum devoted solely to furniture from earlier times. Quite a fine history lesson. Have a wonderful time. Glad you scored such a good deal. Romelle

www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/finally-really-good-senior-hotel-discount.html?id=2873896&source=nltype_senior&value=2009-04-14+00%3A00%3A00&u=3CE43AC436 I just got the above email. Note the nice mention of betterbidding,com! Romelle

nwa747 You got a really nice win! Rome tends to be a tough city in which to bid successfully. But others will miss your bid, buried at the end of this thread. While only one day different from Roni's win, you were able to score a lower price. That could be an important bit of info for somebody. Maybe you would be so kind as to repost as a New Topic, so people scanning down the titles would see your date and and the other win information? And the readers will also appreciate the information you added about the location and train availability. Thank you, Romelle

BacSi - another possible source of events in cities could be www.flyertalk.com - TheWorld section - and Europe within that. Amazing breadth of information on that site. Romelle

I don't know how much experience you've had with hotels in Europe vs hotels in the US. Very loosely, a 4* in Europe can be more like a 3* in the US. So a 3.5* in Europe would be more like a 2.5* in the US. Just a heads up. You might look on Expedia or one of the similar sites to see roughly what you get for $98, just for another rough check. Romelle