Romelle

BacSi If you are thinking of bidding, it would be good of you to start a separate thread with your specific dates, desired star level(s), zone(s), etc. That would keep it separate from Dolphin's post, and more useful to other readers. Are your dates perhaps exactly the same as Dolphin's? For that matter, have you started bidding yet? To confirm to yourself that a hotel can't be gotten at a lower rate, the easiest way to do that is to place a bid. Then you will know for sure. Of course, make sure you are OK with actually going ahead, because once you bid and it wins, you've bought it. You need to take a look at the rates for YOUR DATES on a couple sites like Expedia and Hotwire. Those are real and you can really buy for them. The postings on Tripadvisor are some sub-sample of them, and ...I hate to say this but it needs brought out .... dependent on the honesty/exactness of the posters. Some people like to brag of a good deal, others might forget to mention the taxes or even type the dates wrong. Most are well-intentioned, but there are exceptions. Romelle And Dolphin - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Can't think of a better place to spend it than AMS! Romelle

The amount that will win a bid varies by date. A LOT. Munich hotels are out of sight during OctoberFest. Frankfurt hotels are out of sight whenever there are major fairs at the exhibition halls. I don't know examples of Amsterdam events, but the same logic applies. Bids in dollars for the exact same foreign city and date will win at different levels when there are shifts in the dollar and euro/pound/yen/?. What will win will change when a lower price hotel fills up, and bidders are left with only availability in more expensive places (still same star level). Last minute bids might work at levels much lower than earlier bids if a hotel decides to jump in an offer unsold inventory a few days before the actual date. So - First - I don't think you need to worry about how hotels set their rates. It is confidential to the hotel and Priceline. There is theory here, and probably reasonably well-founded theory, but one really doesn't need to understand it in order to bid. Your brain power is best spent investigating current rates for your dates and working out a bidding strategy. There are various ways to get an idea of what might work when bidding. You get a pretty good clue when someone has won for your exact same dates, zone and city. BUT - that person may have gotten the last of that hotel's rooms, and you have to go higher to win at a more expensive hotel. OR - it is even possible when bidding closer to your date to find a better deal (New York seems to only put out the good stuff at the last minute.) Close dates might give you a general idea, but major events throw that off. Hotwire is a good easy check. One usually can do better via bidding on PL. I've seen quite a few different estimates on the variance, but they seem to center around 5 to 10%. There are even rare reported incidences of people paying more via Priceline than via Hotwire. There is of course the problem that Hotwire ratings are probably more generous than Priceline ratings, by maybe a 1/2 star. Looking up actual hotel rates from their web sites (rack rates) is always informative, and should be done as a matter of course before bidding. Sometimes hotels have web specials that are lower than the rates at which bids will win. Las Vegas is a good example of the possibility of this. You can also spot the extra high$ "event" days. Usually though, one can think about bidding at maybe 1/2 the hotel's rack rates. Looking up rates via Expedia is handy as they show you a range of dates for up to two weeks. To answer you question about what would happen if the OP bid $75-$80 for the 5*, the most probable thing is the bid would simply be rejected since it has already been established that $141 won't win. The one exception to that is if a new hotel had just added some very inexpensive rooms to the Priceline inventory after the rejection of the $141. Unlikely, but I had to note the theoretical possibility. Summer in Amsterdam just tends to be really expensive, and events can make it even more expensive. So - long answer, as you really had more questions buried there, and they were complex, not stupid. It would take a monumental computer glitch for Priceline to reject a bid just because it was too high. 99.99999etc. sure that was not what happened. On another post, I just saw somebody patting him/herself on the back for continuing to win at X-dollars. What the poster didn't recognize was that hotels are in so much trouble right now that I am reasonably sure a bid of 20% less would have won. Priceline had no trouble accepting this too-high bid. Romelle The presence of the counter-offer is a for sure indication that Priceline has something. The trick is to find out where it is. All one knows is something will work between the last bid and the counter.

At the bottom of this site there are some counters. A new high total visitors was set April 6, 2009. Romelle

I've bid a span of 10 days, then just the first five, and then just the second five. Neither of the last two bids got tagged as duplicates. I did this daily for a couple weeks as I worked up $1 a day. There was an event in town across the second five of my days. The rack rates looked odd, with some hotels having higher rates in the earlier days and some having higher rates in the second. I preferred not to have to move, but was willing to if there was too much difference in what it took to win all 10 days at once. Romelle

lacuandra, If you would please report your nice win as a "New Topic" it won't get lost in this one and people not see it. Be sure and include the star level and the Paris zone. Thank you. You got a great deal. Romelle

marnie_g Thanks for reporting. Your approach is good. You almost always can do better than those counter offers. You have plenty of time too. Don't be surprised if you bid maybe $83 for a 3* or $87 for a 4* (each $1 over your last reported bids) and you still get the counter offer of $22 (or even a higher number). Seems to be a psychological gimmick by PL to panic people into taking the counter-offer, when indeed another dollar or two might be the winning bid. $22 is sort of a magic number that shows up a lot on European counter offers. If you are really ambitious, you could also keep an eye on the exchange rate of the Euro to the dollar. If the dollar gets stronger, you might not even have to increase your bid to get an increased amount in the Euros at which the hotel is set. Romelle

You might check the other airline sites linked from support page I didn' push it all the way, but it looked like Site59 might let you try for one-ways. Romelle

Regarding that "binding contract" part - it is! People able to get out of a deal are few and far between. Best to assume there are no options after you have accepted a bid. Further, when you accept a bid, your credit card gets dinged right then. I learned this the hard way once when I thought I was putting in a "low ball" offer in London, some 5 or 6 months ahead of time. It was accepted, and I scrambled to fund that particular credit card bill. Hadn't been planning on payment right then for 10 hotel nights much later. Romelle

Thanks slick_gd for giving that reference to "Don't bid higher for a specific hotel". I looked for something like that first, and didn't find it. Now I know where to look. Romelle

marnie_g When you look at those prior results in other countries, you have to take the currency exchange rates into consideration. I believe that when the $57 rate was won the Euro was less expensive against the dollar than it is now. Of course there are lots of other factors at play also like the hotel simply changing the rate, different dates, etc. When you have enough time (and energy) to make more bids, it usually is a good idea to explore the range between a failed bid and a counter offer. Even an additional dollar can turn the trick. Romelle And I'm wondering about that Brussels in your title and Amsterdam in the body of your note??

I'll do the easy ones for you. Priceline doesn't offer any 5* for bidding in Paris as of now. The first (top) thread in this Other Countries area has a list of Paris (Eiffel tower area) hotels people have reported here as having won. There are only three on the list, but it is always possible to get one not yet reported (speaking from experience). So - if you are familiar with Yahoo maps, a way to check distances is to put in the Eiffel Tower address and the hotel address. Yahoo will give you a map with the route and mileage and even driving time. Alternatively, somebody here who knows the area may well jump in and offer those distances for you. Interesting question on whether bidding higher increases chances for a better hotel. Assume there are three PL offerings in the zone and star level you are bidding - A at $80, B at $90, and C at $100. If you start your bidding low and creep up, when you hit $80 you will get hotel A. However, if you jump in and bid $90, there really isn't any way of telling whether you will get hotel A or hotel B. Both are in the pool to be won, and Priceline doesn't explain their logic. Regarding avoiding Novotel, there is nothing one can do to keep from getting a particular hotel, other than to not bid in that zone. Have you read the general material at the top of this site? Particularly the Questions and Suggestions? Always a good idea. Romelle

The Sofitel is a beautiful, elegant hotel. I think you will be happy with it. I was surprised though that it didn't have shuttle service. The cab fare sounded steep until I checked Supershuttle. On them, it would be $38 if you got a round trip, $20 each way. You usually can poke around the web and find a $3 off coupon which helps a little. Downtown Minneapolis is almost 20 miles away. Romelle

There is a wonderful tour in Washington, DC that uses an amphibious duck. You know your 5-year-old, but I think most kids would purely love it. It goes both on land and on water, and is quite dramatic. Your older kid would get the adventure of it all, the baby might fall asleep from the motion, and you might actually get to see a little of the city and hear a little about it. Romelle

If you look at the list of Orlando -WDW hotels in first post on this Florida area, you will see the all the hotels you mention are classed as Resort, so I'm assuming you will want to choose resort type when bidding? You might also want to read through the Questions and Suggestions area at the very beginning of this site. When bidding, you ONLY get to choose hotel type (Resort, 4*, 3*, etc.). Within that type, you won't know which hotel you get from Priceline until you actually win the bid. Romelle

I'm sure you will get official bidding advice soon here. I'm just a fellow member, but wanted to chime in a bit. You sound as if you've already done some bidding in other areas? Are you planning on the Eurostar between London and Paris? It is sometimes known as the "Chunnel" train. I think you will find Paris hotels to be more costly than the London ones for comparable quarters, but people have been winning in both at much lower bids lately. The stronger dollar vs both the pound and euro is one factor, and the difficult economy another. Both cities have well developed public transportation systems, so lots of different zones could be workable for you. This will help your bidding process. You might want to take a look at the Priceline bidding zones in both cities, and do what you can in terms of ruling them in or out, as that will help with the bidding advice you will get. This is one of those situations where you get more specificity if you supply more specificity. Sounds like you have the makings of a wonderful trip. Romelle

montshiremike, Regarding Dublin, have you looked at the retail (direct purchase) side of PRICELINE? There isn't a perfect correlation, but it can at least give you a good idea of what might show up as a win on the bidding side. IMO, Dublin is not one of the easier places in which to bid. One time I gave up and actually found rooms at Trinity College. Another time I ended up going with a HOTWIRE rate. But with the economy the way it is, things may well go better for you. Romelle

Your dates at least suggest high school senior trips? Sometimes Crystal City is a little more reasonable, and there is good transportation from there. Could that work for you? Romelle

I don't know if this would work for you, but usually hotels at the airport are somewhat less expensive than those in downtown Seattle, and there is pretty decent public transportation from the airport. Also, parking is free at a lot of the airport hotels. Since your friend is flying in anyway, maybe the airport could serve as a base for you during the visit, rather than a downtown hotel? You can look at various postings here, and on Hotwire, to get an idea of possible rates. Also, you can look at the reviews to see if it seems a possibility. Romelle You can see a list of possible airport hotels at www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=114&

boddicker52, I don't know what your travel plans are for Little Rock, but I found the Clinton Library interesting. Had a fun drive to Petit Jean park (spectacular scenery). Visited the Heifer project international headquarters (missed a tour though, because I hadn't carefully checked their schedule). Also, a taste of authentic Little Rock at the Oyster Bar. Coupons for that can be found via the Support/Travel Links above in Restaurant.com. Romelle

I think the surprise of which hotel one "wins" is part of the fun of bidding. Germany is one of the safer places to bid too. You can count on hotels being spotlessly/squeaky clean. Munich has a nice network of public transportation so you are most likely OK there too. I do understand not willing to take a risk though, since I can't even talk my own brother into taking a plunge via bidding. He trusts me, just doesn't like that step off into the unknown. Romelle

If you are a swimmer, the Roseville Radisson has a really nice pool. A good swim might make sleeping easier... Romelle

Rome An easy way to check for rate fluctuation is to just use Expedia and put in a two week span across your desired dates. Romelle

marnie_g Try en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna for some quick background on Vienna. Anything from castles to United Nations to coffee houses with incredible pastries. At different times it was the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian Empire. Also had some visionary leaders in urban planning, so central streets are wide and straight, and buildings are lower. You are really early in your bidding. Might not be anything out there yet? Don't get in a hurry to go too high. Romelle

Both London and Dublin are amazing cities. You have a tough choice. I usually go to a library and check out an armload of guide books and start reading them, when faced with such a decision. Pencil in hand, and paper handy, I make lists of things I'd REALLY like to do in the candidate cities. Pretty soon one list just gets longer and more interesting and compulsive than the other. I like the Lonely Planet series to actually take with me (great maps and directions), but for this research process you want maybe 3 or 4 other ones, including those mostly picture ones. London - The Wheel, The British Museum, pint of ale and darts in a pub, pub grub, changing of the guard, various castles, ..... Dublin - Guinness brewery tour, Jamisson distillery tour, the Book of Kells, scones, that wonderful lilting speech pattern, ...... Your list will be different, but I think it will get you to a decision. Nail that airfare quickly, as this fare war won't last forever. You can sort out a place to stay after that. Along with the low airfares, hotels are feeling the economy problems also and their rates are also lower than they've been in quite a while. Other than maybe 1st night with a late arrival and/or last night for an early departure, Heathrow is too far out to stay. I agree with your advice about not renting a car. Public transportation works well, and just gives you one more view of a city and its people. You isolate yourself in a car. And you have to park it and gas it and worry about dents. Romelle

You aren't told the hotel you will have until after you have bid successfully on PRICELINE. There is no way to target a specific hotel. That Kayak rate is pretty good. It is a lot higher on the retail side of PRICELINE. Romelle