Romelle

The bad news is there really isn't any sneaky technique to get around a one zone situation. The GOOD news is one can now bid every 2 hours! You can help the situation a little by carefully researching your next best alternative (Bidding Helper above in the header is a great tool for that), and starting not too far below that. And maybe ... gulp ... using slightly larger increments (I have to admit I'm fond of $1 increments and it tears me up to leave money on the table). Dates? Romelle

The add a night feature is good later. The trick is that the additional night or nights might not be at the same rate, or might not even be available. Price.line usually also sends a separate email later again offering the car rental. But you can also bid for it, and might do a little better that way. Check Hot.wire and PRICELINE EXPRESS also before bidding to see what those offers are. Bidding won't yield big savings, but maybe a few dollars per day. Romelle

Days Inn 789 East Milltown Road Wooster, OH 44691 I'm returning a granddaughter to college. I could have bid, but I needed two beds, so took this PRICELINE EXPRESS deal that offered a bed choice. $46.00 /room night Nights: 3 Room Subtotal: $138.00 Taxes & Fees: $27.96 Total Charged: $165.96 Free Parking Free Internet Free Breakfast Indoor or Outdoor Pool Fitness Center Bed Choice I've stayed at this one before. It doesn't have a very good rating, but I thought it very workable and nice. Great breakfast, people were nice, rooms were comfortable. While I didn't know which hotel might show up with Priceline Express, Priceline only has 5 hotels 2.5* and above listed on the retail side for Wooster. Days Inn is the least expensive, so I figured it was the worst I could do. I saved about $20 over a direct purchase. Might buy a book for her school? J. M. Smucker's has their company store and cafe nearby. Rubbermaid has an outlet downtown. Romelle

My prior bid was $31. Guess I'll never know if $32 would have worked. I started at $25. Got warnings I was too low all the way up. And counter-offers of either $36 or $38 each time. I'm happy with the deal. Romelle

I'm a member, not one of the people who provides the "educated guesses" as to which hotel is likely. But, I'm hoping you already have any necessary visa for this trip? Or at least your application is well on its way? Romelle

Heide, An easy way to check possible results from bidding is to just enter your dates into Hot.wire and/or PRICELINE EXPRESS. With Priceline bidding one can generally count on doing a little better, but the rates from HW and PE can suggest a bidding ceiling. Do roughly adjust the results from Priceline and Hotwire for Hotwire's more generous allocation of stars. There seems to be a tendency for Hot.wire to be about a 1/2* higher. There are exceptions both with the two systems having the same ratings, and there being a full star difference. But the general tendency is definitely there. Romelle

Rebecca, Some good tools: 1 - http://matrix.itasoftware.com - sometimes referred to as "ITA" It lets you use a range of dates, and nearby airports. Very powerful. A bit of a learning curve, but totally worth it. 2 - www.kayak.com - lots easier but not as powerful. 3 - https://www.google.com/flights/ - same comments as Kayak. Any of these can give you an idea of where the low spots are. And then you can try to do better than that for those dates via bidding. It looks like somewhere around $350 is the number to beat. But also check the smaller airlines lines like Spirit and Jet Blue. Sometimes they have some surprising deals. Romelle

That 8+ rating suggests it is one of the better 2*s. Besides AaronJB's educated guess of the Quality Inn, the other two hotels members have received via Priceline bidding (Red Roof and Travelodge) both have much lower ratings. That 40% savings rate is something like your second thought. A comparison with a number of 2* properties. Romelle

It is the case with Price.line bidding (beds for two adults, so worst case could be a double or two twins), although one can contact the hotel after bidding and make a request. With PRICELINE EXPRESS one sometimes sees an amenity for requesting different bed configurations. With Hot.wire one can put in either 2 adults and 1 child, or 3 adults. The result might be a pull-out sofa or a cot, but there will be at least a second bed. In fact, I just did that when traveling with my teen-aged grandson. Romelle

Up in the header is "Hotel Lists". If you click that and follow on through, you can find the hotels other members have reported here as getting via Priceline bidding, Priceline Express, and Hotwire. It might give you some additional information before taking the plunge. Do look carefully at those maps. If there is a hook in the edge way out, you can assume there is a hotel there and you could get it. Think worst case when deciding if a zone is for you or not. Romelle

For watching for rate drops, don't miss that big red "Introducing Our Newest Site:" up above. Yes, a new thread for the second stay. Romelle

There is public bus service from the airport to the cruise terminal. You could split your party and send the more agile ones with the lighter luggage via bus. Then use the more expensive shuttle for everybody else and the bulkier luggage. Romelle

Is this Jan 29 to Feb 16? Romelle

Reasons on the high car rental prices at the airport I can think of so far: 1 - There are some airport specific taxes/fees included. 2 - Because they can. It is like the price of beer at a ball park. 3 - Even in the off season there can be events - big conferences, expos, sports things. Probably some more ... Are you thinking of bidding via Priceline? Sometimes one can get really good deals that way. But it is necessary to first do the homework of finding out the next best price so you don't overbid. If it is an event situation, sometimes shifting your rental a day can let you miss that peak demand. I once found one in Florida that changed many dollars if I shifted just a few hours. Hard to say on the taxi question. It depends upon just how good a deal you can find off-site + the taxi cost VS what it costs at the airport. The longer your rental, the more likely the equation could make sense. And the non-economic cost of the inconvenience and time loss has to be considered. Any specific numbers you've researched so far? Romelle

For the record, the lack of "Pet Friendly" does not necessarily mean pet free. I learned that the hard way a while back. I'd booked a Hotwire hotel that didn't say "Pet Friendly", but the one I got announced "Pet Friendly" on its web site. One grandson has serious allergies, and I had to talk my way out of that booking. A challenge, but they eventually gave in to a seriously concerned grandmother. I'm glad this one worked out for you. Romelle

If you know from other sources the Club Quarters is both pet free and smoke free, you might be wise to nab it. There actually isn't a "pet free" amenity, so with bidding, PRICELINE EXPRESS and Hot.wire you can't be assured of it. With the "educated guess" indicating Club Quarters, I'd guess that is about as close as you will be able to get to a definite thing. Romelle

You've got lots of time yet. You can bid every 2 hours now, as opposed to only every 24 hours as it used to be. Take another look at thereuare's last post. It isn't suggesting going up to 3 1/2*, but rather staying at the 3* level and adding the three re-bid zones one at a time. There is a good explanation of rebid zones in the blue link he noted. Click on it to link on into the explanation. Essentially, the re-bid zones are ones that do not have bidding availability at the star level you are bidding, or higher. They are used to let one make more bids. If you think you've got it, but are still unsure, it is a very good idea to post back here the zones you believe are the re-bid ones. Somebody will double-check your understanding. Or if the link still doesn't make sense, post back with that and you will be helped further. Romelle

I'm a member, not any board official, but thought I'd help get your thinking moving along for your new dates. If you pull up the PRICELINE EXPRESS offers for the new dates, you will see a North Strip 5* non-casino hotel for $186 (+- maybe a couple dollars). Most likely the Trump. And a South Strip 5* for $184. That is significantly different from the budget you originally posted. While bidding is still possible, and might yield a slightly better result, the question is whether you want a new bidding pattern up to that range or a different plan. There is a 4* South Strip for $147. Or? Romelle

You can bid two rooms at a time. You also can now bid every 2 hours rather than the previous 24 hours. It is not too early to be bidding. I've gotten good deals up to 7 months ahead of time. But I hope you wait before bidding, and post all the requested info the moderators need to suggest a bidding strategy. They often have ideas and suggestions us mere mortals miss. Romelle (A member/mere-mortal, not a moderator/administrator)

Your understanding is correct. But just to be totally safe, if you post the list of zones you believe are your Miami 4* re-bid zones, somebody here will double check. But even after they are confirmed, you always need to check them just before a bidding session. They change. Romelle

Yes, your understanding is correct about the rebid zones, and there are 4 at the 4* level. If you are still uncomfortable with the idea, you could post the 4 you believe are the right ones and somebody here will double check for you. One caution - always check the rebid zones JUST before a bidding session. They do change from time to time. Romelle

If you use the white Search box top right, entering 'plantation', and making sure you've selected "Forum" next to it, you'll see lots of postings on this site. Have you tried actually getting into Priceline and/or Hotwire in the two boxes just above? Without actually doing it, I'm not sure whether you will need Fort Lauderdale or just Plantation (part of a zone in Fort Lauderdale). One or the other should work and give you some possibilities. If you meant by "seeing nothing" that there weren't any Priceline Express (or Hotwire) 3 1/2* offers for your dates, and had correctly gotten into the systems, that could mean you are looking on a date when everything is already booked. Romelle

I didn't do any research as to what the hotel offers might be. I just posted the Hard Rock zones as information for you. If you want an educated guess from the experts here (I'm not one of them), you can post the details of an offer - date, zone, price, number of adults/children used in your search, and all amenities. The best way to pick up all the amenity information is using the Bidding.Helper.com tool at the top of this page. Once the search is completed, use the EASY VIEW TAB and click the GREEN BUTTON next to this listing to view the complete set of amenities. It is a good guess, but never an absolute. Sorry for the confusion. Romelle

Have you looked at Priceline retail offers ("list view")? While it is possible to get a hotel via bidding not offered via retail, you will get more understanding of the geography, price range and general types of hotels at the different star levels. There are three bidding zones. If you elect to bid, you need to decide whether all of them are OK, or only one or two. Priceline Express has offers for the Naha and Okinawa City areas and at various star levels. Romelle

The Hard Rock is a 4* East of Strip on Hot.wire, and a 4* Near Strip East on PRICELINE EXPRESS. In the Hotel Lists there is a note on PL Experss that it charges an additional $22 Resort Fee. Undoubtedly it will be the same for Hot.wire. However, the number might not be current, so consider it a minimum. You can experiment a bit with 3/3 and 4/2 splits on PE and HW to see what shows up and what might work best for you. Your night #4 being a Friday, it may make a difference. Romelle