mrxow

You cannot simply increase your bid if you want to do so in less than 24 hours. If you change the dates, accept a lower star level or add another zone where you would accept a hotel, you can keep making bids. If your dates are fixed, you do not want a lower star level and you must have the hotel in the zone originally requested, you have to wait 24 hours to place another bid and raise your offer. What city are you trying for. What zone(s) and star level did you specify?

You said in your other post that you had luck in new york on hotwire. Did you book your new york reservations on priceline or hotwire? If it was priceline, it would be good to know if the upper midtown zone was added last. If you used hotwire, it would be good to know the amenities listed for your hotel - don't know if that can be recovered... Otherwise, the board management can adjust the post so others can understand it easily. It is important to know which site you are referring to, though. You did make bids then? You didn't just take a price offered on Hotwire? and that is 3/29/08 to 4/3/08, right?

The best chance for the best deals are through priceline, but you have less control over where you will stay. Based on the limits you are placing, you have to bid 5* on the south strip. 4* might give you hotels you do not want. It may be possible to bid 4* on the north strip. But if you are picky about where you might stay, it might be wise to bid 5* there, too. Apparently, Treasure Island has come up as a 4* on the north strip. Likely, you will be going for the Venetian or the Palazzo. You already seem to know what people are getting them for. You could end up at TheHotel at Mandalay Bay if you have to bid up high enough. All this info is gleaned from what other people have posted. You should post hotels you have won so other people can learn from what you have experienced.

If the hotel you get has a breakfast, it will be included. I have had breakfasts at 2, 2.5 and 3 star hotels from priceline. I don't know about 4 star hotels and breakfast. I don't bid for 4 star too often. There is little chance of determining in advance what hotel you will get if you use priceline, though. If you can determine which hotel you are booking on Hotwire you may be able to determine in advance if you are going to get breakfast included. No matter what, though, you probably won't know what kind of quality it is going to be. Many 3 star hotels are very nice. I would go for a 3 star on priceline, bid up intelligently and take all the money you save from booking direct and go buy yourself breakfast if it isn't included... It seems the worst case scenario for a 3 star may be the Holiday Inn. You might want to see what you think of that location before bidding on 3 star there. It is apparently a little outside the central area. It seems people are getting the Renaissance a lot, though, which is listed as 4 star on Orbitz.

Do you expect that you might not make it? Or are you just asking hypothetically or for peace of mind? Probably you don't even have to call them and it should be still there. Might be wise to call though, just in case to avoid a potential hassle. Certainly if you call and tell them the situation it isn't going to be a problem. They aren't going to tell you that if you don't show up the first day, your reservation is cancelled. They are already being paid for it. If something like that happened, have the priceline number handy and they would help resolve it, I am sure. I don't know what the official policy is, though.

Do you care where you stay, specifically? Are you looking for the best possible deal or are you willing to spend a little more to be somewhere nicer? The obvious plan would be to bid on Priceline for a 3 star on the strip. Or 4 star, which might only cost a little more. The people who run this board do know about some good deals you can book directly, if you want to be able to pick where you are going to stay. They might suggest something. If you don't mind giving up 2 hours of your time at some point of your trip, you could do the timeshare presentation thing. They put people up on the strip in 3 star accomodations or better. It looks like a Thursday/Friday stay under these circumstances would cost you effectively about 90 bucks... Just don't buy the timeshare...

Earlier this month I had a priceline win from the fall at FLL through Hertz for 6 days in a compact at 16 bucks a day. I arrived in late, as you are. The last time I had done this, they stuck me with a mini van. They just don't have enough cars, especially small ones. This time around, I told the guy I wanted the smallest car possible. He spoke to the manager and she came over and asked if I would be ok with something REALLY small. I thought maybe she was suggesting giving me some little economy car. I was fine with that, as it was just two of us, and we were going to be driving a lot of miles, so the smaller the better to keep fuel costs down, I was thinking. She didn't offer me an economy car. She asked if I would take a convertible CORVETTE! Hahahahahah... With taxes and fees, they offer them for about a grand a week. I think I paid 130 or so... I took it, though my wife wasn't thrilled about the idea. It is very small. It got almost 25mpg, though. It had less than 1500 miles on it. Fortunately we were flew in with carry-ons only, as any luggage larger would not have fit. If you like the idea of a corvette and can fit your party and your stuff in it and can 'vette is being offered at that location right before you arrive. If it is, maybe nobody will be renting it and they will give it to you with an economy reservation because they won't have anything else to give you except that or a mini van, and raise hell if they try to give you the mini van... :)

It says this thread is pinned, so I don't know if this will work, but... At the beginning of the bidding process, select each zone separately and see which star levels have "checkable" boxes and which are greyed out. If it is possible to check a star level in a particular zone, then that level of hotel is available in that zone. If it is not possible to check a star level in a particular zone, there aren't any hotels of that star level in that zone participating in the Priceline bidding service.

It is a multi day trip, so it would be unfortunate if you ended up somewhere you don't like. My experience is mostly with Priceline. I have had only a couple of problem rooms. When I did, I complained. Priceline would not refund my money, but they would give me a $10 credit per night for a later booking. I waited and used it on a booking for 5 nights and ended up getting in savings more than what I would have received had they refunded my room! So I don't worry about it being undesireable. If it's that bad, it may end up being free. I don't know what Hotwire does to compensate for bad experiences by its customers. Priceline generally does not want people to have complaints, so it seems they only use hotels where the chance of a complaint is low. I imagine Hotwire tries to do the same thing. By far, we have been EXTREMELY happy with the stuff we have won, expecially when we see the 40 ot 75% discounts we get from standard pricing... If only the one hotel is recommended by somebody who knows the area, I imagine that is probably not the one you would get, though. Some people are really uptight about where they stay. Maybe it isn't as bad as the person is indicating. And he probably doesn't care if he's not the one who has to pay for it.

It seems to me that if you would be happy with the Westin or Planet Hollywood, you would be happy with just about any 4 star on the strip. The Westin is usually one people try to avoid. It isn't right on the strip - it is a block or two away. It is a fine place to stay, though. Midweek in the summer you shouldn't have to pay a lot. You might want to wait a little before bidding too high. Just stick to the strip zones and 4 star rebid zones and bid up to what you want to pay and see what happens. If you don't get it, wait. You have a lot of time and options will probably change a lot between now and then. You seem to be worried about not knowing which 4 star hotel you are going to get. Don't worry about it. If you pick the strip zones only, things will work out fine. Priceline hotels are almost always very nice, especially the 4 star ones...

A lot of the hotels on the Priceline retail page are chains that participate in the bidding side as well. Maybe they don't have a lot of extra rooms and aren't making them available to the system or aren't making them available at a good price. The hotwire option I am getting is 39 for a two star. I think you should just take that. If you have an Entertainment Book, you can get 10 bucks back on your booking through hotwire. Maybe try priceline a little earlier next time. You won't probably save a whole lot compared to getting a 2 star for 35 or 39 though. Sometimes people pick up hotels for under 30, but not always. Low thirties is usually the best I get.

Just because there are a lot of hotels on Priceline's retail page does not mean they have a lot of hotels in your city participating in their bidding system. I will look at it, but if you have bid up to 65 in a 2 star and didn't get anything, there probably isn't a whole lot you can do. You said there is a 35 dollar option on Hotwire. That doesn't sound like paying through the nose...

I don't use Hotwire much, but I believe I have read people post that they vary their prices by a few dollars from time to time, possibly to throw people off trying to ID them. The way I read it, it sounds like this person is saying that a different hotel option shows up in the results when 4 people are searched for that isn't there when only 2 people are searched for. This does seem bizarre, but like I said, I don't use Hotwire much and have no idea why a hotel would be available for a party of 4 and not a party of 2. The other way around happens frequently. Is this common? If so, then people should be searching the same dates with more people on a regular basis to make sure they get to see all the options available, not just the ones that come up on a 2 person search...

To Roses and anybody else hesitant about rebid zones, If at the beginning of the bidding process on priceline there are no check box options listed in a particular zone for the same or higher star level that you are bidding on, you can add that zone without fear of ending up somewhere you don't want to be. Just be sure before you start that you are certain which zones you can safely add. Once you have determined this, add zones and raise your bid without worrying about ending up in the new zone. It will not happen. Priceline does not have hotels of the star level you are looking for in that zone. You do not have to wait 24 hours to make bids one at a time. At least it has never happened to me and I have done it over a hundred times...

Certainly if the hotel offers a shuttle, you will have access to it with a priceline reservation. Not all hotels offer shuttles, though. Usually 2.5 or 3 stars or better do. Sometimes 1 and 2 stars do not.

Have rented with both with no problems.

It takes longer than flying, so I don't know if it fits into your short schedule, but Amtrak offers a california rail pass that is valid for the length of California. It is $159. It is good for 3 weeks. You can pass any section of track 4 times. The train runs from the Oregon border to San Diego and passes through Santa Barbara. For $159 you could go to Santa Barbara twice on separate weekends, plus go to LA or San Diego during your trip as well if you like. You just need to get yourself from Eugene to the oregon/california border. You can pay for train tickets for that leg or maybe drive that part or maybe a bus would get you there? This all may be difficult for a weekend trip, but thought I would mention it...

Bid for 1*, just looking for a bed after a late flight. Bid up adding most zones. Ended up with a 2.5*. All the cheaper stuff very full, apparently... West zone did not take 45 dollars. $63.30 with fees.

$19.34 in fees $89.34 total bid in most zones on island - not taken anywhere at $65

We got that hotel one time. We thought it was pretty good for the price. We had a car, so it didn't matter, but it is pretty close to the strip and had a free shuttle there. We tried to get it again on another date and ended up winning the same zone and star level, but ending up a the Fairfield a mile or two south along the freeway. We had a car, so it didn't matter much. The Fairfield was brand new at the time, so that was fine with us, too. I have tried to bid 2 star west of the strip several times since then and never got the Hampton Inn again. Always ended up somewhere else. The last time we tried we ended up at the Homestead on Maryland, east of the strip. One good thing to mention about that place is that a lot of the rooms are bigger than standard Homestead rooms we have been in in other places. They had king size beds. I think they give out the smaller rooms first, then try to sell the bigger ones for more. So if you come in later than average, the smaller ones are gone and you get the nice, bigger room with a couch and King size bed... If you are going to try to get west of strip with 2* definitely don't add the zone that Homestead is in. I think there is an east of strip zone that might be ok. The homestead may have been in the unlv zone... And you might end up at the fairfield. Fairfield used to have high speed internet. I think some had limited breakfasts, too. Not sure if it has a shuttle. If that is important to you, maybe you should look at the Fairfield site and confirm.

Getting even a one bedroom suite using Priceline is the exception, not the rule. You cannot count on it at all. The vast majority of the time, you are going to end up in a standard hotel room. If you end up in an all suite property, though, you will have a suite. This is possible and maybe even somewhat predictable in some cities and zones, but from the looks of it, Austin isn't one of them. I have never been in a 2 bedroom on a Priceline win. Maybe I meant Springfield suites... There is one of these suites hotels listed as a 2.5 star in Austin, I think. There is a Doubletree suites downtown as a 3* that somebody got in August. Your friend probably got the Omni by the airport at the price you are talking about. There is an Omni listed downtown, but the accepted bids seem to be much higher than $50. If you want something more nice, I think you might want to not shoot for the 2.5*. I would say go for a 3* at the airport and if you don't get it, add downtown and raise your bid price and maybe you might get the Doubletree suites. The southwest zone appears to be a free bid. Since you are trying for tonight, if you don't get your room after you try downtown, you might want to start your bidding over at this point and bid Airport and southwest 3* and raise your bid. If this fails, do Airport, Downtown and Southwest. You will have 4 tries without having to go to other zones. Maybe start at 50 and go up in increments of 5 or even 10 dollars, depending on how bad you want this room. If it is just to get away, maybe you could get away next weekend and get a better win. Make sure to use the site links when you start your bidding.

There are some fees there is no getting around. States charge sales tax. Airports charge access fees. States charge special rental car fees to pay for road maintenance. Sometimes you have to pay a fee for the registration of the car. You can count on 5 to 20 bucks or more in fees every day when you rent a car, especially at an airport. Fees at neighborhood locations can be lower, but the cost per day is often more, so you pay one way or the other. Priceline adds fees to rental car reservations, too. And the prices they offer to "add" a rental car are almost always going to be higher than what you could get if you go through the bidding process.

One thing to consider is whether a nice room or a popular area is important to you. On weekends, popular areas are more expensive. But if you are looking for a nice room, business zones and airport areas can have great deals. We have had several Priceline wins in business zones and airport zones over the past 6 months where we ended up in one bedroom suites at Doubletree, Springhill or Embassy properties for 50 to 55 plus fees. If you pick popular tourist zones, though, you will likely have to bid more and end up with a standard hotel room.

So you know, even if you book a less than 3*, Anaheim has a resort transit system set up that costs $3 per person per day that runs by probably the majority of the hotels. It drops people off in the same place that the hotel shuttles go at the park. Hotels without a shuttle often just have their guests use this service. I am not sure what all routes the shutte goes to, but certainly it services all of Harbor Blvd. and probably all of Katella, too. It also goes to the train station, I think, and certainly to the Block - a popular local Mall/Shopping center type place. So likely you will be able to use this service if you end up somewhere that doesn't have a shuttle. We booked one night in a three star in Disneyland area years ago. We ended up at the Marriott. I thinks the parking was over $20 a day! And we couldn't avoid having two cars that night... Fortunately we were able to talk them into only charging us one parking fee. I recommend people to book a nicer hotel somewhere else in OC and drive to disneyland and pay the parking fee at the park. The parking at hotels outside the Disney zone is often free.

Generally, "days" as far as car rentals go have to do with 24 hour periods and not calendar days, in my experience. So waiting until after midnight won't save you anything in terms of the number of days you are charged for. If you had an arriving flight at, say, 1pm and the departing flight at 6pm like you have, it might make sense to hang out in the airport for a while after you land before picking up your car or planning to bring it back early enough on your return day or both to keep from getting dinged for an extra day. I know that terminal 4, which Spirit uses, has free high speed wireless internet, so burning up a couple of hours there is easily done. Since your flight comes in so late, if you do decide to use priceline, I will say that by making one bid before midnight and one after midnight, you might be able to get some extra bids in without waiting 3 days or whatever the required time currently is. I have done this many times in the past, but they may not allow this any more. Last year, not long after posting about this trick on this site, I was denied an extra bid using that method. It made me wonder if PL people were monitoring what was said here to close loopholes they didn't want used. I took a quick look at sidestep and saw cars for your dates in the low 30 dollar range. Hertz was the lowest, but it said it was off airport. Since you can cancel and might be able to use a code or coupon to get a discount and you wouldn't have to pay a priceline fee, it seems you should try some of the other board links to book a car directly. There is also a site called carrentalexpress that i have used many time in FLL. They deal with independent agencies. There are a few there. I looked there for you, but at this time, the options don't seem to be as good. Also, those agencies aren't open as late as the ones in airport, sometimes. If you get a hotel next to the airport for your first night, you might consider using the hotel shuttle the first night and to get back to the airport the next day and get your car then. You might be able to rent for one less day that way, but it might cut into your trip a little, too.