geronimo

I think you should keep trying right now. Don't wait because you could end up being like me, stuck in a situation where you still haven't found anything and it's only 1-2 days before your planned departure date. There is no guarantee that the prices will come down closer to the date.

Yes, you would most likely get either the Hyatt Regency or Doubletree in Jersey City, in Zone 2. You can however use a re-bidding strategy which would include bidding in some of the other zones (ie. those without any 3* hotels). I myself am looking to visit the NYC area next week and I am trying this strategy (unsuccessfully so far, as happened last summer too).

NOTE: I accessed PRICELINE through the link on Better Bidding's website. Please do the same. Bidding History First bid for $70 for 4* in zone, accepted Hyatt Regency Chicago (Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park) 151 East Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60601 312-565-1234 Check-In Date: Tue, July 1, 2008 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, July 6, 2008 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $70.00 Subtotal: $350.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $63.40 Total Charges*: $413.40 I won this hotel last week on Tuesday May 20, 2008. Sorry for not posting sooner, but I was very sick with the flu. I am just so happy that I won this hotel because it's in a great location and it's received great reviews. I have been to Chicago once before with a tour bus and this will be my first time travelling to the city on my own with my family and I am so excited! As I saw others winning the same hotel for similar dates to mine, I knew that I had to bid now because this would be my best bet to win the hotel of my dreams and luckily I won the hotel I hoped for at a great rate! :)

I just got the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown East in NYC on Hotwire for the great price of $143/night! I am sooo happy!! :) Date of travel: 6/30/07 - 7/05/07 Amenities: Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-Speed Internet Access And of course I accessed HOTWIRE through the link provided on this great board. Thanks sooo much to thereuare and everyone who helps people get great deals on their vacations! :)

^ To answer your question about retracting a bid on Priceline.com, if a bid is not accepted it will end there. It does not remain active and it will not go through at a later date/be charged to your credit card, or anything like that. If later on you choose to attempt it again you will have to do it all over and it will be treated as a new bid, so you don't have to worry about that when using Princeline. :)

You're right, I forgot to take some of those other factors into account that could be affecting the price, such as the hotel industry rebound, inventory availablilty, not exactly the same dates even though they're close, etc. It's a shame really, I guess it sucks for me, but as I stated before I cannot change my dates, so I have to make this work somehow. I will keep trying over the next 2 weeks and as it gets closer to my travel time hopefully some new inventory will open up and the rates will go down. Otherwise I will have to rely on getting the same old Residence Inn I stayed in last year at a government rate of ~$90/night. That's my last hope I guess, but for now I'll keep trying. :)

You cannot use the 7-day unlimited Metropass from the NYC MTA Subway on the PATH. You will have to pay additional fare to ride the PATH, as I did last summer. You can pay a single or multiple ride pass for use on the PATH system.

Thanks for your concern thereuare. Hotwire is not my last hope, however. I can always get the Residence Inn for the same great low rate as I did last summer (August 2006). That's really my fallback because I know I can get it at the last minute, like 1/2 weeks before as I did last year. I would just prefer something closer/more convenient to Manhattan and a little more upscale, if possible, but I'm not willing to spend too much in order to achieve that. I'm now beginning to think that even $145 is too much to spend, I think I'm going to lower my maximum per night to no more than $120. Couldn't that be possibly achieved? In one of your posts above you said that some of my dates could be the problem. I'm wondering which days do you think are problematic and why. I was really feeling like I would/should be able to get the Hyatt Regency Jersey City for a great rate since practically everyone else on this board has. Also, I was searching extensively way back through the forums and noticed that someone got the Hyatt for only $70/night for a 3 night stay (only 2 fewer nights than I would like) and for dates very similar to mine (they have June 29 to June 2), which included both weekday and weekend nights, just as my dates do. I will keep trying to get a 3* in Jersey City on Priceline for the next 1/2 weeks (from $70 to max $120/night), as well as keep watching out on Hotwire (although I doubt much will change as I've been watching it since May 18th and it's been the same $154-$159/night). If I cannot get it than I will just forget it, save lots of money, and get a 2.5* in Elizabeth for around $50/night, just like someone else did today. I have been trying (basically) the same strategy you suggested to me for the past week, with no luck. I would appreciate any further insights you could provide. Thanks once again.

You can ask, I didn't think of that, but I do not believe the shuttle will take you there. I took that shuttle service that my hotel offered (right next door) and I only remember it going in a "circle" stopping at either the Jersey Gardens Mall or the Newark Liberty International Airport. The shuttle comes back to the hotel every 10 minutes so I don't think they have time to go all the way to Newark Penn Station.

Yes you are correct, this is the area I stayed in when I visited NYC last summer (August 2006) so I have a lot of expertise/experience, and it is not the most convenient. Actually, I stayed in the Residence Inn right next to the Country Inn, took the hotel shuttle from the Courtyard right next door as well (it services both hotels), and I even went inside the Courtyard one day. It is a nice hotel, and I'm sure the Country Inn is too. There's also a Ruby Tuesday right next to the Country Inn, I ate there one night.There are a variety of modes of travel one could take, however, and one method only takes about 30 minutes to get to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Just a short walk across the street basically is the Jersey Gardens Shopping Mall and from there you can take a bus, I forget the bus/route number, I think it costs about $4.50 each way. I will try to find that information and reply once again. The other methods take longer but are cheaper. I utilized basically all of the different methods while I was on vacation. You can take the shuttle from the hotel to Newark Airport, then take the #62 NJ Transit local city bus to Newark Penn Station, and then take the PATH subway from there to either Midtown or Downtown Manhattan. I think once I also took the NJ Transit train from Newark Penn Station.

Ok I just tried this strategy, bidding up to $140, and no luck: Select 4* MTE... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* MTW... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* MTS... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* MTE and MTW... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* UM/CPS and MTS... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* MTE and MTW and UM/CPS and MTS... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* Downtown... Bid $120, if rejected add MTE... Bid $125, if rejected add MTW... Bid $130, if rejected add UM/CPS... Bid $135, if rejected add MTS... Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140. Select 4* Jersey City + Short Hills/Summit... Bid $130, rejected... Closed browser... Select 4* Jersey City + Elizabeth... Bid $140, rejected *Note: my bidding for Short Hills/Summit was an accident, and it's a good thing I didn't win with that area! *phew!*

Sorry for not responding, but I just became a little discouraged. On May 23 I tried your new strategy for NYC, but bid up to $145 at the most (in placed of where you suggested $150), and I was still rejected. On that same day I also tried for Jersey City, first $120 and then $130 with the re-bid zone, and still rejected. I did the same Jersey City bid on May 25 and was once again rejected. I've decided that my maximum for Priceline is actually $140 since with the taxes and charges it would actually become more expensive than HOTWIRE's deal, and at least with Hotwire I know (educated guess) which hotel I'm getting and I don't have to keep trying with all of this annoying bidding. I am going to try the same strategy for NYC once again tonight.

Ok that sounds good. My maximum bid for the Downtown would be the same as for the Midtown zones, which is $150, but I would prefer the latter area first. What would be a more strategic bidding strategy?

Yeah, I spoke with my mother and she does not want to switch hotels, so the bid-spltting is out of the question. I understand what you are saying about one night messing up my chances of getting an available rate. I do appreciate you trying to help me though, thank you. I think I may try for a Midtown hotel again, maybe tomorrow or in a few days, hopefully some new inventory will open up. I have already bid up to my maximum limit for NYC (well, $5 short of $150, which is an absolute max). Actually, it would be cheaper for me to get HOTWIRE's deal on the Hyatt Regency even though their rate is $155/night because their extra charges are less and the total comes out to be slightly cheaper than with Priceline. That may be my last resort, but for right now since I have lots of time I would like to try and bid for lower rates once again, first in Manhattan, and if that doesn't work then in Jersey City.

I guess I will have to re-consider something in that case. Maybe I will stick with a Jersey City hotel. It should be possible for me to get the Doubletree or Hyatt Regency in Jersey City within a price range of $90-$120 right? While price is my main priority, I just can't take the risk associated with splitting my bid, so I guess I will have to settle for an off-Manhattan hotel. So how should I do my bidding for Jesey City? There is only 1 re-bid zone, right?

Hello everyone. I'm new to the board, just registered 3 days ago, although I've been lurking around the forums since July/August 2006. I've been trying to find a good hotel in New York City at a good rate for the period from Saturday June 30th, 2007 to Thursday July 5th, 2007. The maximum I would like to spend is $130 per night, although I could go as high as $150 at an absolute maximum. At first I wanted a hotel in Jersey City but after more consideration I've decided that I would rather stay in Midtown New York City. I stayed in Elizabeth, NJ (airport area) when I went on vacation to NYC last summer and would rather stay within the actual city itself. This is the first time I am attempting to use both Hotwire and Priceline, and so far I haven't had much luck unfortunately. I followed (or tried to follow) the bidding of other members on this board and I see that some people recently got MTW hotels at great rates for very similar dates to those which I seek. This is my bidding history on Priceline for the past few days, always accessed through Savingsbarn.com: May 19, 2007 Select 3* Jersey City... Bid $75, rejected added re-bid zone... Bid $85, rejected and waited 24 hours. ...On May 19 I also attempted to bid for hotels in Midtown but messed up with the re-bid zones. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what I did in sequence. May 20, 2007 BID 1- MTW 110