c669885

My friend and I are taking the Norwegian Pearl out of Seattle on May 31 so we wanted a downtown four-star hotel for the two nights prior to sail-out. We started our bidding at $53 for a downtown/Pike Place four-star property and then increased in increments of $3 until hitting the magic number of $65. Our bids went like this: 1. Downtown/Pike Place $53 Rejected 2. Add Bothell $56 Rejected 3. Add Everett $59 Rejected 4. Add Lake Union $62 Rejected 5. Add Lynwood $65 Accepted Bidding in the Seattle area is really great for four-star hotels since there are so many zones that do not have four-star locations. This allows for great incremental bidding to find the target price.

I was looking to go skiing this weekend in Park City, Utah. Hotel costs were outrageous, so I didn't expect to be able to find anything and figured I would stay in Salt Lake City or the suburbs instead and drive in to Park City for skiing. But just for heck of it, I put in a bid for $80 for a 2* hotel and was surprised to have it accepted by the Marriott Vacation Club Summit Watch. The location appears perfect -- right in central Park City only a block from the "Town" ski lift! The retail price for this room on marriott.com came up as $319/night, so Priceline saved me 75%! Wow, it's one of the greatest bargains I've ever found in terms of percent savings in my years of using Priceline to secure lodging. :)

I was looking for a 3.5* hotel by the Denver airport for an overnight connection. I first bid $35 and got rejected. The second bid was for $40, adding the Aurora zone. Third bid was $45 adding the Southwest/Lakewood zone. Then my fourth bid was accepted for $50 after adding the Littleton zone -- my room is at the Marriott Denver Airport Gateway Park. Hotwire offered a 2* airport hotel for $49, so I ended up paying the same price but getting a higher-quality hotel. The retail rate for my room on marriott.com came up as $229, so Priceline saved me a whopping 78% on this one!

A friend and I were targeting a four-star hotel in the Union Square East, Union Square West/Nob Hill, or SOMA/Moscone Center zones. It took six bids to get the Grand Hyatt San Francisco in the Union Square East zone, including using three zones that have no four-star hotels. We began our bidding at $70 for a four-star property in SOMA/Moscone Center. Rejected. Second bid was for $75 and added Union Square West/Nob Hill. Rejected. Third bid was for $80 and added Union Square East. Rejected. Fourth bid was for $85 and added Civic Center. Rejected. Fifth bid was for $90 and added Fisherman's Wharf. Rejected. Sixth bid was for $95 and added Marina/Lombard Street. Accepted. Retail rate for the Grand Hyatt these two nights is $199/night on hyatt.com, so using PRICELINE saved us 52%. :) We used the link from betterbidding.com to commence our PRICELINE bidding.

My first set of bids targeted a 3.5* in Hollywood or Bevery Hills/West Hollywood. I bid $75 and was rejected. I addded the Lawndale zone, bid $80, and was rejected. I added Culver City, bid $85, and was rejected. I then began bidding for a 3*. I started with $75 for Hollywood; that was rejected. My fifth bid was adding Beverly Hills/West Hollywood at $80 and that was successful with the Residence Inn Beverly Hills. Retail price for this hotel on this night on marriott.com is listed at $179. So Priceline saved me $99 or 55%. :) I used the betterbidding.com link to PRICELINE to begin my bidding.

Got this one on only two bids! :) My first bid was $70 for a four-star hotel in the North Michigan Avenue zone. After that bid was rejected, I upped my bid to $75 by adding the Midway Airport zone (which has no four-star hotels). I got the Wyndham on N. St. Clair St., just a block off Michigan Avenue. The hotel was nice and they gave me a room on the 14th floor (actually 13, but they skip 13 in the numbering -- so stupid). My only complaint about this hotel is that they did not have free Wi-Fi Internet access in the lobby area. That shocked me. I don't think I'd ever been in a nice hotel without free lobby Wi-Fi. Is this the policy at all Wyndham hotels? If so, that is horrible. I had to pay $11 to use the Internet in my room, a 15% surcharge on the $75 I paid for the room. That did not make me happy. These Internet charges at four-star hotels are absolutely outrageous. Sometimes it's better to get a lower-star hotel because they often have complimentary Wi-Fi. I used the betterbidding.com link to PRICELINE to begin my bidding. The best rate on Wyndham's website for this night was $161, so by using PRICELINE I secured a 53% discount. :)

It took 22 bids to find a hotel room for my mom and her friend over this weekend in New York. I started on July 14 with seven bids all in Manhattan; bid up to $130 for a 1* and all rejected. Continued with 15 bids on July 16 first targeting Manhattan for 1* up to $150; all were rejected. No deals to be found at all this weekend in Manhattan -- very frustrating. I then started over, included the Brooklyn zone, and bid for a 2* from $105 in $5 increments up to the winning price of $135 for the Days Inn Brooklyn on 39th Ave. near 4th St. Mom reports the hotel is a "dump" but at least is located three blocks from a PRICELINE EXPRESS subway stop for quick trips into Manhattan. I have used PRICELINE dozens of times for hotels across the country and have never paid more than $99 per night. So it was quite shocking and disappointing to have to shell out so much money for a 2* in Brooklyn. New York is just insanely expensive and so frustrating to find anywhere affordable to stay. Fortunately I always stay with friends when visiting NYC so I've never had to get a hotel for myself. At these prices, I could never afford to visit the Big Apple! :)

Got the 2.5* Hotel Shelley on South Beach for $59 for the night of April 13. Looks like a great location! Retail for this room on the hotel's website for this night is $155, so using HOTWIRE for this transaction saved me 62%! :)

I've tried for the past week to get a good hotel deal on Priceline for an upcoming one-night stay in South Beach the night of April 13. However, Priceline rejected all my bids and I ended up booking a 2.5* hotel on Hotwire for $59 since Priceline could not beat that price. I'm very disappointed with Priceline for letting me down on this trip -- 99% of the time I find better deals on Priceline but not for this one (perhaps because I booked two weeks out rather than last-minute?) For the record, my list of rejected bids: FIRST ATTEMPT -- MARCH 23 A) Bid $50 for a South Beach 4-star; Priceline answered by asking me to raise by bid to $110! B ) Bid $55 adding Dadeland C) Bid $60 adding Miami Lakes D) Bid $65 adding N. Miami E) Bid $69 adding SW Miami F) Bid $55 for a South Beach 3*; Priceline answered by asking me to raise my bid to $95! G) Bid $60 adding N. Miami H) Bid $50 for a South Beach 2.5* I) Bid $55 adding N. Miami SECOND ATTEMPT -- March 28 A) Bid $60 for a South Beach 3* B ) Bid $65 adding N. Miami C) Bid $50 for a South Beach 2.5* D) Bid $55 adding N. Miami THIRD ATTEMPT -- March 30 A) Bid $50 for a South Beach 2.5* B ) Bid $55 adding N. Miami Priceline bidding ended. Decided to book a 2.5* in South Beach on Hotwire for $59. Got the Hotel Shelley.

First three bids tried to get a 3* but they failed. I started by bidding $50 for 3* USE & USW; then added Lombard zone and bid $55; then added CC Area and bid $60. I then bid $45 for a 2.5* in USE, USW, or CC Area and received the Hotel Whitcomb on Market Street in the CC Area. Retail price on the hotel's website is $69, so using PRICELINE saved me 35% on this transaction. Great bargain for a well-located hotel room in SF!

I started bidding for a 4* but couldn't get one for my max bid, so then I began bidding for a 3* and got the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower. Here was the bid sequence: 1. Downtown 4* $40 XXX 2. add Beaverton-Hillsboro 4* $45 XXX 3. add Clackamas 4* $50 XXX 4. add Northwest Portland 4* $55 XXX 5. add CC-LC 4* $59 XXX 6. Downtown 3* $45 XXX 7. add Beaverton-Hillsboro 3* $50 XXX 8. add Northwest Portland 3* $55 accepted Retail at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower for these dates is $139 at hilton.com, so Priceline saved me 60%. :-)

First bid was $45 for a 3* in Ventura-Oxnard zone; rejected. Second bid I added Mandalay Beach zone and bid $50; rejected. Third bid I added Camiillo zone and bid $55; rejected. Fourth bid I changed to 2.5* Ventura-Oxnard zone and bid $50. Priceline rejected my bid but suggested I bid $14 higher to secure a room. Instead I bid a fifth time by adding Mandalay Beach zone and increasing offer to $55 for a 2.5*. I got the Country Inn & Suites Ventura. This proves my theory that when Priceline returns a suggested higher bid amount to secure your room, it is often higher than the minimum bid that a hotel will accept. In this case, Priceline suggested I bid $64 to get a 2.5* in Ventura-Oxnard but I actually got the room for $55.

I've had no luck trying to get a hotel in Key Largo for an upcoming Jan. 29-31 stay. Over the past week, I've bid several times for a resort up to $90 and a 1-star hotel up to $77 and keep getting rejected. I've scanned the postings in this forum and don't see any dealing with Key Largo hotels. Has anyone had any luck scoring a good deal on a hotel in Key Largo withi Priceline? Or is this a dead zone for Priceline?

I first bid $99 for a 3-star hotel in Key West; rejected. Then bid $99 for a 2.5-star hotel in Key West; rejected. Third and final bid was $99 for a 2-star hotel in Key West; got the Days Inn Key West.

First bid $60 for a four-star and was rejected. Then bid $65 and got it.

Began by bidding $40 for a four-star hotel in the Downtown/Convention Center or French Quarter zones. Rejected. Second bid $45 adding one other zone. Rejected. Third bid $50 adding one other zone. Rejected. Fourth bid $55 adding one other zone. Rejected. Fifth bid $60 adding the final zone. Accepted. Reniassance Arts Hotel.

Took 11 bids to get this one. We began with a $99 bid for a 4* in downtown Seattle, then proceeded with the following rejected bids for 4*: $60 DT and Bellvue $70 add Bothel $80 add Everett $90 add Lakeview $95 add Lynwood $99 add North Everett Next up we started bidding for 3*. These bids were rejected: $99 DT $75 add UW and Bellvue $80 add Bothel Then our bid of $85 was accepted for the Bellvue zone (and we got the Marriott Redmond Town Center) Frustrating to end up in the suburbs -- looks like there is a major conference in Seattle this weekend and hotels are heavily booked. :)

Got this hotel on the 11th bid. Began targeting a 4-star in the Millennium Park zone. Bid $60, rejected. Added Midway Airport zone, bid $65, rejected. Added North Michigan Avenue zone, bid $70, rejected. Added Greater Chicago zone, bid $75, rejected. Had my traveling partner try, began bidding again on the same four targets -- $80, $85, $90, and $95 for 4-star hotels; all bids rejected. Then I tried again and bid $85 for 3-star hotel in Millennium Park zone, rejected. Added North Michigan Avenue, bid $90, rejected. Then our last bid was to add Greater Chicago zone and up bid $95; that's when we got the Marriott Medical District. Not happy ending up with a room outside the Loop, in a hotel that is only four stories tall, but this area is only a few subway stops away from the city center so hopefully it will be okay. Considering this hotel lists for $199/night on marriott.com, it makes our $95 winning bid (which I consider a high amount to pay on Priceline for a 3-star hotel) look pretty good. Is it always this tough to score a good deal on a weekend hotel in Chicago?

I've used Priceline dozens of times to book hotels; this was the most bidding I ever did to secure a room. But success at last! To summarize, I wanted a 4-star room in Union Square West, with Union Square East as a second choice, for a trip Dec. 7-11 with some friends. Started bidding on Nov. 27 -- placed 10 bids ranging from $60 to $85 for USW; all were rejected. Bid $75 to $90 in four bids on Nov. 29 for USW; all rejected. Bid $75 to $90 in four bids on Nov. 30 for USW; all rejected again. Bid $60 to $75 in four bids on Dec. 1 for USW and USE; all rejected. Today I began bidding at $75 for USW and USE. I then bid $80, $85, $90, and $95. Finally, on my 29th bid, I put in $99, my absolute maximum price (I've never paid three digits for a hotel room and refuse to do so), and I got the Hilton. Exasperating, but a great result. BTW, I checked the Hilton website and the "best available price" is listed at $219/night. So I know all my bidding was well worth it. I'm looking forward to having such a great hotel for our visit! I discovered this forum lately. Great service! I'll make sure to post all my future winning bids here.