travisl

After reviewing the bids and the hotel lists here, and using this site's PRICELINE link, I bid $43 for a 2.5* (plus a $7 per night Cyber Monday bonus cash offer). I expected that my bid would be declined, and thus I'd drop down to a 2* and bid $43+$7 again, and either get the Days Inn, or then hop over to Hotwire and buy what is probably the Days Inn for $51. But instead, "Your Hotel Deal is in the Bag! Congratulations, we've upgraded your hotel quality level to a 3 star hotel. Your price of $43 was accepted by Best Western College Way Inn. You saved even more with your $14 Bonus Cash!" Winning. :) Ranked #2 of 5 by TripAdvisor. I'm a happy guy this morning. Thanks for the great resource!

Work is sending me to downtown Vancouver for one night, and is putting me up at the Sutton Place for $218 night (after tax) through the company travel agency. Fools. I'd like to stay an extra day for vacation, but it would come out of my pocket, and I'm cheap. Step 1: I asked myself, "how much is it worth to not change hotels?" I figured it would be worth about $30 to be able to stay in the same place an extra night. I'm seeing a $124 per night 5* on Hotwire ($152 after tax), which I'm nearly certain is Sutton Place, but could be Pan Pacific. Regardless, I'd chance it for the $66 in savings. However, reports in this forum about Priceline indicate that I could get another nice downtown hotel even cheaper. I want to stay in a 4* either downtown or in the Granville Entertainment District. The Airport and North Vancouver also have 4* zones, and Delta has no hotels at any level, so that gives me eight bites at the apple, adding the other non-4* zones while bidding on 4* hotels. If I got to $122 after tax, I'd stop and take the Hotwire offer. Thus, with a little calulation, I figured I'd start at $65 pre-tax and go up to $100 pre-tax. Bids for $65, $70, $75, $80, $85, $90, and $95 were rejected. I entered "$100", but that calculated the total price as $123. Too much. $99 calculates to $122 after tax. I bid $99. Accepted, $122 after tax. It gets good reviews on TripAdvisor, and it's only two blocks from Sutton Place, so switching hotels one night shouldn't be a big hassle. Yay! (TL;DR: Seven bids up to $95 rejected, eighth bid at $99 accepted.)

The only amenities listed were Pool(s), Laundry Facilities (self-service), and Complimentary Breakfast. Unlike DrJones win last August, it did NOT list shuttle, fitness, restaurant, or kitchenette.

Looks like Hotwire has dropped this half a star since last summer. I was expecting the Comfort Inn based on stars and amenities, even though it wasn't listed here (#5 of 7 for Kelso on TripAdvisor). Instead, I got the Best Western, same as DrJones Hotwire hotel win last year, and it's #2 of 7. Nice. Used the HOTWIRE link, of course!

My schedule was very open, so I tried several two day periods yesterday at $41, $42, $43, $44, and $45. After the first bid, Priceline countered with $53. Too rich for my blood, given previous experiences (see my March 2011 priceline win for $43 and once before then). Tried $46 today and got it immediately. And of course, I used this forum's PRICELINE link :-)

Bid $25 for 3*, 2.5*, and 2*. Denied. Bid $30 two days later. Denied. Bid $35 two days later. Denied. Bid $37 two days later. Denied at 3* and 2.5*, accepted at 2*. it looks like the Riverbend Inn is a new one to add to the list. Although it's #4 of 5 on TripAdvisor, the reviews are mostly good. It's about 10 miles from where I was hoping, but it's a wide zone, and I had a feeling I'd be in Post Falls instead of Coeur d'Alene. Free breakfast, free wireless internet, and free parking, plus no pets (a minus for some, a plus for me). And its being so far west from my destination just means I have a 10 mile head start on driving back home on Sunday. I feared that I would end up with the Coeur d'Alene Super 8, which gets horrid reviews, but even though Priceline lists it on their main site as 2*, the definitions in "Name your own" star levels show Super 8 as 1*.

For what it's worth, even though Hotwire didn't list the pool icon, the pool was operational.

Based on recent successes at $32 for 3* airport area hotels, I followed this site's PRICELINE link yesterday and tried $31 for the airport zone 3*, which was rejected. I added Convention Center and raised my bid to $32. Rejected. I added Downtown and raised my bid to $33. Rejected. Last night, I received an e-mail from Priceline with a $5/per night discount coupon, any star level. This afternoon, I followed this site's PRICELINE link and attempted $31+$5 for the airport zone 3*. Rejected I added Convention Center and raised my bid to $32 + $5. Rejected. I added Downtown and raised my bid to $33 + $5. Rejected. I added Jantzen Beach and kept my bid at $33 + $5. Rejected. I added Gresham and kept my bid at $33 + $5. Rejected. About an hour later, I checked my e-mail and got the standard "priceline.com Tips for Successful Bidding to Portland" e-mail. "Meh," I figure, "why not drop it half a star and see what happens." My first attempt: $30 + $5 in the airport zone ... SUCCESS! The Comfort Inn and Suites gets some decent reviews on TripAdvisor, and they provide free breakfast and wi-fi. With taxes and fees, I think $77 for two nights is a great deal.

I used the HOTWIRE link from here, and got exactly the hotel I was expecting. The list here shows "Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business," but Hotwire's site excludes the pool amenity -- I guess we'll find out if it's out of service. It's a pretty good deal anyway, as I had almost pulled the trigger on the Doubletree for $20 more. I'm also going to try to shake a $20 rebate out of them using the Entertainment Book coupon. Thanks!

For what it's worth, another co-traveler claims to have gotten the same room today for $41.

A friend posted in a different forum that he'd gotten the Red Lion for $45, and I'd tried $38 and $40 yesterday and was rejected. I tried $43 for my first bid today and it was immediately accepted.

(I couldn't use the PRICELINE link from this site to get the offer using my Entertainment Book coupon; sorry.) Using the $10/night coupon in the Entertainment Book, and seeing no Moses Lake reports on BetterBidding, I looked at Priceline and Expedia to see what the going rate was. It's $57 for a 1*, and about $80 for a 2*. Being cheap, I bid $40, plus the $10 coupon. I was surprised to have the offer accepted on the first try. Two nights, $98.80 out of pocket with taxes and fees. You might be able to get in cheaper, but I'm pleased with this low price. Interestingly, Priceline doesn't list Shilo as one of their Moses Lake hotels. Expedia shows $85.

I'm still trying to avoid the drive from Long Beach, so tried a few more. They failed. Bid Date Price ** Zones 6/20/2010 $75 2 Seaside 6/21/2010 $80 2 Seaside

I've attempted for a month to get a low rate on a 2* or better hotel in the Astoria, Oregon area for the last weekend in June. In the end, I found a room for $56 in Long Beach on Hotels.com instead. Bids below (except for 1* bids) include a $10 in bonus cash offer. Hope this helps someone else figure out what to bid. For what it's worth, when I attempted to bid on April 26, Priceline gave me the message, "Priceline does not have hotels in Astoria, Oregon" and there was no longer an Astoria check box available. This might or might not be related to the Astoria Red Lion closing last winter when a balcony collapsed into the Columbia River (although Red Lion expects to re-open soon). Bid Date Price ** Zones 3/30/2010 $30 2.5 Seaside 3/30/2010 $32 2.5 Astoria, Seaside 3/30/2010 $34 2.5 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside 3/30/2010 $35 2.5 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 3/30/2010 $35 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/1/2010 $37 2.5 Seaside 4/1/2010 $38 2.5 Astoria, Seaside 4/1/2010 $39 2.5 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside 4/1/2010 $39 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside 4/1/2010 $40 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/3/2010 $42 2.5 Seaside 4/3/2010 $44 2 Astoria, Seaside 4/3/2010 $46 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside 4/3/2010 $46 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/8/2010 $47 2.5 Seaside 4/8/2010 $48 2 Astoria, Seaside 4/8/2010 $49 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside 4/8/2010 $50 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/10/2010 $51 2.5 Seaside 4/10/2010 $51 2 Seaside 4/10/2010 $51 2 Astoria 4/10/2010 $51 2 Astoria, Warrenton 4/10/2010 $51 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Long Beach 4/13/2010 $55 2.5 Seaside 4/13/2010 $55 2 Astoria 4/13/2010 $55 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Long Beach 4/13/2010 $57 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/13/2010 $25 1 Astoria 4/13/2010 $30 1 Astoria, Warrenton 4/13/2010 $28 1 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/18/2010 $60 2.5 Seaside 4/18/2010 $60 2 Astoria 4/18/2010 $60 2 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/18/2010 $31 1 Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach 4/26/2010 $65 2.5 Seaside 4/26/2010 $65 2 Warrenton 4/26/2010 $65 2 Warrenton, Seaside, Long Beach

The redemption page says "Get $10/room per night (up to $100) in Bonus Cash good towards your next qualifying hotel stay." Other details:

Walla Walla has one zone and three star levels: 2

Nope, it's not in the MY REWARDS list. The discount seems to only be accessible through the e-mail link they sent me. I don't think it'll be possible to get the offer and give BetterBidding the credit. If I append the BetterBidding redclickID and refID (so the URL has two of them), I still get to the discount page, but I don't know if that'll actually work out for BetterBidding in the end. We'll see, if I can end up getting a rate in Walla Walla that's better than I can find elsewhere. La Quinta's the only one in the list for this small town, I'm already up to $56, and I can book LQ directly for $75, so I'll know in a few days. Maybe I'll be able to add another hotel to the list. Even if I fail, I'll make sure to give details of my attempt in the Washington forum. (Amazingly, there's no Denny's in Walla Walla, so in this rare case, "La Quinta" is not Spanish for "near Denny's")

It doesn't say on the coupon, but on the e-mail I got, "Here's your hotel bonus cash", it says "limit one per customer." The downside is that I haven't figured out how to use this site's link (to give BetterBidding.com appropriate credit) and the bonus cash (which is accessed through a direct e-mail link).

No surprise here. Using this site's PRICELINE link, I tried: Downtown 4* $33. Rejected. Add Convention Center, raise bid to $34. Rejected. Add North Harbor/Jantzen, drop to 3.5*. Rejected. Add Northwest Portland, raise bid to $35. Rejected. Add South Waterfront. Rejected. Add Airport. Rejected. Drop to 3*. Got the Holiday Inn Portland Airport. From previous posts here, that's exactly what I expected to get. Not bad for a room that I'll be sleeping in later tonight and one that's gotten good reviews on TripAdvisor. Thanks!

After seeing that others had gotten the Red Lion(3*) for $50 in July, for $52 last year, and for $40 in 2005, I had high hopes that I'd get it in the $45-$55 range. No dice. All bids rejected: Using this site's PRICELINE link, I started at $39 for 3* Kennewick. to $42 adding Richland to $45 adding 2.5* to $47 adding 2*. Waited a day. Came back via the PRICELINE link to $48 for 3* Kennewick. to $49 adding Richland to $50 adding 2.5*. Waited a day. Came back via the PRICELINE link to $51 for 3* Kenewick to $52 adding Richland to $53 adding 2.5* to $54 adding 2*. Waited a day. Came back via the PRICELINE link to $55 for 3* Richland. Site suggested I add $15 more and bid $70. I scoff. to $56 adding Kennewick to $57 adding 2.5*. I gave up and booked at Motel6.com for $44 a night.

Got one, great price, although not the Quay. (Moderator: can you change the title of this thread to 3* Vancouver Holiday Inn Airport $43) Started at Airport 4* $43. Failed. Added Coquitlam-Burnaby, North Vancouver, and Langley 3.5* at $43. Failed. Dropped down to 3* at $43. Got Holiday Inn Airport. I'll take the savings versus the $50+ Burnaby range in exchange for a bit longer drive. Thanks, thereuare, for the helpful site!

Still trying, still failing, because I'm such a cheapskate :) Started today with Coquitlam-Burnaby 3* at $45. Declined. Added North Vancouver at $47. Declined. Added Langley at $48. Declined. Dropped down to 2.5* at $49. Declined. Added airport and dropped my price to the ridiculously low $33. Declined, of course. Next time (note to self), I start at $35 and include the airport.

No luck yet. Started today with Coquitlam-Burnaby, 3*, $43. Declined. Added North Vancouver at $44. Declined. Added Langley at $45. Declined. Dropped down to 2.5* at $46. Declined. going to keep trying later this week. I'm avoiding the airport area for now, as my event's taking place in Burnaby. But I think if I get to $50 and still get declined, I'll consider looking over there. It looks like some folks have recently gotten the airport Holiday Inn in the low $40 range.

Good point, and yeah, I'm really trying for anywhere outside of downtown (and its $15-$20 parking fees). I figure I'll either get The Inn at Westminster Quay, or I'll have a new hotel to add to this site's list. Either way, I'm happy. :)

I've got several weeks to keep trying, so I'm going slowly trying to get The Inn at Westminster Quay. I started at $34, selecting the Coquitlam - Burnaby region, 3*. Declined. I added the North Vancouver free rebid area, increased to $38. Declined. I added the Langley free rebid area, increased to $42. Declined. I dropped down to the free 2.5* level, increased to $43. Declined. It looks like someone else got it for $45 a few weeks ago, so I'll try again in 24 hours, bumping the price a buck each time.