mickcur

A final update! A made a further attempt with Pricline (using the link) to try and get 3 rooms/3.5*/Miami downtown/05/07 to 05/10 3 nights. Starting at $81 adding in all my re-bid zones at $2 increments and made a final bid at $115 per room per night. Once again with no luck. I think this was my 4th attempt. On another forum (for cruises) they were all quite excited by the Intercontinental Downtown Miami, and they were all booking it through another website (LMT). Their website is quite a bit different from PL, and they also have secret hotels, but if you continue on through the booking without completing it, you can tell what hotel it is. Well, there was the Intercontinental for my dates with 3 rooms, with a banner saying call us direct for a special offer. Long story short, I got the 3 rooms for $110 per room/per night plus tax...I think this is a pretty good deal. So Priceline didn't win this time unfortunately. The added bonus is that the LMT booking is fully refundable up to 3 days before departure! So I might even have a low brow bid on PL just outside the 3 days to check my luck. Thanks for all the fantastic help.

Just an update. Looking for 3 rooms for 3 nights Miami Downtown 05/07-05/10 I have just tried again with no luck. Started bidding at $79 plus the $5 bonus cash, added in all my rebid zones at $2 increments and went up to $109 plus the $5 bonus cash and pulled up nothing. We have other options up our sleeve, but will try again in a few days or a week or so and will keep you updated of the result. I'm pretty sure it's the 3 rooms that is the problem, but it's just a hunch.

An update. Not having much luck. I was going to wait a few days, but found some bonus cash in my profile so I gave it another shot. I reduced my stay to 2 nights and did the same bids starting from $80(+7) and upto $110(+7) and came up with nothing. Also did a seperate bid at $111(+7) for Miami Beach zone, and again came up with nothing. Still got Hollywood Beach and Coral Gables to have a go at. Any other ideas?

Not really, although if we get time we would love to check downtown out. We want to spend most of our time in South beach, but we don't actually want to stay in South Beach due to cost/fees/parking/noise. We already have flexible accommodation for Key West, obviously not through Priceline bidding. Our original plans were 2 nights Miami/2 nights KW. I was attempting to change it to 3 Miami/1 KW. I will try again for downtown in a day or 2 and try for 2 nights and stick to our original plans. I never thought of Coral Gables. It certainly looks a lot closer than Hollywood beach. Thanks for the idea. I will try that if my next attemp fails. This site is awsome! Thanks and regards. Michael

Require 3 rooms 05/07/12 - 05/10/12 3.5* Miami downtown I have made 2 series of bids 24 hours apart. There are 4 rebid zones, so on my first attempt started at $60 and increased in $2 increments until I hit $90 without success. Next day I repeated the above but started from $80 and went up to $110 and still no success. I note today that on the non bid part of the Priceline site they are willing to sell me 3 rooms at the Hilton downtown for $178 per night. I thought I might of got it at $110 :( Thinking of maybe trying the Miami Beach zone in the next few days but at the 4* level, or maybe the Hollywood beach area also at 4*, but that's at least 30 minutes away(we have a car). Or maybe even the airport. I can get the Sofitel near the airport for about $95 on a non refundable rate, but don't really want to stay at the airport, although it's probably closer than Hollywood beach. Any ideas or suggestions for a bidding strategy? Our limit is $110. Trying to avoid the south beach area because of so many choppy reviews and charges/parking. We could possibly reduce the number of nights to 2 as we are going to Key West after Miami and could spend the extra day there instead. So in a nutshell, ideally we would like 3 rooms downtown 3.5* 3 nights Thanks in advance.

Plenty of rebid zones available here, so I started at $60 and kept adding in at $2 increments and won it at $70! Pretty happy, especially with 3 rooms. This is perfect for our pre cruise accomodation. I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure the parking fee will be eye popping, but it's only for 1 night. I used the PRICELINE link from here.

Hilton Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles Airport (LAX) 5711 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90045 310-410-4000 Check-In Date: Sun, Aug 1, 2010 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Mon, Aug 2, 2010 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $52.00 Subtotal: $52.00 Taxes & Fees: $14.83 Total Charges*: $66.83 Bid $42 for 3.5* increased to $46 + Lawndale, then increased to $49 + Culver City, then increased to $52 + Lawndale+ Culver City and won the above. As always, I used the PRICELINE link. Thanks and Regards, Michael

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles Airport (LAX) 5985 W Century Blvd Los Angeles, California 90045 310-642-7500 Check-In Date: Fri, Jul 23, 2010 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Jul 25, 2010 / 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $48.00 Subtotal: $96.00 Taxes & Fees: $21.62 Total Charges*: $117.62 First bid $42..rejected but "once only" offer to increase my bid by $10 to have a 2nd try. Ignored that and added in Culver. Second bid $45..rejected...same "once only offer" which I ignored and added in Lawndale Third bid won at $48. I keep winning this hotel. They are going to know us by first name soon. Lucky we like the place! I did try to get Manhatten Beach zone a couple of days ago for the same dates and only at a 3 star, but had no luck with that even going upto $70. Thanks to the board, and I did use your PRICELINE link.

Bid Accepted! We won the Sheraton Waikiki Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 8 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $105.00 Subtotal: $840.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $132.88 Total Charges: $972.88 We followed the above recipe and as suspected got a counter offer of $122 when we got to $100. We ignored that and went to $105 and won. Very happy with this hotel and location. Thanks very much for your help. We used the PRICELINE link. Regards, Michael

Could I please request a bidding strategy for a Resort rating hotel in the Waikiki beach area. Arrival 05/26/10 depart 06/04/10. We would like to keep our maximum bid at this time at $100. We haven't bid for a zone with resort level before, so could someone confirm that rebidding is the same for resort level? ie all other zones without a resort level hotel (including those with 5*) are a rebid zone? If this is correct, I make it that we have 5 rebid zones...Diamond head/Exec Centre/Honolulu airport/Waianae/Waikiki City Central. Many thanks and regards, Michael

$48 per night Actually was trying to get 3.5* at Redondo beach, but went as high as $55 there with no luck. I put in LAX airport area and dropped my price to $48 and got it first go. I have won this hotel on my last 3 attempts, so I know what I'm in for. I probably over-bid by a few dollars a night for this property, but I was just after something at this stage. At least it has cheap parking with in and out priveledges. I am happy! I used the PRICELINE link form this site.

I'm looking at staying at Redondo-Manhattan beaches area from 03/10/2010-03/12/2010. I'd like to start bidding low from $45 with a maximum of $65. This is because I know I am likely to get the Crowne Plaza at Redondo Beach as an upgrade, which seems to get quite mixed reviews as well as having a high parking charge. At least that seems to be what has been happening lately. I understand there are 2 zones with lower than 3* (Culver City and Lawndale) Thanks and regards, Michael

Sheraton San Diego Hotel And Marina 4 Star Downtown San Diego & Harbor Island 1380 Harbor Island Drive San Diego, California 92101 619-291-2900 See Hotel Website View Map and Directions Check-In Date: Sun, Nov 1, 2009 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2009 / 12:00 PM Amenities: Remote control TV w/ premium channels Telephone w/ voicemail Radio Alarm Clock Iron and ironing board Hairdryer Business services 24 hour front desk Full Service Restaurant Room service Bellman Concierge Fitness center access Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $76.00 Subtotal: $152.00 Taxes & Fees: $28.56 Total Charges*: $180.56 Really lucked out on this one. This has to be the worst hotel to win. It has poor reviews complaining about priceliners being treated like lepers, expensive parking with no nearby alternatives, and no where near "downtown" (but close to Harbor Island...whoopee!) Was hoping to win one of the stunning looking real downtown hotels. I suppose that's the priceline lottery. At least the price was cheap.

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport 3

Could I please have a bidding strategy for a 3.5* hotel in either Redondo-Manhattan Beach area or Airport LAX area for 4 nights from 08/22/09 - 08/26/09. I assume because I am after the same * rating that the bidding strategy will be the same for both areas. There are only 2 different areas with hotels with lower * ratings (Lawndale and Culver City) Highest price at this stage I would like to pay is $65.00. Would starting in the mid $40's be an idea? I'd prefer the 4 nights to be booked together, but would breaking the stay up into 2 x 2 make it easier (and cheaper?). I vaguely remember some sort of link to a matrix or grid for this sort of request, but I can't seem to find that link anymore. Thanks heaps! Michael

Started at $45.00. It came back with an offer to raise my bid by $18.00. Ignored that. 2nd bid was $48.00, then 3rd bid won at $50.00. Thanks and Regards, Michael

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles Airport (LAX) 5985 W Century Blvd Los Angeles, California 90045 310-642-7500 Check-In Date: Thu, Jul 31, 2008 / After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Fri, Aug 1, 2008 / 12:00 PM Amenities: TV w/premium channels, radio alarm clock, business services, telephone w/voicemail, iron, hairdryer, 24 hour check in, restaurant, room service Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $60.00 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.00 Total Charges*: $76.00 First bid was $55.00 They counter offered for an extra $15 I ignored counter offer and added in Lawndale for the $60.00 and won it! I used your PRICELINE Link. PS...I LOVE your site!

Any chance of a bidding strategy for Anchorage? Details here: In: Sat 23AUG08 Out: Sun 24AUG08 Would like to bid for 3* Maximum bid $140 ( I have a Motel6 booked for that much, so I may as well try and upgrade upto the same price?) There is only one other zone, and it only contains only 1* properties. Thanks for any tips! Regards, Michael

Started bidding at $50. From $70 increased in $1 increments except from $74 I jumped to $76 on the last re-bid. Must have been that extra $1!! Also, used an Australian Visa Card, with California as my state, and zip code of 99999. No problems with this at all. Worked a treat. Thanks and regards, Michael

This might be a bit tricky due lack of other bidding zones, but could you please suggest a bidding strategy for the above, please? Maximum bid at this point in time would be $130. Thanks and regards

Continuation of my previous Vancouver 2008 thread. Bid won at $165, bidding from $80 in increments of $10. This was the second time in 2 weeks bidding up to a maximum of $165. Not a FANTASTIC deal, but I'm very happy with this price for this hotel in the middle of cruise season in Vancouver. Thanks for everyones help. Used the Savingsbarn link. Regards, Michael

Tried again today up to $165. Still all bids rejected. I thought I would bid higher due to the USD getting weaker against the CAD, but obviously didn't help. I won't go any higher than $165, as I have found a 4* hotel rated number 4 in Vancouver on tripadvisor, on another website for CAD160. And it is able to be cancelled albeit with a $50 cancellation fee.

Bids rejected upto $145.00. I will try again in a week or so. Thanks for the input regarding hotwire and not dropping to 3*. I will stay with the current strategy. Regards, Michael

Followed the recipe above, and unfortuneately got to $115 without any luck. Do I try again in 72hours and increase my bids? Or do I wait a week or so? What do you suggest. Thanks so much for your help so far. Regards, Michael

Maximum at this point in time is $140.00 Sorry about the 5* comment. I realised after I replied that there were no 5* properties. Thanks, Michael