Mr_Conlin

What a great win in the middle of summer!

I have been attempting a priceline bid for these dates in downtown San Jose, California, for the past 2 weeks. My daughter will be attending university near here, so I am bidding for the Mandatory Parent Orientation Weekend. I booked through the PRICELINE search above, and had a Priceline Award for $10.00 a night bonus, and used it for this trip. I ultimately bid $90 a night, but with the Priceline bonus cash, it came to $100 a night. This was my strategy: Bid San Jose (Downtown) 75 (+10) = $85.00 Rejected Added Cupertino 80 (+10) = $90.00 Rejected Added Milpitas 85 (+10) = $95.00 Rejected Added South San Jose 90 (+10) = $100.00 My bid was accepted: Offer Price Summary Bonus Cash Per Room, Per Night: $10.00 Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $90.00 Total Offer Price Per Room, Per Night with Bonus: $100.00 Total Charges to your Credit Card Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $90.00 Subtotal: $270.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $45.71 Total Charges*: $315.71 I hope that the BetterBidding syndicate share took, and that you received credit for this transaction. They required me to search again after logging in :) . If you remember, I bid on a number of hotels last year and early this year while looking for colleges. Well, this bid is a result of those trips. We will be using your link and PRICELINE when we visit in the future. Oh, and i'll try to upgrade the rooms with our standard gratuity to the reception staff...

Any luck with your bidding? If I can't get an apartment I like, I'll be bidding in the next two weeks. There hasn't been much Paris action on this board lately, so any info would be great. Larry

From what I understand, Vegas is up to $50.00 for an upgrade! But that is the culture there, I guess. I've never tried for the room upgrade in Vegas, but the tip works to get into the front of the lines at clubs and restaurants.

In town for a concert, and I thought it would be nice to stay the night. I made a few attempts: $60 for a 4* USE-Embarcadero, declined $65 for a 4* USE-Embarcadero + USW, declined $69 for a 4* USE-Embarcadero + USW + Civic Center, declined $70 for a 4* USE-Embarcadero + USW + Civic Center + Cathedral Hill, Accepted Hilton San Francisco Financial District 4-star Union Square East - Embarcadero 750 Kearny Street San Francisco, California 94108 I've actually stayed here in the last three months, but for a PL rate of $95, with my wife. We slipped a twenty and were upgraded. Incredible views of Coit Tower. I'll be going by myself this time, so I don't need to upgrade.

I generally offer an incentive of $20.00 for any flexibility of room type. Since we'll have two rooms, if they seem booked and busy, I might offer $20.00 per room. I have pretty good luck, and I do this regardless of booking direct or using priceline.

After visiting savingsbarn.com :) , we attempted a bid for 4* in the Downtown area of Los Angeles for two (2) rooms, for two (2) nights (four room-nights) from February 1st to February 3rd 2008. The first bid was $65 a night, but was not accepted, added Beverly Hills - West Hollywood and upped the bid to $74 a night and was accepted. We have stayed at this property before and with the correct generosity at check-in, have had wonderful rooms. There you go!

I'll look into HOTWIRE, but I have found my strategy of Pricelining rooms and asking for upgrades (with a little affection $) gets me great results. Even in Paris, the love worked wonders. My bride and I love the luxury at the modest rates. We hope the 4*+ comes back, as we want a repeat performance of this early 2007 trip (I didn't post my successes here, but did go through savingsbarn.com :) :) ) At risk of posting incorrectly, here is an example of the successes I have had in Paris, France. I purchased two rooms for 3 nights (I took my parents to europe) at a 4.5*+ hotel through priceline. I made the overture to the kind young mademoiselle with a 50 Euro note and told her that it was my parents' first trip to Paris, let alone europe, and was hoping she had upgrades available, and that I am hoping those are non-smoking, kings with great bathrooms and inside quiet views (it helps to be explicit - make it easy for her to find the target) . She was very friendly and moved us to high floor rooms, and although they weren't suites, they were King Superior Rooms. In Paris, getting a king bed is luxury enough but the bathrooms were huge. Pricelined the 6 nights at $220 (170 euros) a night = 1020 euros plus 50 gratuity = under 1100 euros. The rack rate on the room was 770 euros a night, and the cheapest rate online, for a king is 488 euros. 488 for 6 nights = 2930 euro. We saved at best $4700 and and worst $2500. And that young lady had a big smile...

That is interesting. I should have done more research. I was afraid that Priceline removed all the 5* Luxury off their offerings, but after checking London, Munich and Madrid, I see those options there. This is unfortunate, because I wanted to get started on my Paris trip. It looks like the entire city has been downgraded. I do hope things change progressively for the consumer. I hope they change not just for the consumer in general, but for me and my bride in particular. I have no trouble paying $200.00+ a night for those luxury market 5* / 4*+ hotels. -- Larry

In doing research for a trip in Spring 2008, I visited Priceline to look around. I see that 4* is the highest quality hotel offered in the bidding process. I know for a fact that they have offered that quality in the past. I won a 4* Plus (5*) earlier this year staying at the Prince de Galles. I also see that there have been no wins lately for 4* Plus. Does anyone have any information behind this decision? :) Thanks. -- Larry

Yes I think I did! It is as simple as that. Thanks for all the help, everyone. L

Yes, we can cancel up to noon on tuesday, the day prior to check in. That won't be a problem, but I think my wife and daughter have warmed to the separate bedroom and living room. They don't want to gamble that away. A week ago was far enough away to be emotionally detached. We already have Pricelined rooms in Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego for this trip. We've saved quite a bit already, and our airfare are all miles, so splurging on the extra room is worth it. It'll make them smile, and life runs easier with smiling women. L

I give up. We have diligently tried to bid for our rooms and the latest was this Saturday Morning. We tried up to $220 a night, and each time the response is the 'Thank You for Naming Your Own Price

And another follow up to our post. We have tried just about every day for a 4* up to $200 a night. We have had no luck. We are going to try 2 more times; Saturday and Monday. I think we are getting turned down because of the 2 Biz days, 1 Weekend day. I have noticed that this search on Expedia is showing more availability than I saw last week. We check against a few sites to see what the inventory is like. The hotel we have for backup, the Blakely New York, seems to be quite reasonable compared to rack and discount rates for comparable hotels. The Blakely is now #11 of 330 hotels in NYC on TripAdvisor. It might be nice. Still trying Priceline, though. L

Ye another follow up to my post. We tried another attempt this afternoon, clicking through SavingsBarn.com. No Success. We see so many wins for $130 to $150, so we limited our Top Bid to $160.00. No one is biting 12 days out. I'll keep trying and posting. Maybe we'll be able to see a trend. L

Another Follow up to my post. We tried another attempt this afternoon, clicking through SavingsBarn.com. No Success. We are limiting our Top Bid to $200.00. No one is biting. Don't they know we will drink in their bar and order room service? They'll make money off of me! We will keep trying. Next week will bring us closer to the end date. We'll see what happens. Thanks L

Booked through the SavingsBarn.com Link Select 4* Irvine ... Bid $70, -- Your Price Was Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $70 for a 4-star hotel room. That was quick. Close to Long Beach Airport (jetBlue hub) and close to colleges. I've been posting on NYC, San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. We are touring colleges. L

Booked through the SavingsBarn.com Link Select 4* Hollywood and Downtown... Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $70 -- Your Price Was Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $70 for a 4-star hotel room. The hotel seems to get mixed reviews, and my daughter loves the Westin Bonaventure, but this will have to do. I've been posting on NYC, San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. We are touring colleges. L

Booked through the SavingsBarn.com Link Select 4* San Diego Coastal and Coronado... Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $100, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* Downtown and Coronado... Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125 -- Your Price Was Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $125 for a 4-star hotel room. A bit higher than I expected, but my daughter will have a great time. L

Follow up to my post. I made another attempt this afternoon, clicking through SavingsBarn.com, with no success. I was buoyed by the successes posted describing the 4* Barclay-Intercontinental wins at $130 and $142. This time I started at $130, and made my way up to $180.00. Declined all the way. My questions to you all are: Since the Barclay-Intercontinenttal wins were for this upcoming week (both bid and stay are within a week), is this normal for NYC hotels to give up rooms so close to the stay? Is my 2 weekdays (Wednesday, Thursday) and 1 weekend (Friday) hurting my chances? I can't justify splitting on such a short notice. Thanks L

My pleasure using the SavingsBarn Link. I used a number of the support links: EasyClickTravel GTA Hotels Hotels.com Quickbook but did not find any, including the example you have shown above, that was significantly cheaper and have at least 2 beds. This is my standard operating procedure: Since I am traveling with my bride and my 17 year old daughter, the need for at least 2 doubles is critical. The next ideal sleeping arrangement is 2 queens, then 2 kings, then a 1 bedroom with a sofa / sofa bed. We then find the lowest rate for the ideal, which I did with the Blakely. I then figure out how many dollars would be worth our privacy, and in the case of this trip, being a romantic NYC trip, I figured $300.00 to $500.00 for the trip. If I can get a hotel through priceline for around $200.00, I can try my luck charming the front desk staff, with my smile and a $20.00 or a $50.00 to get closer to the ideal. Anything less than $300 is not worth the lack of privacy. That value assigned to privacy is purely subjective, and depends on a number of factors. If my wife is in a great mood :) , the value of $ to privacy increases, if she is just in a good mood :) , the value of $ to privacy decreases. So, since I have a reservation for $330.00 for the ideal, anything between $220 and $330 is not worth the gamble, in my opinion. Mr C

We are continuing our attempt to Priceline a room in Manhattan for August 1st through 4th, 2007 We have a backup reservation at the Blakely Hotel (7th and 55th UM/CPS), booked directly, and cancellation is possible up to July 30th. Our room rate is $330.00 a night for a one bedroom suite. We have made numerous attempts to book over the last week; the latest today. Our attempts last week started at $140 a night, and closed at $175 a night, with no luck. Clicked into Priceline Name your Own Price through SavingsBarn.com. This was our strategy this morning: Select 4* MTE and MTW... Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $160, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* UM/CPS and MTS... Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $160, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTE and Downtown... Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $160, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTE and MTS... Bid $170, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $190, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTW and UM/CPS... Bid $170, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $190, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTW and Downtown... Bid $170, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $190, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTE and UM/CPS... Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $195, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $200, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* MTW and M/TS... Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $195, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $200, if rejected close browser and relog Select 4* UM/CPS and Downtown... Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $195, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $200, Rejected -- We're sorry, but we can't accept your offer of $200 for a hotel room in the New York City area. Your credit card has not been charged... -- I did notice on the Barclay - Intercontinental web site, when comparison shopping, that from the original pricing request to booking a room, the rate dropped $20.00. I am hoping that the hotels will not see the occupancy rate as high as they expect that week. Only time will tell. I will keep posting my activity. Next attempt is at noon PST Tuesday. I hope this helps others.

I am trying that exact same trip, and am having difficulty as well. I'll start a new post once I see some activity.

I'm taking my parents to Europe, so we need two rooms. I previously made reservations in the Louvre area, 2* hotel for $220 a night, in December, for backup. So I had this to fall back on. I figured I would try to stay close the area, close to the budget, and increase the quality. Started my process on February 5th: 4*Plus in Champs Elysee Bid $160, rejected Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $180 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $190 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $200 All rejected, no counter offer Once again, February 17th: 4*Plus in Champs Elysee Bid $160, rejected Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $180 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $190 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $200 All rejected, no counter offer Now on February 22nd, 4*Plus in Champs Elysee Bid $175, rejected Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $185 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $200 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $210 All rejected, no counter offer Now I think I will stick with the two star. I'll give it one more chance and set my limit to what I am currently paying. On February 25th: 4*Plus in Champs Elysee Bid $190, rejected Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $200 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $210 Added another zone (no 4*+) bid $220 then... Your Price Has Been Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $220 for a 4-star Plus hotel room. Prince De Galles Hotel 4-Star Plus 24 hour front desk Twice Daily Maid Service Remote Control TV Bellman High Quality Bath Amenities In-room refreshment center Hairdryer Concierge Restaurant ar/Lounge Room service Bathrobes Private bath more Check-In Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 Check-Out Date: Saturday, March 24, 2007 Champs Elysees - Opera Quarter West 33 Avenue George V Paris, France 33-1-53237777 This hotel is right next two the George V - very Ritzy. From what I understand, the Prince de Galles is part of the Starwood Luxury Collection, but the conversion has not occurred yet. I don't think it has even started. I wanted the Heavenly Beds, but we'll see what we get. Wish me luck.

Regarding the parking price, I just checked out on Sunday, February 11, and the video check out folio had it for $25, and when I was picking up the car, those in front of me at th valet were being charged $25. For what it is worth.