FOFT

Worldaviator, Wondering if you could tell me about your win. Was this the Radisson Hotel Gateway Seattle-Tacoma Airport (18118 INTERNATIONAL BLVD) http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g6...Washington.html or was it the Radisson Hotel Seattle (17001 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, WA 98188) location? http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g6...Washington.html Regards, FOFT

I totally agree as well. Personally I've had to eat the cost of a booked trip because of medical reasons, which cost me close to $1,000. The advice is simply to get cancellation insurance if there's a reasonable chance that you might have to cancel, or if you don't want to do that, don't book on an opaque site. I would think that it would be a reasonable precaution to take if you had pets on medications, or if you have to care for elderly parents. Sure I wasn't happy about it, and I inquired as to what I could do about it, but Hotwire or Priceline can't be blamed for this, in my opinion. And that's coming from someone out a thousand bucks! [as an aside, a friend of mine who booked through Priceline had to cancel - called the hotel in New York explaining his situation - and he got out of it somehow - maybe the hotel arranged it with Priceline, I'm not sure. But it can be done, though I wouldn't count on it] Although our 'medical condition' was that my wife got pregnant, and now I'm writing this with my little boy looking on as I type. So, all things considered, I'd eat the trip any day. FOFT

Wow! I haven't bid in Ottawa for awhile (last time was April 2005), but I remember when Radisson Ottawa went for around $38 on a fairly consistent basis. Times change, I guess. Good hotel though - one of my favorites in Ottawa. Depending on when you leave in the morning, there's free parking too! (As long as you leave by 8am, if I recall correctly). FOFT

Wondering if the PL fee is per night or per booking? I would assume that the PL fee is per booking, but don't know for sure. If that is the case, it really pays to book all the days together rather than individually. Can anyone confirm or deny? FOFT

Thanks to the both of you for the great advice. I think I'm going to suck it up and just park at the NY Passenger Ship Terminal itself. That way I don't have to worry about lugging my bags and luggage around. Its a little more expensive, but I'm hoping it will cause me less of a headache. Once I get my hotel booked, can I ask for the best way to get to the NY Port? Oh, and how long does it take you on average for the Syracuse to Newark route you outlined? Thereuare: I tried bidding with part of your strategy. I figured since I have a week to go, I'll inch up a little more slowly. But at last bid, I got rejected at $41 for Jersey City+Secaucus+Meadowlands.

As an aside, what's the best route to take to get from Syracuse to Newark? I see two ways to get there, either the 81 or the 90. Any suggestions? FOFT

Thanks for the excellent advice. Should I take it that you wouldn't recommend the Secaucus-North Bergen area? How much cheaper do you think would a 2.5* be in these areas? FOFT

Mainly to spend the night so as not to miss the cruise. Of course, I'm hoping there will be time to sightsee (preferably in the area, but if there isn't much to do in Jersey City, then in NYC). Probably will be parking at the Port. No back-up reservation yet. :) FOFT

Thereuare, Thanks for the offer. I would be interested in what you would recommend as a bidding strategy. You also mentioned a self-park for $18 at the Hyatt. Is it at the hotel or some place off-site? How safe is the parking? I've heard that car theft is somewhat of a concern. As an aside, how long does it take to get from Secaucus, Meadowlands, or Jersey City to the NY Passenger Ship Terminal? It will be on a Friday monring, so I'm assuming there will be a fair amount of traffic. FOFT BTW, kudos on such an informative website.

Just had a question about maximizing bids: Let's say I have three zones that I want to bid on, A, B and C. I'm happy with any of these - and they all offer 3* hotels. How many bids can I make? Or more to the point: can I make 7 bids by bidding Zone A, then backing all the way out, then bidding Zone B, and then Zone C? If Zone C fails, I'd back out and bid, Zones A+C, then A+B then B+C. If these all fail, then back out and bid A+B+C. Will this work?

Thereuare, I'm looking to arrive on May 6th and stay for 1 night. I'll be driving, so parking is a consideration. I'm also hoping for the closest and easiest way to get into Manhattan. Any help would really be appreciated. FOFT

I'm looking for somewhere cheap to stay near New York, ideally 3*. My first choice would be the Hyatt at Jersey City, hoping for around $35. I'm going to start a bit lower since there have been bids as low as $32. But are there any free re-bids at this price for this region? FOFT

Does anyone have any idea of exactly how PL matches up bids with hotels? This is my theory - can anyone confirm or deny? I imagine that hotels have certain ranges in which they can be picked. Lets say for example, for a particular class in a particular zone, there are two hotels, Hotel 1 and Hotel 2. Hotel 1 has a range of $60-70 Hotel 2 has a range of $70-80 Assuming both are available, if you bid within that range, you will get the hotel in the range you bid. But if and only if Hotel 2 is unavailable, and you bid $71, then you will get Hotel 1. My reasoning is that PL knows that it will be harder to sell the higher price hotel (for the simple reason that it is more expensive), and therefore PL would prefer to sell the harder-to-sell hotel. Does this sound correct? An additional problem is when ranges overlap - which hotel will be selected? Again, using the above reasoning, I think the higher price one will sell. Against the advice in this thread, I'm trying to bid a higher price to get a higher quality hotel in the same star range, so I'm trying to gather as much info as I possibly can.