BLI-Flyer

Bidding History: Bid $45 for 3* in airport zone, was all prepared with two free rebid zones, and my bid was accepted immediately. Check-In Date: Friday, July 30, 2004 Check-Out Date: Saturday, July 31, 2004 Hotel Name: Sheraton Suites Philadelphia Airport 4101 Island Avenue Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19153 215-365-6600 Your Offer Price: $45.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $45.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $12.51 Total Charges: $57.51

Bid history: Bid $35, rejected (Counter offer to add $9, I rejected counter offer) Added zone, bid $38 (Counter offer to add $11, I rejected counter offer) Added zone, bid $40 (Counter offer to add $12, I rejected counter offer) Added zone, bid $44. Offer accepted. (I had one re-bid zone left!) Check-In Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Check-Out Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 Hotel Name: Marriott Sea-Tac Airport 3201 S 176th St Seattle, Washington 98188 Your Offer Price: $44.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $44.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $12.60 Total Charges: $56.60

I agree with the comment about mid-priced hotels offering better WiFi access. Most of the Holiday Inn Express and Fairfield Inns I've stayed at this year offer free WiFi, most of the more expensive chains charge for it. Even worse is the price difference between in-room and conference room access. I did a presentation in New Orleans recently that required a live Internet hook-up. High speed access in the guest room was $9.95/day. The hotel wanted $700 (that's SEVEN HUNDRED) per day for high speed access in the conference room. I opted for dial-up access, but even that was $100/day.

I got the Wardman Park Marriott last February on Priceline for $75/night for five nights but that was during a relatively slow season. They even upgraded me to the club level. It's a very nice hotel, with the Metro stop right at the end of their driveway.

We're very happy since there's not much available in that area on Priceline. We're going to the Redwoods for a few days, and this is close. The Red Lion web site lists a non-refundable reservation at $99, and refundable reservations from $119 - 184. The Priceline rate of $67 is a great deal.

Bidding history: Bid $45 for 3* in Eureka, bid rejected Added new zone (Arcata), bid $50, bid rejected Added new zone (Fortuna), bid $55, bid accepted :) Check-In Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 Check-Out Date: Thursday, June 17, 2004 Hotel Name: Red Lion Hotel Eureka 1929 Fourth Street Eureka, California 95501 Summary of Charges Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $55.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $12.01 Total Charges: $67.01

You're welcome. Four of my last six successful Priceline bids have been Hilton properties (San Antonio, Montreal, Quebec City, and Seattle-SeaTac.) I find it interesting that Hilton is so adamant about not giving Hilton HHonors benefits to stays booked through Priceline but is still making their inventory available on Priceline. It's hard for me to justify paying twice as much to get a few points and a possible room upgrade!

Check-In Date: Tuesday, July 6, 2004 Check-Out Date: Friday, July 9, 2004 Hotel Name: Embassy Suites San Antonio N.W. 7750 Briaridge San Antonio,Texas 78230 210-340-5421 Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $165.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $35.73 Total Charges: $200.73 Bidding History: Based on other bids in this forum, I started at $50, was rejected, added a zone (East San Antonio) with no 3* hotels, rebid at $55 and was accepted. The pre-paid, non-refundable rate for the same dates on the Hilton web site is $110/night.

Check-In Date: Sunday, August 22, 2004 Check-Out Date: Monday, August 23, 2004 Hotel Name: Quebec Hilton 1100 Boul Rene Levesque Est Quebec City,Quebec G1K 7K7 Your Offer Price: $65.00 (US dollars) Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $130.00 (US dollars) Taxes and Service Fees: $19.22 (US dollars) Total Charges: $149.22 (US dollars) Bid History: Bid $65 for 4* hotel in Quebec City for Sunday, 8/22/04, bid rejected Added 3* and bid $60, bid rejected Added zone (zone had only 1* and 2*) and bid $65, bid accepted Hilton web site has a non-refundable, advance purchase room for $83.74 USD.

Bidding history: Bid $50 for 4* in Quebec City, 8/22, 1 night, 2 rooms. Bid rejected Added 3* and lowered bid to $45. Bid rejected Added zone, bid $50 for 3*/4*. Bid rejected Added zone, bid $55 for 3*/4*, bid rejected. Checked availability through Orbitz and Expedia, 4* hotel (Lowes Le Concorde) lists for $114 same night, 3* hotels (Delta Quebec, Hilton Quebec, and Holiday Inn Select) are going for $105 - 116. Will try again in 3 days.

$45 isn't a bad price for a 3* hotel at SeaTac. I regularly get them for $40 - 45, and some have posted winning bids in the high 30's. The Radisson is nice, but it is an airport hotel and downtown Seattle is quite a distance. There's not a lot for kids to do in the area, either.

This hotel used to be the WestCoast Gateway. I stayed overnight here when I had an early morning flight and didn't want to drive in at 4 a.m. The hotel is very convenient, and is right next to the airport. (My room looked right into Terminal A.) MasterPark is right across the street. I got this on the first bid of $40.00: Check-In Date: , Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Check-Out Date: , Wednesday, May 12, 2004 Hotel Name: Coast Gateway Hotel 18415 International Boulevard Seattle, Washington 98188 206-248-8200 Your Offer Price: $40.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $40.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $12.09 Total Charges: $52.09

Have you found anything in Montreal yet? I just got the 4* Hilton Durval Airport for $70/night on August 24. (See my recent post in this forum.) I bid up to $65 on both 3* and 4* hotels in the Durval area and got nothing until I bid $70. I did check the Hilton HHonors web site and found nothing available for that date under $125 USD, so I figured $70 was a good deal. Good luck!

Bid strategy: Bid $65/room for 2 rooms, bid rejected. Added zone and bid $70/room for 2 rooms, bid accepted. Hotel Name: Montreal Dorval Airport Hilton 12505 Cote De Liesse Road Dorval, Quebec H9P 1B7 Your Offer Price: $70.00 (US dollars) Number of Rooms: 2 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $140.00 (US dollars) Taxes and Service Fees: $21.16 (US dollars) Total Charges: $161.16 (US dollars)

Thanks, I learned everything I know about Priceline bidding from the incredible advise on this forum.

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