troutguy

After trying to get a bid accepted for Santa Monica/Marina del Ray over the past week or so I was finally able to get a bid accepted at LAX. Went through savingsbarn.com. First bid was $78 for 4* in LAX area, rejected Second bid was $82 included Lawndale and this was also rejected Final bid was $85 and included Santa Monica area. Accepted. Sheraton Gateway web site price is ~ $229.00 Check in date 2/3/08 Check out date is 2/6/08 Your Offer Price: $85.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 3 Subtotal: $255.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $45.29 Total Charges*: $300.29 Wanted to be closer to Santa Monica area, but this will work out just fine. Considering my family has a flight to catch at around 6am on Wednesday 2/6.

Yes, the amenities are pool, high speed internet, and fitness center.

Oh, my bad... 2/3/08-2/6/08.

I see that Hotwire has a 3* at LAX for $82 a night. It looks like it has Internet, swimming and fitness room. Does anyone know which Hotel this might be? Thanks.

Oldschool- Congrats on your winning bid. I have been bidding in Santa Monica/MDR for the last few days too. My days are for 2/3-2/6 and I have yet to break the $100 mark yet. I think I am going to have to include LAX to keep my prices down. We'll see. Anyway, good job on your bidding.

OK, so over the last 2 days I have been on the losing end of the bids that I have placed with P/L. They are as follows: On Wednesday (Jan. 16th), I bid the following for 2.5* : $55, then included Lawndale and bid $62. My wife then bid $65 and $67 (with Lawndale). We did not realize that we could have started bidding with a 3* so we missed out on some bids there. On Thursday (Jan. 17th), my bids were: 3* $60 then $65(with Lawndale). 2.5* $70, then $73(with Lawndale). With wife then bid, 3* $70 and then $75(with Lawndale). Then for the 2.5* we bid $75 and then $78(with Lawndale). There you have it. I am slowly getting the hang of this process. Any more advice on my bidding strategy? Thanks again.

Ok, another question here.... If I do 2 bids for 2.5* Hotels in Santa Monica/MDR and then another by adding Lawndale. Could I then add 3* Hotels and do 2 more bids? Or does P/L not allow this considering that I could be upgraded to a 3* if a 3* is willing to accept my bid? Parking is not an issue for me, as I could park at a parking structures near the 3rd st. Promenade or on the street if we are not near the 3rd st. Promenade. Thanks.

Thereuare- Thank you for your help and ideas! I totally understand your bidding process now. And the other point you made... "You only have one re-bid zone at the 2.5* and 3* levels, so you can only bid twice per every 24 hours. However, if you bid first for a 3* hotel you could then try for a 2.5* hotel... thereby bidding 4 times per bidding session." Makes total sense now. I will put these methods to use tomorrow. One last question. Could I do this type of bidding with my info first (name, CC, address) and then if I don't get a bid accepted, could I have my wife try with her own info? Thanks!

I have a few questions.... Colfax in your post you stated "If 3* doesn't work at $80 some alternatives within your budget include 2.5* in Santa Monica or 3* at the Airport. Are there any other areas you'd be willing to stay besides Santa Monica?" My P/L request was for 2.5* in Santa Monica/Marina del Rey for $55 (which was rejected), and then, like you, I rebid at $60 using Lawndale to help me out (that too was rejected). I did not make a request with at 3* rating. Is it possible that one of the 3* hotels would except my bid? or if I open it up to 3* is there a better chance that a 2.5* hotel would bite? Next question is this... Should I also use Hotwire to try to get a place? If so why? Is it any different than P/L? I am trying to stay near the Santa Monica/Marina del Rey area because my sister lives in Venice and my wife and baby are just going to be spending a couple of days with her in and around Santa Monica (like hanging our at 3rd St. and the beach). We have been before and really like the area (we are not looking to do any touristy things on this trip). Thereuare I have a couple of questions for you too... I plan on bidding every day for the next few days. Is there a way to do more than two bids a day? If so how? Is what I have already done called "backtracking"? Where I include and area that does not have any 2.5* hotels. Thanks again!

My max bid will probably be $75-$80. I plan on rebidding in the next few days (considering I started at $55 and then $60). Is this the right way to do this with P/L? I don't have a true back up plan yet (any suggestions). Thanks Again!

Thank you Colfax for your reply. I forgot to add that I was trying to get 1 room for 2 people (and a baby, but they don't need to know this). Anyway I don't know if this would explain the difference in price that you were able to achieve vs. my bid which were not excepted. I guess it is just a game to get us to spend more money! Any other information would be much appreciated. Thanks, Troutguy

Ok, I am Newbie to both this board and Priceline. I have done a good deal of reading about bidding and about what people were able to bid to get successful bids in place with P/L. I noticed that someone was able to bid $52 for 2.5* on 12/18/07 for P/L. The person won and was placed at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica. Needless to say I tried to do something similar. My dates that I am working with are 2/3/08 - 2/6/08. I put a bid in at $55 and got rejected. I then included Lawndale and counteroffered by increasing my bid to $60. Again I was rejected. If there is a better technique that I am not using, I am all ears. Any help would be appreciated. I do hope that this is the right place to put this topic. If it is not I apologize. Thanks