andrusyna

Thereuare, this is exactly my predicament. I have avoided bidding on Maui resorts and instead used Hotwire in the past because I do not want to stay at the Whaler. A question I have: if the Whaler is available for bidding, and that is the resort with the lowest price, am I pretty much going to get that resort ahead of any other higher priced resort (i.e Westin, Hyatt, Sheraton), even if I overbid a bit? Do we know the mechanics of Priceline's bidding engine to answer this question? Thanks much.

Ann Arbor - Ypsilanti 1275 S Huron Street Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 734-487-2000 I was trying to get a 3* for $40, but was having no luck - possibly due to Veteran's Day. They offered an auto rebid for $52, but I waited until the next day and bid $47. This hotel is a little outside Ann Arbor but right off highway 94 so a quick ride, and it's on a beautiful golf course. It was just recently renovated as well. Tom

Here is what they list on Hotwire Hotel Amenities for the Westin Maui prior to purchase: Resort Beachfront Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Tennis Nearby Spa Services Children's Activity Program Also, it gets a 4/5 TripAdvisor rating, based on 480+ customer reviews. Tom

Hi, I got the Westin Maui on Kaanapali Beach for $139 per night! The description matched the hotel list on this site - it was the 4* Kaanapali resort that is a Customer Favorite. Great deal as those rooms go for $400+ on the Westin site. Also one of the best pools in the country, and 4 Diamond AAA award. Total cost: $834 + $237.48 taxes and fees = $1071.48 for 6 nights at the Westin. Tom

Started bidding at $35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 - got it at $65 for 8/10 - 8/13. We're going there for the U.S. gymnastics championships on those dates, so I figure that's a good deal. The Omni site has the cheapest rate (AAA) at $171 per night for those nights. Cheapest 4-star for those nights on HOTWIRE was $113. Do you think I might have bought the room too early? I wasn't sure how long to wait since the gymnastics tickets are already on sale and I figured I could get the Omni (which is a 1000 foot walk to Conseco Fieldhouse, where the gymnastics will be held). 5 months ahead of time might have been jumping the gun, but can't argue with $65 for a AAA 4-diamond hotel! Thanks for the help with bidding - this site is great!

I ended up going with Bally's through their website. I guesss it was a busy weekend and we couldn't get the Venetian for anything less than $180 per night.

Hi, In Chicago, can I bid on the Boutique in North Michigan area multiple times and not risk getting 4 star hotels in other areas? I guess my question is whether or not a Boutique is considered a 4* like a Resort. Thanks!

Hi, Just a note- you can get an extra 10% off at Bally's with AAA membership.

Thanks! Would it be worth it to spend one night at the Venetian on just a 3 night stay of we're staying the other 2 nights at Bally's? Any other 4 star strip hotel/casinos you would suggest based on hotel quality and location?

Only amenities listed are restaurtant and pool. That weekend seems pretty expensive. I can get Venetian on hotwire for $189 for Friday night, and then Treasure Island for around 165 a night for Sat and Sunday, that seems pricy - but it's on the strip. This is my first time in Vegas, so I'm not sure about off strip hotels, etc.

They have a 3.5* Near Strip East Hotel on Hotwire, not suite, for $82 per night for 9/24-9/27. Is this the Alexis? I've been trying to figure out how to get the Embassy Suites as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi, I see the Embassy Suites listed under Reno, but not under Las Vegas in the Hotwire list. In which neighborhood of Vegas is the Embassy Suites? Thanks!

Hi, I've been trying to bid for the 5* strip property (likely the Venetian) for the weekend of Friday 9/24 - Monday 9/27, unsuccessfully. It looks like Friday and Sunday are reasonable, but Saturday at the Venetian is over $400. Any suggestions? I've been looking for a backup reservation that I can cancel if priceline works out as well - I can get Luxor for $189 avg. nightly rate for that weekend. Cheaper prices all seem to include cancellation fees. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I've bid up to $165 per night for the 5* on Priceline. I am open to just getting it for Sunday night, or Friday night, and staying somewhere else the other 2 nights. Thanks in advance!

Great work lowballer, hope your boss doesn't catch you! :) Your results are telling, but I wonder why over the past couple years whenever I searched for say a 3 * in a certain location, I only saw a slight, maybe $2-3 fluctuation day to day. It may be that nearly simultaneous searches show a bigger difference than a random search 1 day to the next, not sure why that would be though. The lesson so far, I guess, is to use 2 or 3 browsers at the same time when getting a hotel through hotwire and choose the lowest priced one. In your experimetn, lowballer, you showed that PC B was cheaper once, and PC A was cheaper the next time; however, the previous posts seem to point at Netscape as nearly always cheaper - hmm.

Hi, I'm in graduate school now so I have empiricism preached to me daily. From the posts so far it does seem as if there may be something to this, but I know from experience that, for example, people who try out Explorer and Netscape and do NOT see a difference in the Hotwire prices are far less likely to post that result than are those who do see a difference. We need a lot more data points here before we all start using Netscape! I downloaded Opera, just curious to see what it was and to see if there was in fact a difference, and ran a hotwire search in the Chicago loop. All prices were same on IE and Opera, except one cheaper hotel was $2 less through Opera. I ran it a 2nd time and the same difference came up. I have not checked Netscape yet. This seems to be a worthwhile thing to figure out considering that most of us use hotwire and if such a simple thing could save a few bucks, then why not. But let's try to figure out exactly what's happening. It would be VERY interesting whether or not this happens on Priceline, though that would be a much more expensive test.

Thanks! That's all I needed to know! Tom

Hi, If I'm trying to get 4 rooms but only have 3 adults over 21 with credit cards, can I just put the same adult's name on 2 rooms, or even all 4 rooms? I'm unclear if Priceline or the hotel is OK with the same person checking into multiple rooms at the same hotel during the same stay, but I think all they really want is your credit card for inicdentals and fees anyway. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Tom