idlewild

I just tried unsuccessfully with a bid of $400, with tax the total was ~$670. The ticket cost has come down substantially for this route. It was ~$1200 just a couple of weeks and is now ~$950 with Continental. When can I rebid again as I exhausted my rebid options, of which there was actually none. Can I rebid again? It's not really looking like that I can save that much money on this route. I think that I might just swallow the cost and actually choose my flight times if the saving isn't going to be that substantial.

You were spot on with the bidding and the hotel. It went as follows: Selected 4* Downtown and bid $55 - rejected Added re-bid zone1 and bid $60 - rejected Added re-bid zone2 and bid $65 - rejected Added re-bid zone3 and bid $70 - rejected Closed browser and used the link you provided to re-access Selected 4* Downtown, added re-bid zone4 and bid $75 - accepted. The hotel is the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing. A four star hotel for $75 a night is good enough for me. Thanks again for all your assistance. It is greatly appreciated. I'm booking my flight to the UK soon, so I'll let you know how that goes. Hopefully it'll be as positive result as this one.

That's great news, hopefully. I'm bidding this weekend, so I will let you know how I get on. I will of course use the links that you provided.

I don't have a maximum amount, just for it to be less than the amount outlined through the conventional method. Obviously I would like that saving to be as considerable as possible, but I don't have a $ amount to which I would ascribe that saving.

I really don't have one. I was hoping to bow to your experience and that you would provide me with a realistic starting bid based upon booking through the conventional method, the city, previous history and desired dates, etc. I would obviously and ideally like to start as low as possible, but I also want to start, as iterated before with a realistic starting bid. Any input in warmly received.

You're right. I had a wee look at some other threads and the Cherry Hill - Mount Laurel area now has at least one 4* hotel. Just simply plugging in the dates that I wanted conventionally provided me with a figure of $185 for downtown Philly. So I'm open to suggestions as to what my first tentative bid should be.

Betting strategy required for a flight from Syracuse, NY to Manchester, UK. The flight departing from Syracuse will be on 12.19.2008 with the returning flight from Manchester on 1.4.2009. So far the cheapest flight (1 connection) I have found is with Delta direct through their website (via Kayak) for $1044. This is broken down to $915 for the ticket and taxes composing the remaining $128. If I use Pricelines own words of "saving up to 40%", that would mean that the cheapest I could hope to pay for a similar ticket would be ~$550. Is that logic appropriate, that I should start my bidding from that figure?

As per your request. I updated the Boston thread from last year. Sorry, I thought that I had provided that information last year.

Bear in mind this information is over a year old. Sorry, thought I had stated how I got on. The hotel we ended up in was the Park Plaza Boston Hotel and Towers. I really can't recall the exact amount we ended up paying for the hotel, but it was around $120 per night, which I was happy with, I think. I won't provide a Tripadvisor detail of the hotel, but it was more than adequate and had an absolutely fantastic location.

I have used the forum before, but it is over a year now and my memory is hazy on the strategy of how to bid on Priceline. I am looking for a 4* hotel in downtown Philadelphia from 11.25.2008 - 11.30.2008. I know that only two areas of Philadelphia, downtown and the airport, have 4* hotels and that should aid me significantly in my re-bidding. I guess I'm looking for the strategy to start me off and a ball park figure of a realistic $ amount that I should use. No one as yet appears to be looking for hotels in Philadelphia that far out so I really don't know what is realistic and what is not. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I tried the following bidding strategy for 3* accommodation in Downtown

I tried the bidding strategies as outlined today; alas, no success. In lieu of this outcome, I have rethought my desire for 4* accommodation and now think that 3* accommodation in the Downtown

Yes. I am now willing to stay in either the Downtown - Charlestown or Boston Waterfront - Convention Center area, looking for the least expensive 4* property in either of these zones. My last bidding attempt for either of these areas was 7.5.2007

I have also tried the bidding process as outlined in post #4, but replaced the Downtown - Charlestown area with the Boston Waterfront - Convention Center area; again with no luck.

I have tried the bidding process as outlined above, but at this juncture have been unsuccessful. As you correctly predicted the amount is too low; do you have any further bidding strategies?

Actually there was something I wanted to ask, in step three when you initially enter the $ amount that you would want to pay some text appear as follows with respect to a 4* Hotel in the Downtown - Charlestown area. <$40 - "Based on recent data, your price has almost no chance of being accepted". $40 - $46 - "Based on recent data, your price has only a small chance of being accepted". >$46 - Nothing appears. I would like to interpret that as I should start my bidding process fairly close to the $50 range and work my way up. However, if you enter two bid areas in section 1 that have 4* availability it informs you that the "Median retail price for a 4 star hotel in Boston, MA is $352", which would lead me to believe that maybe a bid of $50 would be doing both Priceline and myself a disservice. Ideally I would like to pay between $100 - $150 per night for two rooms for two people in each room. From my reading I'm assured the number of rooms is inconsequential and does not negatively impede the actual bidding process, is this correct?

This is my first post to this forum and the first time that I will be utilizing Priceline's "Name Your Own Price" feature, I just want to ensure that I have a good grasp of the bidding process. As outlined in the title of the post, I want a 4* Hotel for the Downtown - Charlestown area of Boston from 9.12.2007 - 9.14.2007. Therefore, I should tick the box for this area only in step 1 followed by 4* star option in step 2 and bid $X amount in step 3, if the bid is successful then happy days and subsequently post the result here. If not, then I should keep adding areas (free rebids) that do not have 4* accommodation, i.e. Brighton - Brookline, South Boston, etc, whilst also possibly increasing my bid until successful? Hopefully this is a fairly accurate approach to the bidding process. If not, then please feel free to advise me of my misgiving and point me in the right direction.