OysterHo

$80 per night :)

Congrats! And $5.00 under my Priceline Win :) See you there!

That just means OysterHo buys the first round :)

I forgot to mention...

I did use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links every time I bid or did anything!

We caved and added the upper west side to our 4* selections. It may be a longer walk to midtown attractions but it's also $60+++ savings per night.

The Empire Hotel 4* Upper West Side

44 West 63rd Street

New York, New York 10023

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night:$225.00

Subtotal:$900.00

Taxes & Service Fees:$161.57

Total Charges*:$1,061.57

Vivian,

What bid did you start with and how many did you make until you got to $230?

I may try to include UWS in my bidding and see if we can get a 4*.

Thanks!

http://www.empirehotelnyc.com/rooms.html

their website and rooms

It's still a good price, esp for a 4*. Has 3.5 star rating on Trip Advisor. Here are the reviews.

Reviews

Started bidding at $120, went up by $10 for re-bids. Accepted at $150.

This was for 3 nights, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights?? Congrats on a great win. I've been going up to $275 and not getting anywhere. Staying during the week is killing us.

Wow. And I thought this might be easy :) I'm willing to add zones such as CPS, UWS and ESB (maybe TS and MTW.) Is it that you're having no luck with *just* MTE? What are some good backup hotels? I suppose I should book something just in case this priceline thing doesn't work out.

What's an acceptable starting bid?

At first I was bidding only on MTE. After a week of nothing, I added MTW and CPS. We didn't try ESB, TS, or UWS though. That could help you quite a bit.

As far as an acceptable starting bid, my highest (and most recent) starting bid was $200. My initial and lowest starting bid was $120 two weeks ago.

You could start lower than $200 if you're willing to add EST, TS, & UWS. As far as the strategy suggested, I'd wait until thereuare or one of the other pros logs in. I'm just not that experienced enough to list out a strategy.

So we gave up on the 4* in MTE, MTW, and CPS after $275 was declined. Plus I'm not going.

So the others want a 3* or better in MTE, MTW, CPS, and Times Square. There is only one other rebidding zone, Long Island City. How do I create a bidding strategy with only one rebidding zone? When I was searching for 4*, at least I had 6 - then 5.

Help, please!

Oh, she is willing to go up to $225. Should I try only 3.5* first and see how that goes, or is that futile (as the 4* were) too?

Thank you :)

I would prefer a 4* in MTE so I'd like to start there. Obviously, I would like to go as cheap as possible. My maximum bid would be $250. Is that reasonable?

I can tell you that I've been trying for 2 weeks to get a 4* for 4 nights in MTE, 11/5 - 11/8. I've gone all the way up to $275 with no luck. The last time I bid was 10/16.

We're lowering our standards to a 3* because

1. we just can't see paying $300+ a night because don't forget the taxes are added on to your winning bid and

2. I'm no longer going, so I'm helping my girlfriend figure this out for her and her son.

Sorry to be a debbie downer. I hope you're able to win. Maybe now that you're even closer to the travel dates, you'll have better luck.

(don't worry, thereuare, i will start my own thread :) )

Well, here's my follow up. Better late than never!

She stayed 2 nights in La Jolla at the Hyatt.

4*, 12/28/07 - 12/29/07

I'm still waiting for the rest of the info from her and I'll update this post.

that gives one only 5 rebidding zones for 4* hotels now (instead of 6).

Just an FYI

$149-11/02/08-11/03/08

Good deal! I've been trying to bid on Nov. 5 - 8 (4 nights) in MTE and I've gone up to 165 and have been rejected. Knowing that you were able to get such a good deal I'm a little reluctant to go too high when I try again.

Ok, nothing has been done so far. :)

Harvard would like to up her stars to 4*. Should she start at $65? Should she bid at $5 increments or smaller? She will go up to $120 if necessary, but prefers the $100 level.

Also, she has 11 rebid zones, is that right? But priceline only gives you 2 chances and you have to close out your browser and open it up again and add another rebid zone? Or do you get as many chances to bid with one window as there are rebid zones?

Thanks :)

Thank you, thereuare.

never mind all that stuff I had posted. I read the rebidding section again (it's been a while). :)

Oh, ok. I know she'll be more comfortable starting at 3* in that case.

LOL! Harvard said I could post this:

I think that she should stick with 3* (& 4*) first and lower her price limit from $100 to let's say $75-80.

If nothing happens, then she'll consider either going up to 85-90 only for 3*, or lowering the stars to 2.5 or 2. I don't think she should drop her stars though. I'm urging her in that direction.

How does that sound?

Which is why we don't like users posting for their friends :)

Yes, she is ready to bid, her plans are firm, and she wanted me to tell you that she's an idiot and can't do this herself. LOL She's reading this thread and I'm going to help her with the actual process - thankfully I've already done it before - successfully even!

She's not an idiot, she's very smart, she's a Harvard graduate, but it makes me feel smart to help her if I can. :)

Please follow-up your Hotwire Key West thread with whatever you ended up doing for that stay... then bump this thread and we'll have a look at the above.

Thanks.

Ok, done. :)

This was for my boss who decided not to go because of the harley davidson bike rally thing (her bf wouldn't have liked it). We never pursued it.

Hello! I need a bidding strategy for a friend please:

2-3*, San Diego, 2 nights. 12/28, 12/29, Downtown, Old Town, or Coastal, less than $100

Thank you in advance :)

I just found this under vacation packages for the Hyatt ...

Hotel features: Resort, Near Beach, Oceanfront, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, High-speed Internet Access, Spa Services

On hotwire I got the following:

$285, 4*, for 9/21, two nights

resort, pool, high speed internet, oceanfront, restaurant, spa

Any ideas what this might be? I looked at the hotwire lists here, but it's a little gray (or I'm just stupid). Thanks!

Thank you for all the replies. :)

I had booked 2 different hotels, 2 rooms at each, for 1 night each. Now one of the parties can't go because their teenage son got into a lot of trouble. We only need 1 of the rooms at both hotels instead of 2.

Neither of the hotels would give us points or refunds because we booked through Priceline. We still haven't officially canceled the extra rooms yet, just started making calls.

I called priceline and of course their customer service lines weren't being answered.

Has anybody ever had success at getting a refund?