Colfax

You're so flexible that it's almost hard to give advice, cdngirl! First, you can usually get a 4* Downtown (roughly $60-80) for less than a 3* in the three other zones you want. Do you want to save money by bidding Downtown? Or do you prefer bidding some or all of your days to your $100 limit in your preferred zones first?

Did you win the Crown Plaza on Hotwire or Priceline, nyfltraveler? It's not clear to me.

And regarding the Hilton: 1) It hardly ever comes up. The last report of it here was six months ago, for a Friday night stay. 2) Like the Hyatt the Hilton is a business oriented hotel with higher occupancy on weekdays than weekends. Hilton might only give rooms to Priceline on weekends, even if they show availability on the weekdays. Or they might have a higher Priceline rate for weekdays. If Hilton has a Priceline rate of $45 on Sat/Sun and $90 on Thurs/Fri you'll have to bid $90 for all four nights to win it in one bid. By splitting your bid you can get Sat/Sun for $45. The downside of splitting is that you might win two different hotels and have to move.

South Natomas is about 2 miles north of Downtown Sacramento on I-5. It's also the nearest Priceline zone to Sacramento's airport. It's a good zone for 2.5* bidders because all four 2.5* hotels in South Natomas have free parking and internet (two of those also have free breakfast), and there are no 3* hotels which can lead to unwanted "upgrades".

Out of those five hotels the only one that might be the Homestead is the 2.5*. It can't be the 2* because the Homestead doesn't have an airport shuttle.

You can try bidding higher but I think the issue here is that the Hyatt is sold out on July 25. Any bid that includes July 25 will probably be rejected. Also: 7/26 $219 7/27 $139 7/28 $139 The Hyatt probably has a higher Priceline rate for 7/26 than 7/27 and 7/28. Or it might ONLY have Priceline availability for your last two nights. If you're willing to split your bid I wouild repeat the strategy thereuare provided, first for 7/26-7/29, then again for 7/27-7/29.

I coached a colleague at work through this one. Counteroffer at $46 and went up in $1 increments until success at $51. I lauged at the outcome because I've never been able to win this Residence Inn for myself. Bidding for someone else I got it the first time. Based on recent history $51 is a very good rate for weekdays in South Natomas zone.

Steak2007, Which do you prefer....bidding to your $145 limit for a 3*/Boutique in USE and USW (your preferred zones)?....or trying for a lower price in your less preferred zones of Civic Center and Fisherman's Wharf? If you want to stick with USE and USW I suggest as follows: 3* USE / $110 3* USE + Civic Center / $125 3* USW / $110 3* USW + USE / $125 3* USW + USE + Civic Center / $145 3* bids in USE and USW can be upgraded to Boutique, which Priceline considers something like a 3.5*. ================= If that fails, or you prefer trying for lower price in alternative zones first, try: 3* Fisherman's Wharf $85 3* FW + USW $100 3* FW + USE $115 3* FW + USE + USW $130 3* FW + USE + USW + Civic Center $145 =================== If that fails too we can try for 2.5*. Or work on winning just your Sunday night at 4* or 3* first , since availability looks better that one night, and having your arrival night taken care of will be a relief. It helps the board when you start your Priceline bids with the links at SavingsBarn.com. Good luck!

Steak2007, Also consider bidding for a 2.5* or 3* in Fisherman's Wharf or Cathedral Hill or Civic Center zones, which are less than $10 cabride from Union Square or Moscone Center. For your dates availability looks tight in those zones too though. Availability looks better for your first night, Sunday 7/15, than the rest of your nights. If you're eager to secure your first night's lodging, at least, consider trying for 7/15 alone; then work on the other three nights separately.

Yes, prices for those three nights are high. Did you bid to $90 for a 2.5* in all the zones you originally mentioned---Mission Valley, Coastal, Sorrento Mesa, Del Mar, Miramar, and Rancho Bernardo? I notice you haven't included Downtown or Point Loma zones, which are also near Mission Valley. Are you trying to avoid certain hotels in those zones?

For a longer 7 day stay HOTWIRE has a 4* Mission Bay for $224 which appears to be the Paradise Point Resort. Booked directly through the hotel's website Paradise Point is $260.43 for those dates; so not much savings. It is a waterfront property though. I expect you could do much better than $224 on Priceline, although Priceline's Coastal zone also includes La Jolla hotels. (Not just the Mission Bay area.) Are you wanting to stay in one hotel all seven nights? HOTWIRE has some good deals for 4* in Coronado (appears to be Loew's Resort) for portions of your seven night stay, but not for all seven nights. For example, they've got Loew's (or what appears to be Loew's) for $129 for 9/12-9/16.

Priceline's Coastal zone has several beachfront properties but not EVERY 4* hotel in that zone is beachfront. For your dates HOTWIRE has a 4* with a Beachfront icon in their SeaWorld-Mission Bay-Shelter Island zone for $195. I didn't check conventional rates to see if that's any kind of a deal. Usually you can win a 4* in Priceline's Coastal zone for much less than $195, often something like $90-120/night. Anything you win on Priceline would be within a mile of a beach, but maybe not beachfront. The 4* Marriott in Priceline's Coronado zone would be another suitable place to honeymoon on Priceline. The Marriott has three pools but again, it's about a mile from the hotel to Coronado Beach. You can also compromise between "budget" and "beachfront" if you're willing to split your bid and possibly stay at two different hotels, as follows: Bid to $120 or $130 for your first three nights on Priceline. If you win a beachfront property you can use Priceline's Add a Night feature to try and get the same beachfront property for your last two nights. If you don't win a beachfront property you could book something with a beachfront icon on HOTWIRE for the other two nights, or book a beachfront hotel conventionally. Regarding your traffic question: Like all big cities San Diego has bad traffic at rush hour. The tourist attractions are somewhat spread out and pulic transit doesn't serve them all well. Most tourists will rent a car and deal with the traffic.

I just checked HOTWIRE and 4* availability for your dates is limited and expensive. 4* USW $282 4* USE $289 4.5* Embarcadero $412 Price is similar for all four days, first two days alone, or last two days alone. Unless those prices come down you're probably going to have to raise your limit, try other zones, or try for another quality rating.

Did you notice that someone else won a 4* for your exact dates for $80? San Francisco Priceline Win Those bids were places more than three weeks ago though and Priceline availability changes all the time. Are you willing to split your bid to improve your chances of acceptance now? Try for 3* or Boutique? In Priceline terms July 16 is still far away so you've got time to keep trying for four nights at one hotel.

The Japantown-Civic Center North is a match for the Opal. The 4* USW is probably the Hilton or Nikko. Those particular amenities could describe some other USW hotels too though. Will you be driving? Parking at the Opal is $25/night while the USW hotels will charge more like $40-50/night. The Opal also includes a free breakfast every morning, another $30 or so savings per day compared to purchasing breakfast for four in Union Square. The Opal is about a mile from Union Square but there are good public transit options. I've stayed there and have found it a friendly and comfortable place. The Union Squre hotels are good places too and a little more central for most tourists purposes. A cab from the Opal to Union Square is less than $8. I can't say whether the extra cost of staying in Union Square is "worth it". If you purchase either option on HOTWIRE don't forget to input "2 adults; 2 children". That will guarantee you a room with two beds. For your dates both hotels have the same HOTWIRE price for 2 people or 4.

Did you win anything, vtiroof?

I agree with the others. $85 for a 2.5* is high enough to bid this far in advance. You've got your backup at $90 so you won't be without a room. (Which Days Inn did you reserve? There are several of them.) I'd keep trying to $85 for a 2.5* every couple days now.

I'm surprised Hotwire rates a Days Inn 3*. This isn't one of Hotwire's great deals as Days Inn's regular rate is $79 and AAA rate is $71.10. Days Inn regular rate: $79 + $7.11 tax = $86.11 Days Inn AAA rate: $71.10 + $6.40 tax = $77.50 Hotwire: $69 + $13.12 tax/fee = $82.12 You saved $3.99 off rack rate. If you belong to AAA or AARP booking conventionally would have been cheaper than Hotwire. I'm not trying to ridicule you by posting this as all of us win these "not such great deals" every so often, including me. Thanks for sharing your win with the board and I hope you have a good weekend.

I would have told Richard "I'll hold while you call Best Western and ask them about their restaurant yourself." I still don't think it's too late to ask for a refund, but you'll need to call Priceline back and take it up the chain. Ask for a supervisor. You bid for a 2.5* hotel with guaranteed available breakfast (not necessarily free) and no breakfast was available. You didn't get what you paid for. You know Priceline agrees that BW doesn't deserve 2.5* because Priceline rerated it to 2*. Probably your complaint had something to do with the rerating. If this was a case where all the 2.5* amenities were there but it just wasn't a very "nice" 2.5* or there were major service issues during your then a $10 voucher would have been appropriate. But when the hotel was clearly misrated and lacked a key amenity defining the class you bid for then a full refund is in order, imo. That's not true. If a hotel gets rerated after your purchase your acceptance page also updates to show the hotel's CURRENT Priceline rating, not the rating it had at the time you purchased.If BW has a restaurant that's temporarily closed for renovations then Priceline might restore the 2.5* rating when it reopens. I've also seen a hotel downgraded from 4* to 3* while a pool was closed for repairs, then back up to 4*.

Yes, you've got your three free rebid zones correct. That was a lot of work! Now that you've your free rebid zones identified you might not need them all though because yesterday someone reported winning the Omni in USE for $81 on 8/17-8/20, which includes your own travel dates of 8/17-8/19. That bidder was rejected at $76 and accepted at $81. You've already been rejected to $79. I suggest trying $80 for a 4* in USE. Then add any of your three free rebid zones and try $81. Please go to www.SavingsBarn.com and click on the PRICELINE link there to start your bids.

Just a few hours ago another user reported winning the Omni at $80 for your exact dates. San Francisco Omni You could bid $80 and win something other than the Omni, but I thought you might want to know.

The most likely identities are: 4* USE -- Grand Hyatt 4* USW -- Parc 55 or Clift 4* Embarcadero -- Omni or Hyatt Regency No guarantees! If you purchase please use the HOTWIRE link and let us know what hotel you got. And Happy Anniversary!

It's possible you could win a 3* in the Burbank/Univ/Glendale zone on Priceline in the $70-100 range. But the Hilton is just one potential 3* outcome out of several. If you haven't already purchased you can show your support for this board by using this HOTWIRE link when you do. Please let us know which hotel you get. Fingers crossed for the Hilton.

I'm sick of paying $35 to win this Homestead over and over. For a little variety this time I paid $39. :) $35 was rejected! So was $36. $39 accepted. Bids were placed the night before checkin and I didn't have enough "safe zones" or time to try $37 and $38. I think the higher than usual rate was because my bid included a Monday night, which Homestead prices higher than the Friday/Saturday/Sundays I usually bid for. Bids were placed through SavingsBarn.com.

Now that was a thorough update! Thanks, westie. With a month still to go I feel optimistic you'll find what you're looking for. I was looking at HOTWIRE hotels for your one night in Santa Monica and noticed something I thought was odd. I don't get any Santa Monica hotels on Hotwire when I enter "Los Angeles" as my destination. I have to enter "Santa Monica". Also, HOTWIRE includes Marina del Ray with Santa Monica, and Priceline doesn't. Hotwire has a 3* for $169 with an icon for oceanfront, but I don't know if it's in SM or MDR. If you ONLY want Santa Monica then you better stick with Priceline.