Will

In case people are interested in a bit more detailed run down on how PL works, you can look at their patent on the technology here About bidding higher for a specific hotel this seems most relavent: I doubt anything is done for the convience of the customer, more likely the tie breaking is done for maximizing profit. This is for airlines but the patent also states it can be used for hotels of course and similar rules would apply. The other intersting thing I read in the patent is hotels ( or airlines) may have complex rules about accepting a bid, e.g. must stay over a Saturday, must be a stay of greater than N days or less than etc. The rate your willing to pay is only one factor in acceptance, hotels may have a lot of specialized business rules as to when to accept and what price.

This was for bidding in NYC, first time I've seen it.

Perhaps this is old news and I'm the last to know, but it seems PRICELINE has changed the wording of their counter offers: This is also the furthest out I've ever got a counter offer, they usually seem to hit when your $10-$20 out. P.S.: I know my bid was a low ball in this case and had almost no chance of being accepted

Bid up to $88 before, all rejected so started with $78 + $10 bonus cash this time. First offer accepted this time around... Used PRICELINE Link.

I would be up for it, I'll be in NYC from August 14-18, so if something was on between those dates I'm in. Will

You could buy for one night to identify it, but than theoretically you could still get another hotel when your booking the second part of your stay even if they look the same. The hotel may also require you to change rooms, though usually it's not necessary. I can highly recommend the IC Yorkville as I've stayed there before. At this point its most likely the hotel you would get, but no guarantees.

I was just looking through my previously accepted bids and noticed something interesting:

Your budget looks reasonable, already on Hotwire there is a 4* hotel for your dates for $206 which maybe the Helmsley Park Lane. What star level are you looking for? Your budget should be in range for a 4*. I would still suggest you try Priceline though as you should be able to get a better price. Make sure your familiare with Priceline Rebidding. For most people, MTW, MTE, MTS and Times Square Theater District will be good for visiting the city. Personally I would start around $120 (a low ball) and work your way up in $2-$5 increments to your max budget. If you need a more detailed bidding strategy you can post back.

Air travel keeps getting more expensive, Air Canada just put a new $60 (or less depending on distance) fuel charge on domestic/international flights. So as more carriers increase airfares, fewer people will want to travel meaning less demand for hotels. Also as business is hit by the recession, business travel budgets are bound to tighten up. The full effects of this could be 6months or a year off depending on the economy and oil prices however.

Don't worry about the cost on Hotwire, they can be quite a bit more expensive than Priceline. I would just try bidding on the split dates up to your limit and see if your able to secure anything.

You may want to consider splitting your bid, for the weekend portion of your stay for example on HOTWIRE the Pan pacific and Delta are available. HOTWIRE also has availability for the weeknight part of your stay. You always have the option of waiting to see if more inventory comes up, but if your anxious to get it booked I would try splitting the weekend vs weeknight part of your stay.

If its within your budget, I would recommend using the Fairmont Great Rates Great Dates for a stay at the Chateau Whistler: http://www.fpcnews.com/greatrates/index.aspx There offering June 1-10 available at $149. This rate would be non-cancellable/refundable, but I personally love Fairmont properties. You need to be a Presidents club member but its free to sign up. This rate will only be available for a few more days I believe...

If you want to see any tourist type stuff in Vancouver I would NOT stay out by the airport... My guesstimate for a 4* Downtown would be min $120. I would also discourage you from bidding for a 3* in Vancouver, you could end up with a property well out of downtown. Prime example of a 3* Vancouver hotel you could get is the Plaza 500

Bid up from $140, $1 at a time.

I'm bidding for May 2-4, I've got a counter offer at $130 to raise $22, so inventory is available for those dates. I used up my rebid zones so will try tomm, my max bid so far is $140.

Thanks for the post, however it would be helpful to know which city the win was in.

Well first off you CANNOT cancel HOTWIRE (or priceline for that matter) so if you take a property make sure you like it. Sometimes getting a 8 day stretch on priceline can be difficult, as properties may have something available for a subset of the days but not all the way through, to save money you may have to split your priceline bid. From a quick google search Fashion Week seems to be February 1st - 8th, 2008 but some other event could be on. See also when to bid

Even if you get a hotel that offers falls view rooms, there's no guarantee you'll get one. Some hotels may be nice and give it to you on request if its available, or they may want extra $$ for one. If you heart is set on having a falls view, I would book directly with a hotel.

Congrats on your win, usually you don't want to accept counter offers and add about half of the counter offer amount to your bid but since there's limited rebid zones in Halifax its not as easy. I stayed there this summer, nice hotel great location for exploring Halifax and the Harborfront.

I was able to cancel via email even since there 800# isn't accessible from outside the USA. Keep in mind for international bidders, you'll loose 5% typically if you cancel as a 2.5% forex fee is typical on CC's for both charges and credits. Of course you could theoretically make money depending on currency movements.

Really depends which hotel you win, if you get the "4 star" W New York in MTE, they simply have no rooms with double beds there's barely room for one bed. It wouldn't be wise to bid on one room with 3 people, why not try bidding on two rooms till you reach whatever amount your comfortable paying otherwise go with a traditional booking. Would you perhaps find two rooms more convenient?

Bid from $60 up in $1/$2 increments, stayed here last time I was in Vancouver and quite happy to stay again :) Used savingsbarn link

In case people haven't seen this before, Fairmont hotels comes out with great dates great rates every month for some good deals on select properties for select dates. You have to be a member of their loyalty club but its free to join. These are only bookable the first week of every month. http://www.fpcnews.com/greatrates/ I got the Chateau Lake Louise for $150, still kind of pricey for a priceline board but beats there laughable $500+ rates they regularly have. Same terms as a priceline stay, no change no cancel.

Rather dated hotel, the lobby brings you back 30 or 40 years with all the mirrors and lights. That being said the hotel has two towers, the decent one and one that was renovated when the lobby was built. Being a PL customer I got the latter, on the 40th floor of the old tower which was very dated in addition had an old bed that I found quite uncomfortable. I complained twice and finally got moved to the renovated tower which is nice. I actually originally asked for a renovated room which they wanted to charge me $60/night extra for which I rejected. Besides that great view from anywhere in the hotel, and close to Grand Central.

$150 will probably be enough, if you decide to do a last minute bid make sure you do have a backup reservation somewhere so your not stuck sleeping in central park :) Checking rates for Aug 8-11, can't see anything exceptionally high so you should be set to bid. Make sure you know how to re-bid on priceline By what you describe, MTE/MTW should be acceptable for you. I would start at $110-$115 and work your way up from there, you have two re-bid zones at the 4* level. MTE 4* at $110 if rejected add re-bid zone 1 and try MTE 4* at $115 if rejected add re-bid zone 2 and try: MTE 4* at $120 if rejected add both re-bid zone 1 & 2 and try MTE 4* $125 Note between each of these bids re-access priceline using the link at savingsbarn.com... you can try that same strategy for MTW, if rejected start with both MTE and MTW and add the re-bid zones as described above starting at your highest rejected bid and continue to raise $5-$10. Split up you essentially have 8 bids per 24hr period, if you were willing to stay in other areas that would increase. I would recommend starting off lower because when inventory is added, you may of been getting rejected at $150 one day and next day they might add some low priced inventory and you end up over bidding on it because you started off with a bid on the high side. If you can't get anything try every 2-3 days till your trip, since you have two sets of dates as well you can try with both and see if you get anywhere.