AnneFitzgerald

Congrats, Spiky! What a great deal.

I highly recommend Ghirardelli's and Alcatraz. :)

Hey there! Just stopping by to make sure you know that Cherry Hill/Mt. Laurel is about 20-25 minutes northeast of Philly in NJ.

Congrats on the win! Be sure to stop by the Creamery and get some Peachy Paterno. :-)

Welcome, Tempest! This is an awesome site, and everyone's very helpful.

I was browsing the Philadelphia listings to see if anyone needed help and came across your post. Just to be sure, you understand that this hotel is not in Philadelphia, correct? In fact, it's about 25 minutes northeast of the city, in NJ. Public transportation to Philly's not easy from Mt. Laurel/Cherry Hill, so if you need to get into the city, I'd suggest renting a car.

Cheers,

Kara

What kinds of sightseeing do you plan on doing?

If it's Ghirardelli's and Alcatraz, that's one thing. If it's heading north to Muir Woods, that's another.

Well this was certainly an easy one! I needed a downtown San Francisco for 2 nights, near the Marriott Marquis where my conference was being held (but didn't want to pay list price of $269/night for the Marriott).

I saw a winning bid for $121 for the Tuesday before I arrive, went out and checked the Hotwire price (4* $214) and figured I'd start at $105 (about half the price of Hotwire).

On first try, $105 was accepted -- and it's for the Marriott Marquis! Woot! That's a savings of $164/night.

BetterBidding.com and PRICELINE FTW! :)

How do you see the TripAdvisor rating?

I'd heard that, but if you go to the TripAdvisor.com you'll see a note from the hotel's manager that says the club has since closed. :)

Holy hell. I just went over to PRICELINE (using this link, of course, from BetterBidding.com). Rather than jump through hoops with 5*, then 4*, then 3* I thought I'd get straight to the point and bid on a 3* and lowball City Centre South (that's where we want to stay).

I had Hotwire and Expedia open, and both were showing lowest available prices of $89 and $90, respectively, so I thought $49 didn't have a chance of sticking (I figured I'd get a counteroffer).

Imagine my surprise when they immediately accepted my offer of $49! Ack! How awesome!

Days Hotel Dublin Rathmines 3 Star

Dublin City Centre South

Lower Rathmines Road

Dublin, Ireland

353-14066100

Amenities:

Remote Control TV

24 hour front desk

Breakfast room

Bar/Lounge

Direct Dial Telephone

Private bath

(Though, now that I think about it, maybe I was one of the lucky ones "chosen" to get a killer deal so they can post my win on their homepage: "Dublin 3* just booked for $49!")

Either way, YAY! :) :)

Congrats Geoffrey! :)

Good luck Geoffrey!

Thanks, guys! Off to bid on Dublin now. :-)

Used BetterBidding.com link for PRICELINE. Not thrilled with the prices in Rome, could've gotten a similar deal on the winning hotel's website. Kinda bleh, but got good deals in all the other cities for this trip, so I guess it's okay to suck it up for this city.

Here's the info:

Terminal 2 Star

Central

Via Principe Amedeo 103

Rome, Italy

Amenities

- Television

- Telephone

- Private bath

Simply check the first zone, scroll down (instead of looking at the next page) to see the star levels offered in that zone.

UNCHECK the current zone, place a checkmark in the box of the next zone, repeat the process for each zone.

Is it clearer now? You can also doublecheck your re-bid zones at RE-Bidding.com

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Ah...gotcha. Makes sense. Off to bid! (Using your PRICELINE link, of course!)

AFG

So, I tried to go in and use the system you describe in this thread, but I'm confused because the city zone, stars, and price are all on the same page now! :)

Help!

Basically, the best advice I can give is two-fold: be patient and follow your gut.

And, of course, use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on BetterBidding.com.

I don't think there's a good time or a bad time. To me, it's a two-part system: how far out it is and my gut feeling when I'm attempting to book.

For part one, take my story for example. We're going to Europe June 17-July 1 (Barcelona - Rome - Lucerne - Brussels - London - Shannon). Right now we're three months out for the trip. I started looking at HW/PL in December (about 6 months out). I didn't see anything I thought was a good deal, so I didn't book (which is part two). Of course, I used BetterBidding.com as a compass

In January, things started looking better price-wise, but I still waited. Enter February, when I got a steal of a deal: $49 in London for June! (See my list of dates booked, method used, and prices below.) This weekend (March 6-7) I hit a roll with great prices, so I booked quite a few. I'm currently holding out for Rome and Dublin/Shannon because my gut tells me I can get a better price than what I've seen so far.

FYI, booking.com's parent company is...wait for it...wait for it: Priceline. :)

Hope this helps! :)

AFG

---

Wins So Far for Europe (June '09) Trip

Method (Hotel / City / Reservation Date / Stars / Winning bid) Date booked

Hotwire.com (Holiday Inn Camden Lock / London / June 28 / 4* / $49) 02.13.09

Marriott.com (Swindon / June 26 - free, used points) 03.07.09

Hotwire.com (Tryp Apolo / Barcelona / June 18-19 / 4* / $52) 03.06.09

Booking.com (Schloss Hotel Swiss Chalet / Lucerne / June 22-24 / 3.5* / $84) 03.07.09

Priceline.com (NH Kensington / London / June 29 / 4* / $57) 03.07.09

Saw the wins for 4* Kensington at $60, so decided to see if I could get lower.

Started at $50 for a 4*, got counteroffer for $63. Rejected it.

Added Westminster and 3* and bid $57.

Accepted at NH Kensington.

Seeing as the going rates on their website are $193 (with tx: $221) for that night, I'm sooo happy with paying $57! (with tax: $73) -- a $148 savings!

Going to see Dave Matthews Band and The Boss on the 28th, so happy where I'm staying! (Of course, used your PRICELINE link.) :)

Sorry i missed them in the previous read-thru... thanks for the follow-up!

Sorry I didn't put it in the sub-header -- I'm still learning. :)

Thanks for this forum -- it's so helpful! :)

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the date(s) of your stay so we can enable this win to appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

I did put the dates in my post:

"Staying 06/18-06/20/2009"

:)

Amenities:

Restaurant

Business Center

$52/night through HOTWIRE (used BetterBidding link!)

Staying 06/18-06/20/2009

Tryp Apolo

Upscale See ratings guide

Avda. Paralelo, 57-59,

Barcelona, ES, 08004

011-34-93-443-11-22

Cheers,

AFG

Sorry about that (still learning the ropes here). :)

Holiday Inn London-Camden Lock See details

30 Jamestown Road

London, GB NW1 7BY

United Kingdom

011 44-020-74854343

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

Thanks, all. Due to the construction and my friend's unwillingness to stay in anything less than a 4*, we ended up bagging the trip!

London for under $50? Woo hoo! Won tonight at 9:45 p.m. PT.

Holiday Inn London-Camden Lock See details

30 Jamestown Road

London, GB NW1 7BY

United Kingdom

011 44-020-74854343

You can't bid on a specific hotel... are you willing to accept any 4* hotel in the zone?

Sure! I'll happily take a 4 star in the zone. :)

Looking to stay at the Mondrian one of the weekends in May before Memorial Day weekend. I saw winning bids ranging from $110-$130, but it looks like it's going for over $400 on their site.

Any suggestions, oh wise and wonderful Powers That Be?

Thanks! :)

AF