dorkpie

thanks for your explanation about the opaque vs retail options, but some things still dont make sense. I just tried again for the same reservation on hotwire, and now is showing a RED booking again (i'm pretty certain it was also RED on 10/22, as I did not see the same of the actual company). Hotwire offer: Daily rate : $34.95 x 4 days Subtotal: $139.80 Taxes and Fees: $47.27 Compared to my Priceline win: Daily rate: $17.00 x 4 days Subtotal: $68.00 Taxes and Fees: $58.59 So ignoring any fixed costs, the taxes on my priceline rental are still much higher than the comparable hotwire offer, eventhough the priceline subtotal is less than half of hotwire's subtotal. Dont mean to belabor the point and would be happy to move this to an alternate forum, but just trying to understand this discrepancy to help future bidding strategies and such. cheers!

Started bidding yesterday for various sizes from $12-$17...no dice. HOTWIRE lowered their prices and I was going to accept their total of $137 but figured I might as well give priceline a shot. Went $10 less and first attempt today was accepted! Your Offer Price: $17.00 (per day) Total Rental Days: 4 days Subtotal: $68.00 Taxes and Fees: $58.59 Total Charges: $126.59 Purchase completed through the PRICELINE link. Thanks to all KOA-bound posters! =) On a side note: is there a reason why taxes on priceline are so much higher than on hotwire? Hotwire had a daily rate of $24.95 and taxes of $37.06 for a total of $136.86 - 37% compared to 86% on priceline! I suppose it all balances out in the end, but shouldnt taxes and fees be standard and fixed by the local governments, policies, etc?

ARGH! Hate it when I win on my first bid! Got these results for a midsize from hertz ohare: Your Offer Price: $7.00 (per day) Total Rental Days: 2 days Subtotal: $14.00 Taxes and Fees: $32.40 Total Charges: $46.40 the taxes are insane! Anyway, used the betterbidding PRICELINE link to start - thanks!

ive also noticed that taxes are ridiculously high for recent bids on cars at ohare. i havent actually proceeded with the bids, but the estimated taxes on a 2-day rental for $8/day is about $34 (more than double the rental itself!). someone else had mentioned the tax rates varied company-to-company, but this tax surcharge explanation makes more sense....thanks!

Hotwire had this at $69, so I bid $60 and got it on first try (used the PRICELINE link). Should have tried $55 first. oh well. thanks all! Check-In Date: Thursday, September 25, 2008 Check-Out Date: Friday, September 26, 2008 Hotel Name: Millennium Harvest House Boulder 1345 28th Street Boulder, Colorado 80302 303-443-3850 Your Offer Price: $60.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $14.26 Total Charges*: $74.26 (oops! forgot to add the price and dates to the description...but cant seem to find how to edit that info back in?)

My priceline rate for the evening of Thu 3/22 was $80, $99.28 including taxes/fees. My brother and I knew we'd be arriving late, and were only using the hotel as an overnight stop before heading to San Jose the next afternoon. With that in mind, our only priorities were to have a comfortable and relaxing stay in a central location (in case we wanted to stroll around the next morning). Pros: - Only took about 15 mins drive from the airport (albeit without traffic). - Arrived at 1030pm, and checked right into a room in Tower 3. It was clean and spacious, even with two full beds. - concierge was really helpful and made several calls to try and find us a place to eat at that hour. As it was, we ended up deciding against a proper meal and just went to one of the many diners within 2-3 blocks. - Wifi is free in the lobby and common areas - Location was central and convenient to just about all SF attractions. Cons: - View was drab in tower 3 (looking at the backs of the other towers); we didnt care, but if you did, then i would do as others suggest and ask for Tower 1 or 2 rooms - Internet access (wired and/or wifi) is not free; think its $10-15/day - Parking is ABSURD - $45/day after taxes; if it hadnt been so late, we would have gone elsewhere in the neighborhood. Public garages, including the one across the street, are closer to $20/day. Overall a great price and fully met our needs. I'd def stay there again.

Had this accepted on 3/21/07: First bid for 4* USW and USE: $80, accepted 1 night only; checkin 3/22; checkout 3/23 Hilton San Francisco 333 Ofarrell Street San Francisco, California 94102 415-771-1400 Total with fees: $99.28 ($169 was cheapest rate on hilton.com) ps - hotel itself was really nice and in good location...friendly staff and concierge was super-helpful both times we needed info/recommendations. parking at $40/day + tax is a bit ridiculous. we paid it, but could have just as easily gone across the street for half the price. wifi is free, but only in lobby and common areas pps - just registered so didnt see the notice to go through savingsbarn.com. will do so in the future - sorry about that!

Had this accepted on 3/28/07: First bid for Philly Downtown 4*: $56, rejected Second bid added 3*: $57, rejected Third bid added University Area: $60, accepted 1 night only; checkin 3/31; checkout 4/1 Marriott Philadelphia Downtown 1201 Market Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 215-625-2900 Total with fees: $75.95 ($209 was cheapest rate on marriott.com) ps - just registered so didnt see the notice to go through savingsbarn.com. will do so in the future - sorry about that!