Thanks for your reply!
The 30 day period is an estimate still a moving target, but It will start around September 1st and end on or before October 17th. It's bounded by the start of school year and the closing date for my home purchase.
The phone conversation will of course depend on how sure I am of the hotel id. If fairly certain, I will say "I see your hotel offered for xxx on priceline/hotwire, will you match the price?" Of course, I expect they won't match, but they may come down some what. When I last checked, their website lists prices around $159 a night. Priceline express says $100/night but I can't be sure of the location. I don't want to call them and say 100$ without some confidence in the location. I think $150/night is definitely possible since it's close to their website price. Perhaps they don't give much discount to priceline/hotwire.
I think what I need is more of a percentage that priceline/hotwire receives from the hotel so that I can ask for a reasonable price. I may or may not succeed but I want to be as best informed as I can be, before the phone call.