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travelAlot

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  1. FYI -- There's also a city bus for $2 (the E-2 route) that goes from the airport to downtown's central business district (Loyola & Tulane), which isn't too far from most hotels. Depends on your comfort level regarding city buses and navigating within a new city (vs being dropped off at hotel door). Also the bus runs only on weekdays, so no direct Sat-Sun-holiday service (on those days, it goes partially to downtown, requiring a transfer). Might be worth investigating as Nola is a rip-off vs most cities in airport transportation costs (i.e. $19-20/person now for shuttles based on one-way-RT or $14/person if 3+ are sharing a cab).
  2. Just wanted to alert any San Diego visitors that a 3-star bid is, as of June 9, is now limited to one total free re-bid zone -- as some of the previous 2.5-star-and-under zones now have 3-star properties. There used to be 3-4 free re-bid zones; now only San Ysidro (for obvious reasons) is the only sub-3-star zone. So only one free re-bid zone exixts if you want to immediately rebid for a 3-star. As the FAQs on this site emphasize, always always doublecheck Priceline's designation for each zone before bidding and do not assume that a hotel list or previous research still applies (new hotels open, old hotels are refurbed, etc.) With summer travel coming up, wanted to throw this out re SD.
  3. Very methodical bid with two rebids, started at $34, then $36, then $38 (might've been accepted at $37). Making it all the better was that I had an Entertainment $20 applied toward my 3-night bid so my cost was actually $31/night for a $93/night hotel that's pushing 4-stars for a Sat-Sun-Mon of a holiday (Mon) weekend. Determined that Hilton was available for these nights on Hotwire for $46 and verified that Priceline vacations far and away had the Hilton as the cheapest 3.5-4-star in this zone, so knew I'd be likely to get the Hilton. Off-Strip is a nice break, plus ou can still see the fireworks and the monorail/other transportation is quick to the Strip. One other thing for those of you strategizing: I almost went with a PL vacation package(DEN-LAS) for $270. But I was concerned that the PL choice of flights might not be what I wanted (two flights each to and from were at the same retail price, but a big difference, i.e. 6 pm vs 930 pm to Vegas and 630 am vs 8 am to Den). So I held the flights directly with my airline for $140 RT (Frontier lets you call for a 24-hour courtesy hold, a few other airlines let you book and then cancel within 24 hours) and then saw if I could bid cheaper or equal to the PL VP. I.E. My total cost was $255; VP was $269 and airline-Hotwire w Entertainment $20 rebate was $280. So definitely if a good VP comes up with PL choosing flights and multiple flights available retailwise at same price, you may want to see if you can hold the flights and bid successfully so you have more control on travel times (this will ONLY work if the desired hotel(s) are likely to come up via bid; via my research from Hotwire and PL VP I knew the Hilton would be my hotel if accepted). Just thought I'd share. I bid through the BB link to PRICELINE.
  4. Pretty easy success here, started at $60 knowing that the property was $79 on Hotwire and knowing previous successes on here pricewise would probably mean a $64-65 won bid. Immediately received a counteroffer for $75, instead rebid at $63, and was accepted. Actually paid $58 as had a $5/night Entertainment bonus -- FYI that the books are all $15 with free shipping! -- but the total bid/night amount was $63. Had some urgency in bidding (even though September) as crazy-high airfares went down and didnt want to book anything nonrefundable unless the hotel was in place. Very pleased as have never stayed in the French Quarter before, always on the periphery of the city. Linked to PRICELINE / my account via the BB link.
  5. Thanks much. Also wanted to alert regarding the Hotwire amenities for Sheraton Four Points vs Holiday Inn Mart. I did a search for friends (who were thinking of joining me for part of my stay), and found that the Non-Smoking icon along with the Trip Advisor rating of 4.5 is what IDs the Four Points. The identifiable hotel for 4/23-4/25 is clearly the Holiday Inn Mart -- the same common 6 amenities as the Four Points but a 4.0 Trip Advisor rating and no Non-Smoking icon. The latter may change soon as the HI has a whopping total of 6 smoking rooms (per its proprietary website). So if anyone is looking at the six common amenities and trying to determine the hotel, first try to match up the Trip Advisor rating and then additionally validate with/without the Non-Smoking icon.
  6. Please correct the price back to the $56 amount that I posted. That is what I paid on Hotwire. Otherwise it is misleading folks. The $20 bonus was a $20 rebate for the entire stay via the Entertainment Book.
  7. My success on this Hotwire purchase may provide help to others who are contemplating whether the amenities may be for the Holiday Inn Mart or the Sheraton Four Points. I was a but nervous during the purchase process as I was pretty sure that the Four Points (just off of Mich Ave and on Rush Street) would come up, but you never know. Very excited as this is a great hotel, very underrated, perfect location and huge rooms with free internet and a frig/microwave, indoor/outdoor pool. The amenities were Non-Smoking, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry -- the Holiday Inn is technically not fully nonsmoking (it does offer 6 total smoking rooms based on its website) and the Sheraton Four Points is fully nonsmoking...it will be interesting should the HI be a winning purchase with the nonsmoking icon....in the past the Sheraton didn't have the nonsmoking icon (I used Hotwire clues to bid on PL in 2010) The TripAdvisor stars were listed as a 4.5 rating on the purchase/amenity page -- again the Four Points matches this and the Holiday Inn shows a 4.0 rating The 95% of Hotwire customers recommend this hotel was tricky -- both hotels are in the 90s on Hotwire vacations, though the Four Points (as it should be) is upper 90s on Trip Advisor and Holiday Inn is 80s I absolutely purchased via Hotwire as the other metrics (PL packages, Hotwire packages, room rates etc) show the HI as way cheaper and more likely via a bid on PL. Lesson is don't be greedy -- maybe a $45 PL bid woulda won but why risk the HI. Plus I have an Entertainment Book $20 rebate. I first linked through Better Bidding to HOTWIRE before purchasing. Thought I'd share the success and strategy as I've seen a bunch of queries about the Sheraton Four Points and Holiday Inn with similar amenities.
  8. It's just something I've never heard of and is definitely not stated on my friend's reservation page (when you look at the res and see the "Extend a Stay" link) as a disclaimer -- only the "hurry now" kinda advertising verbiage. Now PL reps (in India?) are emailing my friend creative "counting" rationale to justify why he couldn't place the bid on the 120th day (by dumb luck, that's when he randomly attempted to link to try the bid). I mean, the response email is hysterical -- it's like when you were a kid and a relative counted 10 9 8 7 6 backwards to count fingers and then said "plus 5" (other hand) equals 11 to impress you with funny math. Only thing on that level is when United's call center told me that, when I switched a Hawaii return award flight to a different date, the reason it left at 1030 (instead of 1130 original flight) and arrived in US at same time non-stop is that there "must be a stop but I'm not seeing exactly where" -- LOL it was called daylight savings time (warp).
  9. Priceline just recently made a change to its Add a Night policy and did not post its new policy so that winning bidders were aware. A friend won a December hotel stay in late July. When he went to see if adding a night was possible -- flights that would accommodate opened up -- the bidding landing page indicated that it was not possible to even try because it was more than 120 days from the original booking. And to basically not try contacting customer service because the reps have the same retail booking access as us (as far as landing the same hotel). I assisted him in contacting PL customer service and the response was again about the 120 days making the extend a visit inoperable. The ironic thing is that the day it was tried was exactly (by dumb luck or unluck) 120 days from original booking so I helped him respond to PL with the math. When he investigated how it would work the other day (but didn't place the bid), the landing page said nothing about the 120-day rule (some ad-speak about "limited time only" to encourage the bid). FYI to others who do some advance planning, especially if bidding successfully 4+ months prior to arrival. If anything comes out of our outreach to PL, I'll be sure to post. But thought this info might be helpful to others.
  10. One suggestion if tentatively making plans and having at least 3 people and obviously needing 2 beds: Book for 3 people as you're assured, especially the bigger Vegas 4-star properties, of getting 2 full-size beds. Then it's up to you to disclose teh 4th person at checkin (or not and save the extra cost via HOTWIRE).
  11. Thanks -- now seeing the VP list I see the listing but didnt in the main one. This is kinda a backup possibility I'll be monitoring for an upcoming trip (depends on air logistics). As rates are very low for the date I want (midweek etc), I'm holding off for now. But if I do book, I'll go through the BB HOTWIRE link....and I'll update where this ends up either way (might not be for a couple weeks or so). Thanks again.
  12. Howdy, for Wed 3/24, I came up with the following amenities for a 3-star Near Strip East. Any ideas? Casino Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center Golf Nearby My hunch with Hotwire's ratings inflation is that this might be the Best Western, but I'm leaning away from that because there is no airport shuttle amenity as there has been before. Any direction you'd have is much appreciated.
  13. Pretty methodical bidding (with free rebids) to obtain this hotel. Research from available PRICELINE-likely 3.5-4-star hotels in the 2 zones I desired (Copley for 3.5 stars, Fanueil for 4 stars) and current HOTWIRE pricing gave me a pretty good idea that I'd be successful. I also, knowing that I arrive on a holiday weekend (Labor Day) and will be staying during weekdays, wanted to get this over with. For the Copley 3.5-star, was unsuccessful last week up to $76/night. Began at $65, and upped bids in $3, then $2 increments. Received a counteroffer at $79 -- for $17 immediate acceptance at $96 -- and immediately accepted at $81 rebid. (Not sure if the $79 mightve been accepted as it was actually a dupe bid where I included a combination of Copley-2nd zone combo without including a 3rd zone.) Knew that Park Plaza was also possible based on current retail rates. For the same time period, I also unsuccessfully tried for a 4-star in the Fanueil zone knowing the Omni would be likely (it's priced $9 more than the Sheraton's retail rate) if accepted -- tried to $94/night and stopped before beginning the successful Copley 3.5-star strategy. For search sake: Retail published rates were Sheraton $165/night, Park Plaza $147/night (for Copley 3.5 stars), and Omni Parker House $174/night (Faneuil 4 stars -- with free internet and breakfast beverage/pastry included via guest program). HOTWIRE also showed the Sheraton at $84/night as well. One possible trend for those bidding 3.5-star in Copley zone: looking at winning bids and based on my experience (I've never been to Boston before and was cautious/meticulous), it appears that Sheraton Boston is much more likely to come up (vs Park Plaza) if the travel dates are several months in advance. Park Plaza was $147 vs Sheraton $165. If you look at posted successful winning bids that are within a month or so of the stay, that's when you typically see the Park Plaza coming up. The Sheraton seems to be almost always the successful hotel when far in advance (3+ months) -- perhaps Priceline has a given number of rooms' inventory. Used Entertainment Book $10/night bonus so saved $40. Originally linked from this website to PRICELINE, before pasting my Entertainment link for the bonus. Thrilled I got this out of the way (even have my Red Sox tix and plane ticket). Thanks as always for the wonderful research data posted and tips!
  14. Howdy...FYI as not sure if anyone's mentioned this re the Curtis...it's still called The Curtis but is now affiliated with the Doubletree brand (hilton points, fresh-baked cookies at check-in). Official name is "The Curtis - a Doubletree Hotel" As you know, Hilton is usually pretty aggressive on opaque websites regarding excess inventory -- and in downtown Denver, The Curtis gives it an increasing presence (new Hilton Garden, fairly new Hampton, but nothing 3.5+-star until this). FYI as I live in Denver and thought I'd throw it out there.
  15. Thanks to you both for the kind words and suggestions. I'm just as pleasantly surprised the bid worked (often I'd hold off in case later availability pops up, but Chicago in spring during business-travel and Cubs Opening Day timeframes said "do it now"). I'm on the Cubs email ticket list so will get a heads-up before the sale...also the wildcard is that they have a later box/club sale that does include the rightfield fence seats...if that doesn't work, it's just me for one ticket so if i have to pay $50 for a $15-20 nosebleed seat so be it lol. Also really appreciate the thoroughness of the board, including the very current hotel lists for Hotwire and Priceline -- it really helped on my bid strategies.
  16. A very successful/methodical request -- but extremely strange. Ended up with the Four Points Sheraton Downtown Chicago for $60/night. $55/night x 2 nights on one bid ($110 bid), $70/night x 1 night on a 2nd bid ($70) -- for a $180 total ($60/night). The "strange" part is that, by splitting into two separate bids, I actually obtained a much cheaper rate that I would've had accepted if bidding on all 3 nights. (To the newbies, please read the FAQs on this site -- it is impossible to guarantee the same hotel when splitting your bids for different nights and you must accept that you may be staying at a different hotel. I had a decent hunch I'd be in the area I desired and avoid the undesired one hotel -- but there are no guarantees and I am fairly fortunate.) In case it is helpful to others planning similar Chicago trips, I thought I'd share the background/strategy: Basically I was hoping for 3 nights @ the Four Points Sheraton Chicago (3-star) or the Embassy Suites Lakefront Chicago (3.5 stars via upgrade) that both have shown in the $69-79 range during the last few weeks for my intended dates. The Four Points had been at the $69 pricepoint on Hotwire -- validating that I had a chance for a fairly low rate during a prime business traveler nights (plus Cubs Opening Day is the 12th). Then it bumped up into the low $80s (still showing $69 for the 1st two nights and $93-94 for the 3rd night if bought separately). Knowing that the only comparable 3-star (I realize there are others, that's the risk when bidding) is the Holiday Inn Merchandise Mart (an OK hotel but out of the way), I researched the HI's rates -- and discovered that there was availability for all nights with the exclusion of a 1-night 4/13-4/14 stay (no rooms available). The Four Points' rates were still below the Holiday Inn's as well, and far below the Embassy Suites'. With that research and Better Bidding's posted winning bids for these hotels, I attempted several extended bids (using rebid zones/combinations) on Priceline withoit success. One started in the mid-50s and didn't even receive a counteroffer. Another ended in the mid-60s again sans a counteroffer. Then next did receive a counteroffer at $60 (for a $77/night acceptance for 3 nights), and was unsuccessful when my last bid topped out at $69. Plan B was to either buy on Hotwire at $69/night for 2 nights and then the 3rd at $94 -- using the $20 and $15 respective Entertainment Book rebates to defray the cost -- or begin a 2-night strategy on Priceline. I went for the latter. To my surprise, my starting $55 bid was accepted. The add-a-night attempt brought a $79 counteroffer -- still not bad at all considering the 3-night average would be less than what was previously rejected ($63 or $66 including PL's 2nd bid fee). Open to changing hotels but sure that the Holiday Inn (no one-night availability on the 13th) would be eliminated regardless, I began a one-night bid at $60, using rebids/hybrid combinations until accepted at $70. And landing the Four Points Sheraton as hoped. Happy ending -- LOl now if I can land that Opening Day Cubs ticket flawlessly, I'll be way happy on my first visit ever to Wrigley. Just thought I'd share all the details in case it assisted others. FYI that I linked from BB to PRICELINE to initiate both of my bids.
  17. Buffets in Vegas depend on your food tastes and dining preferences. With Vegas' incredible dining variety, I strongly recommend against those "buffet rates" where you get buffets at the same hotelfor the duration of your stay. There are simply too many good deals out there and too much variety as well -- plus you may not by hungry for a meal that you paid for already (often i'll grab light breakfast food, then maybe a moderate lunch ie pizza/salad, and then dine at a high-end dinner buffet when it opens at 4 pm). Typically I lean toward seafood. said, the Rio Seafood buffet (nearly $40 now with slip ,obster tails that can be really delicious or badly cooked/soggy), is good for a one-time thing if you've never partaked. The poor-man's version is the Fremont (downtown) Hotel/casino seafood buffet on Fri-Sun-Tues (last time I checked it was $16ish) -- not the classiest atmosphere or expansive buffet, but good quality food/variety for the $$$. Anither great seafood dinner option is Planet Hollywood's buffet -- about $25 and often cheaper (ie $5 coupon if you sign up for players club) featuring really high-quality food, white tablecloths and servers in a casual atmosphere (you dont have to get dressed up but it has a restaurant vs buffet feel for it). Seafood includes seafood neuberg, king crab and other delicasies -- with other cusine-themed (MidEast is awesome) stations so that there's something for everyone. Harrahs/Flamingo are often get-able for a $5 discount ($8-9ish for lunch and $12-13ish for dinner) via coupons that are often hnaded out in the courtyard between the Imperial Palace and Harrahs. If you're a guest at a Harrahs-branded hotel (those hotels plus Rio, Caesars, Ballys, Paris), you will probably receive these coupons in a coupon book at checkin. Speaking of Rio, its Carnival World Buffet is expansive gigantic -- and highly recommended for a late lunch as the price is a good $8 cheaper than dinner with pretty much the same food/offerings. Everything from snow crab legs and seafood to italian, teaks, pasta, mexican et al -- just walking the length of the buffet will work off 1000 calories lol. Again coupons can be had for $5 discount via Harrahs guests and often in local tourism magazines. Finally for a basic buffet, The Orleans is very reasonable and the food is decent (but not upper echelon quality). Especially for breakfast ($7 or less if I recall) it's the best quality value in town, with an expansive buffet and an omelette station. Lunch is along those lines too. Sometimes if you attend an event at the Orleans Arena, they'll give you BOGO coupons. In a special mention for a non-buffet, the Hard Rock Casino's Mr Luckys Cafe $7.77 steak and shrimp (with potato and salad) is a helluva deal offered 24/7 (the trick is you just have to ask for it -- the special is not on the menu as it originally began as a "locals' special").
  18. Pretty methodical bids with time to spare. Nlot sure if previous bids were rejected because my credit card was used on a friend's account (I was paying for the rental and my ccard has been used for my account's PL bookings). Research indicated that $13 compact/$14 midsize was getable -- Hotwire showed $18.95/19.95 respectively Anyhow, began biding at $11/12 per day for compact and midsize, increasing the bids by $1 daily until accepted. Had $5 bonus/day so ended up at $11/day for $54 total. Had a great Alamo compact rate on a courtesy hold for $73 so saved $20, which will cover parking for 2 nights (picking up on Friday am and returning late Sunday night). One tip to anyone bidding in HNL: be very careful of Priceline's fees/taxes amount as it can wildly vary more than in any city I've observed. Originally the fees were about $17-19 and even yesterday the compact tax/fee was $30+ (I bid for compact later in the day when it was back under $20). Friom what I could determine, the taxes/fees were automatically 50% more proportionately for any vehicle class above midsize. As i know this can affect total price and "real" savings, just wanted to point this out. Linked via the Better Bidding PRICELINE link, then logged into PL account/bonus offer link, and then made the bid.
  19. This is an absolute match for the Sheraton Denver. As the Adams Mark (its predecessor) and the pre-renovation Sheraton, it was 3.5-star with identical amenities -- distinguishable by having so many amenities with the last one being "golf nearby." My understanding is that many renovations have been completed (especially rooms) and hence the 4-star upgrade by HOTWIRE.
  20. Definitely is not the Crowne Plaza -- CP always has the non-smoking amenity as its 1st amenity. Possibly could be a marriott property (ie courtyard) or possibly the curtis (if amenities have changed) or hampton inn (dunno if 3.5-star-worthy though)
  21. Thanks for the tips...great info as always and a great reference. Didn't realize this loophole re alternate cities/airports...wow.
  22. Yup I know this is an odd itin -- coworker needs it to visit an ill relative. Succeeded in 3 bids for a RT that is at-minimum $525 RT. Research determined that the non-stops were the same price or lower than flights with connections and that United (Air Canada codeshare) was pretty much a monopoly for this route (some Northwest via MSP but more expensive). The other variable was that we had to succeeed today or tomorrow, given the potential 3-week advance purchase deadline for good fares is tomorrow. The odd thing is that PL consistently displayed $91.45 in taxes/fees for the pre-bid price estimate, but the actual taxes/fees totalled $61 or so. Started at $208 -- PL total showed $299 (but was probably really $269ish) -- and received counteroffer for $374 with taxes/fees (pretty excellent fallback when $525 is lowest published RT). Then added nonjet aircraft (there are no prop flights to YWG anyhow) -- bid $240 -- PL inflated total cost showed $331 (more like $300) -- received same $374 counter-offer Then added 2+ stops (like I said, non-stops are cheaper than itins with 1 connection so this was a safe risk) -- bid $260 -- PL inflated total showed $351 -- and voila! accepted with a receipt showing $321 total billed (and not the $351). Received non-stop flights (as hoped for/expected), evening departures both ways (no biggie as a 1-week trip) -- and saved over $200 to boot! (LOL besides as a PL regular for hotels who expects to do 8-10 bids on a normal success, this was kinda nice to get over with). Linked via the BB hotels PRICELINE link -- then clicked on the homepage to begin our flight bid.
  23. FYI that this is the likely resort hotel and pricepoint for this zone currently based on Marriott.com rates ($179), hotwire indicators Sheraton successes posted here (also resort in same zone) and other postings. Used a $5/night bonus cash (from the June Budget Traveler magazine -- PL hasn't been giving me these lately), and began at with-bonus rate of $85 in $2-$3 increments until total bid reached mid-$90's. Then went in $1 increments (was offered a "generous" LOL $22 counteroffer at $97..meaning Pl would accept $119) until accepted -- knowing that I had approx 10 rebids if I did two sets of bids (which is plenty knowing that mid-$80s on a very lucky day abberation to about $101-102 is the accepted PL resort range). Perfect hotel as well (that's why jumped on this today), as my travel companion is big into beaches (Marriott is right across from a very good one) and me not as much (hey I don't mind sleeping in on vacation mornings LOL). My apologizes on one thing -- despite my best efforts, I couldn't link to PRICELINE from BB then cut-paste my offer hyperlink (because it wasn't a "bonus offer" on my account) to get both the bonus $5/night and BB the cookie/credit. Tried this 2-3 times...the bonus amount displayed but disappeared when I went to the actual bidding page (no $5 additional added to bid). FYI especially for Thereuare -- feel free to delete this paragraph but i wanted you to realize that i tried as I always do.
  24. Based on reviews (ie tripadvisor.com), I would say you have nothing to worry about. Westin does its due diligence for its properties, especially when upgrading from a lesser hotel to a Westin. I just succeeded on a bit (got a different hotel) but narrowed down my likely hotels to 4 including the one I received and the Westin -- and woulda been thrilled to get it. The other really good thing is that it's central to downtown, ie Horton Plaza, Gaslamp, harbor and public transit/Trolley (bus goes there for $2 from airport every 15 mins); the other PL dt SD sister Starwood property, Sheraton Marina, is nice (as long as you get the right tower) but isolated ($28 parking and $10 cab ride to downtown) so you did quite well (TOBB shows someone who got the Sheraton for a few $$/night more than you paid even). Enjoy your stay and bargain booking. Job well done!
  25. FYI...this for the Sheraton Suites, right? Given the price, it appears that it is (very unlikely that PL would upgrade to 4-star Sheraton marina for $50ish).
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