Robintexas

Bidding for three nights, Williamsburg VA - either zone - beginning June 1 '09. Bid 2.5* at $38/night. First bid successful, so it is possible a lower bid could win. Clarion Hotel Williamsburg 351 York Street Total for 3 nights with taxes/fees - $138.62. Reviews are less than glowing, but hoping for the best - not a bad price though.

(Well I never hit on my first bid - but this time I did!!) Bidding for one night Amsterdam 3* in Schiphol Airport zone (night before flight home) May 5, 2008. No rebid zones, but plenty of time to change bids as needed. (Cheapest AMS property on Hotwire was $123 for 2.5* I think.) ACCEPTED at $85 Courtyard by Marriott AMS Kruisweg 1401 Hoofddorp, The Netherlands Total for one night with taxes and fees - $98.74

Bidding for one night Houston 2.5* in Hobby Airport zone (night before an early a.m. flight) February 21, 2008. Three free rebid zones for 2.5* Rejected at $35 and $38. ACCEPTED at $41 and upgraded to 3* Marriott Houston Hobby Airport 9011 Gulf Freeway Total for one night with taxes and fees - $55.18

Bidding for two nights Los Angeles 2.5* in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Downtown or Hollywood - February 22-24, 2008. One free rebid zone - Lawndale. Began bidding at $49 with incremental increases. Rejected at 46/54/57/59/61/63/65. (Bidding continued on more than one day.) NOTE: Received counteroffer at $59 bid to add $17. Also received same $17 counteroffer at $63 the next day. ACCEPTED at $65 and upgraded to 3* Sheraton LA Downtown 711 S. Hope St. Total for two nights with taxes and fees - $166.17

Bidding for two nights San Diego - any area 2.5* - February 24-26, 2008. Three free rebid zones - East County, Natl City, San Ysidro. Began bidding at $46 with incremental increases. Rejected at 46/49/51/52/55/57/60/61/63. (Bidding continued on more than one day.) ACCEPTED at $65 and upgraded to 3* Lake San Marcos Resort (Escondido - Vista) 1025 La Bonita Drive Lake San Marcos, California 92078 Total for two nights with taxes and fees - $153.63

Bidding for one night LAX area 2.5* - February 1, 2008. One free rebid zone - Lawndale. Began bidding at $35 with incremental increases. Rejected at 35/39/43/45. (Bidding continued on more than one day.) ACCEPTED at $49 La Quinta Inn And Suites LAX 5249 West Century Boulevard Total for one night with taxes and fees - $63.31

Bidding for two nights beginning 10/3/07 - any star level is fine - close to Norcross GA. Hotwire shows $27/night for a 2-star in Norcross (washing machine only amenity, so sounds like an extended stay property). So try a little lower on Priceline. Bid $23 for 2 star Peachtree Corners - Norcross. Rejected. Add 1 star for $23. Accepted. ESA Atl-Norcross 200 Lawrenceville St. Norcross GA Total for 2 nights with faxes/fees - $60.06. Could have started lower perhaps!

Bidding for one night LAX - August 6, 2007. 2.5 star. (One free rebid zone - Lawndale). Bid $52. Rejected. Bid $62. Accepted. Upgraded to 3 star Hilton Los Angeles Airport 5711 West Century Boulevard Total with tax/fee $78.35

Some airlines are stricter on not allowing you to keep the residual amount from a voucher. I really like NW's system now - my voucher was electronically linked to my FF account - so even if I had lost it, I would have been able to use it as stored value. They also allow residual. As mentioned above, normally a $$ voucher is better than a "Free Flight" voucher (counter-intuitive) as a free flight voucher comes often from the limited seat availability for award flights.

Bidding for 3 nights San Diego 3* or 2.5* - prefer any of the following zones: Mission Valley, Coronado, Point Loma, SD Coastal or Sorrento Mesa. Began bidding very low at $46 with incremental increases with free rebids. After running out of rebids would do the same for 2.5*. Eventually got up to bidding as high as $93/night for both 3* and 2.5* - all rejected. Started new bid at $75 for 3*. Rejected. Bid $85. Accepted. (NOTE: Good lesson not to forget new properties can be added at any time!) Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina 1441 Quivira Rd. Total for 3 nights with tax/fee - 293.99

Bidding for 3 nights - beginning 8/12/07 - looking at Hollywood, Burbank or Pasadena. These are in three separate areas so have to be bid separately. One free rebid for each. Bid 60/65 for 3* for Hollywood - same for Pasadena - same for Burbank - all rejected. Started over next day - bid 70/75 for Hollywood. Rejected. Bid 70 for Pasadena. Accepted. Sheraton Pasadena 303 E. Cordova Total for 3 nights with tax/fee - 247.11 Later realized I should have bid for 4 nights - so added a night. The next night came in at $84 (103.06 with tax/fee).

Bidding for one night 8/11/07 - Orange County. Several free rebid zones. Bid $44 for Buena Park/Disneyland/Fullerton/Costa Mesa/Dana Point/Newport. Rejected Rebid at $49. Accepted. Embassy Suites Irvine-OC Airport 2120 Main St. Irvine CA Total for one night with tax/fee - 62.19

Bidding for two nights 3* Sedona - one free rebid. Bid 65, 70. Rejected. Next day bid 75, 80. Rejected. Next day bid 85. Accepted. Radisson Poco Diablo Resort Total for 2 nights with tax/fee - 197.31

Bidding for one night Albuquerque - 3* - any zone - three free rebid zones. Bid 30, 34, 38, 42 all rejected. New bids next day, bid 45, 48. Accepted at 48. Park Plaza Hotel Total for one night with tax/fee - 61.80.

Bidding for one night 8/7/07 in Amarillo - 2.5* (only available in Amarillo West - one free rebid zone). Took four days to "hit" with bids at 30, 35, 40, 45, 48, 52, 56, 60 Accepted at $60. Ambassador Hotel Amarillo 3100 I-40 West Total for one night with tax/fee - $76.76.

Bidding for one night 8/30/07 - 2* or up - Austin - prefer South/Airport but Downtown acceptable. Bid $32 for South. Added downtown and bid $36. Rejected. After 24 hours, rebid $39 for South. Accepted. La Quinta Inn Ben White 4200 I 35 South Total with tax/fee $52.17 (I had also bid up to $42 for 2* in Bastrop TX - also an acceptable bid for us for proximity to AUS but listed as a different city)

Bidding for 5 nights beginning 8/31/07. Any of the OC zones, 3 star. Began bidding at $40, and raised free rebids in 4 dollar increments. Accepted at $52/night. Hyatt Regency Orange County 11999 Harbor Blvd. Garden Grove, CA Total for 5 nights with taxes/fees $301.20

Bidding for one night - April 9 - just need an inexpensive room for myself before an early morning flight on 4/10. Bid $28 for 2* - included Round Rock, Austin North and Austin South. Rejected Added Austin Northwest (NOT a free rebid) and bid $30. Accepted. Extended Stay Deluxe Austin - Northwest - Research Park 12424 Research Blvd Total for one night with taxes/fees - $41.65 Lately whenever I bid 2* I often get Extended Stay.

Bidding for one day (less than 24 hr) rental BWI - April 10, 2007. Best price (any size car) on Orbitz is around $52 with taxes....On Hotwire around $46. Bid accepted for Alamo midsize on Priceline at $24. Total with taxes/fees $38.21 (I did try a $18 bid for economy and $21 bid for compact.)

Bidding for one night - April 10, 2007. 2* - Gaithersburg MD. Won bid at $37. Extended Stay Deluxe Washington DC/Gaithersburg 201 Professional Dr Gaithersburg MD Total with taxes/fees $48.72

Bidding for a full seven day car rental out of LAX - March 10-17, 2007. Bid $14 for standard size. Rejected. Bid $16 for full size. Accepted. Hertz. Total for seven days with faxes and fees - $149.58. (On Orbitz, the cheapest price for a "name" company rental for a full size was $267 with taxes - Thrifty.) By the way...a few years ago it seemed like I never got a substantially decent result on Priceline for car rentals and usually ended up using a coupon or other discount code with a direct booking. Lately I have been having excellent savings over any other deal I can find. Good job Priceline.

Bidding for one night, March 16, 2007 before flying out the next morning early. Prefer LAX zone or something close - so bid for 3* then 2.5* rebid for the following zones: LAX, Santa Monica, Redondo-Manhattan, Culver City. Started bidding several days ago with a very low bid of $37 and rebid over next few days, raising bid in $4 increments. Accepted today for $57. Crowne Plaza LAX 5985 W Century Blvd Total for 1 night with tax and fees - $72.23.

Bidding for several zones in the Burbank area (San Fernando Valley: Burbank, Studio City, Van Nuys, or Warner Center) four nights beginning 3/10/07 - prefer 2.5 * or higher. Started bidding a few days ago with low ball bids around $37 I think. Rebid each day in $4 increments. Accepted today for a $57 bid. Airtel Plaza Hotel & Conf Center 7277 Valjean Ave Van Nuys, CA Total for 4 nights with taxes/fees - $267.17

Bidding for one night May 8, 2007. Prefer 2 star level or higher - bidding in these Manhattan areas (downtown, midtown east, midtown south, midtown west, upper midtown cp south). Bid $69 for 2.5 star, then rebid same for 2 star rejected. After 24 hrs bid $75 for same, rejected. After 24 hrs bid $81 for same. Accepted for 2 star in Midtown South. Best Western Convention Center Midtown South 522 W 38th St Total for one night with taxes and fees - $102.22. This is less than we spent per night to stay in Manhattan on our first trip 23 years ago! Snagged round trips on Jet Blue (no ice in May I hope) for only $114 each all-in round trip from Houston - so this will be a nice quick theater trip to the Big Apple.

Hotwire shows a 2* for $39 that night - but I don't have nearly as much experience with Hotwire as with Priceline. Maybe you could dig through back posts and identify which property it is. Good price anyway.