AmyA

I used the PRICELINE link to bid for a car rental pick up/drop off at AUS airport for 09/12/2011 - 09/18/2011. Bid of $17/day was accepted by National. Your Offer Price: $17.00 (per day) Total Rental Days: 6 days Subtotal: $102.00 Taxes and Fees: $90.15 Total Charges: $192.15 Lowest Published Price: $385.10 (USD) Total Savings:* $192.95 (USD) (You saved 50%) My initial bids for a compact car were $14, $15 and $16. HOTWIRE rate for a compact car for these days is ~$20/day.

Bid of $14/day on full size car for dates 09/08/11 - 09/12/11 accepted by Avis (total cost for the 4 days is $89.27 including taxes) The HOTWIRE posted rate for full size car for these dates is $19/day

I wasn't having much luck with scoring a 4* room in Ottawa for May 11-15, 2010 at bids up to $85, so after doing some research on Hotwire (where I discovered that there was a 4* room in Ottawa available for the dates of May 13-15, 2010 for $89), I changed my request dates to May 13-15, 2010 and was able to get the 4* Marriott in Ottawa for $81, on my first try. It pays to do a little research first and be flexible with dates! I still have plenty of time to figure out what to do with the other 2 nights (May 11-12). I used the PRICELINE link to begin bidding.

I had previously used PRICELINE to book a room at Calgary Marriott for 1 night at $58 (25/10/2009-26/10/2009), but I now needed a couple extra nights prior to this date, and the "extend your stay" was not an option for those dates. I used the PRICELINE links to start bidding for one room in Calgary for a two-night stay from 23/10/2009 to 25/10/2009. First bid: 3.5* Calgary (Downtown). Bid $58. Rejected. Second bid: 3.5* Calgary (Downtown), added free rebid zone Calgary (South) (no 3.5* in that zone). Bid $63, was accepted at the Calgary Marriott. Total with taxes is 147.98 (USD) for the two nights. Thanks to BetterBidding and its contributors.

Used the PRICELINE links to begin bidding. First room - dates Oct. 14 - Oct. 18, 2009 Bid $62 for 3.5* in Dupont Circle. Bid rejected Added free rebid zone DC-Suburbs. Bid $65. Bid accepted at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Second room - dates Oct. 13 - Oct. 17, 2009 Bid $65 for 3.5* in Dupont Circle. Bid accepted at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Thanks to the Better Bidding forum for the helpful information.

I used the PRICELINE links to start bidding for one room in Calgary for a one-night stay from 25/10/2009 to 26/10/2009. First bid: 4* Downtown Calgary. Bid $57. Rejected. Second bid: 4* Downtown Calgary, added free rebid zone "Airdrie" (no 4* in that zone). Bid $62. Also rejected Third bid: 4* Downtown Calgary, added free rebid zone "Cochrane" (no 4* in that zone). Bid $66. Also rejected. Fourth bid: 3.5* Downtown Calgary. Bid $58. Accepted by the Marriott Calgary Hotel. :) Thanks to this site and to all the contributing bidders for sharing their successes.

We used the BetterBidding PRICELINE link to bid. Before bidding, we researched previous successful bids on this forum, which was very helpful. We needed 3 rooms for the nights of 12/31/09 - 01/03/10 (3 nights) for a pre-cruise stay. We wanted to be close to the pier and historic Old San Juan, so we were hoping for the 3.5* Old San Juan Sheraton. Selected 3.5* in San Juan. Bid $74, which was rejected. Opened new window. Selected 3.5* in San Juan and Ponce for free rebid (since Ponce has no 3.5* hotels). Bid $82. This bid was accepted by Old San Juan Sheraton. Taxes and fees added were an extra $11.06/night per room (which seems a bit low? I thought Puerto Rico hotels had at least a 22% tax). This is a good price. To compare, the Old San Juan Sheraton website lists rooms starting at $232+ /night. Hotwire shows a hotel with the same amenities going for $103/night for these nights -- which is likely the Old San Juan Sheraton, based on what I have read from other bidder's posts in the HOTWIRE forum. If this is so, PRICELINE saved us $21/night per room over the HOTWIRE prices. (Sorry - the title of this topic has the wrong dates - it should read 12/31/09 - 01/03/10. Thanks.)

I'm in town for business for a few days, wanted to extend my stay by 1 day for pleasure and needed a more budget-friendly alternative to the conference hotel which I'm staying at, so I decided to try my luck with Priceline. Bid strategy: I used the PRICELINE link through this site and advice on this forum. I bid for the night of 10/26/08 which is a Sunday night. Bid History: White House - Downtown, 4 star, $65 Bid Rejected Closed window, opened new window using PRICELINE link on this site, and tried again Convention Ctr - Capitol Hill area, 4 star, $65 Bid Rejected Closed window, opened new window using PRICELINE link on this site, and tried again Dupont Circle - Woodley Park, 4 star, $66 Bid Accepted, for the Omni Shoreham. :) I was really suprised to win a room on my first bid in this zone. The Omni Shoreham is 0.2 miles away from the conference hotel I'm staying it so it'll be a quick and easy transfer over. Thanks to everyone who shared their advice.

I've been watching HOTWIRE prices for downtown Seattle vigilantly over the last week for the weekend nights of 09/12/08 - 09/14/08, and have only seen the prices for 3* and 4* tend to go up as we approach that weekend rather than go down. Also I've been monitoring prices at individual hotel sites, and witnessed the same thing as well -- all of the "specials" have been disappearing, prices are going up, and rooms are disappearing. Many 4* are now gone. In hindsight, I really should have booked the first day I started watching (initially Pan Pacific was having a sale of $189/room for that weekend, but the day after I saw that deal, it, too was gone!) There must be something going on that weekend (lots of conferences, perhaps)? By way of background, I also bid on PRICELINE numerous times over the past week, and went as high as $202 for 4* downtown, $130 for 3* downtown, $90 for 2.5* in Lake Union, and $137 for 4* Bellevue, to no avail. :) I finally gave up watching HOTWIRE and bidding on PRICELINE, and last night booked the Hotwire special of $179 for 3.5* downtown Pike Place (that's for 4 adults/room). The rate is $163 to $166 for 2 adults/room. The facilities are: complimentary breakfast, fitness room, pool, restaurant, business centre, laundry, internet. From my research (asking around, and looking at the hotel websites), I knew which hotel I was getting before I booked it on Hotwire (i.e. the Silver Cloud Broadway in Capitol Hill). Regular rack rate at that hotel for 4 adults/room is $189 for that weekend, so it's not like you're getting a steal on Hotwire particularly after you factor in the Hotwire-tacked-on service fees (which are around $10). But at this point, I'll take anything decent under $200, because all the rooms in Seattle are going going gone. I've heard very good reviews about the Silver Cloud Broadway so hopefully it'll be good! It's located 9 blocks from downtown (although Hotwire characterizes it as being in downtown- pike place), but there's supposed to be lots of restaurants/cafes near by and the hotel runs a free shuttle to downtown.

For the night of 11/08/07, I tried bidding 2* in Honolulu airport zone in increments up to $76 -- no luck Then tried bidding 1* and 2* in same zone, at $69, then $74 -- won bid at $74 for Pacific Marina Inn (which regularly goes for a base rate of $99). With taxes and surcharges it came out to $91.06 for the one night. I'm a bit hesitant having read the mixed reviews of this place but ah well, it's just one night; I'm arriving at Honolulu airport at just before midnight and flying out again (to Kauai) the next morning at 9 am. Technically could have planned on sleeping at the airport, too, for free, but I need my hot shower after a long flight. I suspect I may have gotten a better deal had I waited and done more bidding, but I'm not that patient. :)

Just got back from our NYC trip and it was fabulous! We saw 2 Broadway shows (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Hairspray). Both were well worth seeing -- I especially recommend Dirty Rotten Scoundrels! It was magnificient! Here's my review of the Hilton New York hotel: - very curt, abrupt staff - at check-in, they could only give us a queen-sized bed even though I had called the hotel ahead of time and specifically requested a king-sized bed - small room, but quiet - decent accommodation, nothing spectacular We also met a couple in NYC who had used Priceline to score a room at the International Barclay for $92/night. What a steal, considering it was the Easter weekend! They said they watched the prices on Hotwire, and then when they saw a hotel price drop they made a bid on Priceline. They bid 2 months in advance, whereas we started bidding 1-2 weeks ahead of time, and they have a way better deal than us!

After a few attempts bidding for 4-stars in the MTE/MTW areas, I got the Hilton New York at 1335 Avenue Of The Americas for $125/night for April 14-April 16. Total including taxes is $300 for the 2 nights.