loulady

Thanks so much for clarifying this for me. I think I have it straight now.

I do think I have the rebids down pat and am not at all confused on them. I have been bidding and winning Priceline bids for a few years now and have had no problems with the rebids. This site is a much friendlier way to do my research and has helped me in submitting my bids the last couple of months. I am happy to have found you guys :) .

BTW, my bids are submitted though this site. Do you wish me to post my losing bids as well, or wait until I have sucess with my endeavor in Fresno?

So, let me see if I am understanding this right. You bid for a *2, Priceline actually checks the highest star level available for that area for availability for your price bid and if so, you get that hotel? They don't start with checking your bid against the *2 hotels with availability for your bid price? DUH... I guess that somehow just escaped me all this time. Call me dense!!!!

I have always won a bid in the category I bid in and have never been upgraded, although I knew it was a possibility. I just did not know they started the search in the highest star level when you placed a bid.

Yes, I knew you could be upgraded, and I was prepared for that. What I did not realize was that they automatically checked all the categories above your lowest bid first to see if there was an available hotel for your bid price, which is what this email is essentially saying, and that they also block out those upper categories from future bids. I don't ever remember that happening before.

I am not sure if this is the proper place to be placing this so move it if need be.

Yesterday, I bid on a *2 1/2 Fresno Airport and had it rejected. I noticed after the first bid that it came back with the *3 also checked. I was very sure I had only checked *2 1/2, but thought I could have accidently checked the other one, so I logged out before using a free rebid to try again. I was again rejected, but it was also rechecked from the *2/12 to include the *3 that I had not checked. I emailed Priceline and got this response.

Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We apologize for the

delay in responding to your message and understand that you would like

to know the reason as while placing the request for your trip to Fresno

you selected a 2 1/2 star level and when you received the status of

request it came back with three star level as marked too.

When you request a certain star level, we always search for a higher

star level first. This is to ensure that you receive the best

accommodation possible at the price you name.

In order to resubmit, you may decrease the hotel quality level (star

rating), add an area or areas, and/or change the check-in and/or

check-out dates of your stay. Without changing one of these items, your

request will be considered a duplicate by our system and will not be

processed. You may also change your offer price; however, please note

that simply changing your price does not constitute a new request.

We thank you for the opportunity to assist you and hope this information

is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Aswind P.

Customer Service Specialist

:)

So, if I am reading this right, if I bid on a *2 hotel, then all the categories above that will come checked and all future bids will be forfited for those star levels? I always thought you could up your star level later if you decided to up your bid. This did not hold true in this instance as the *3 was already checked for me. Is this something new with Priceline?

Started bid through this site PRICELINE link at $65 rejected. Used 3 free rebids up to $87. counter offered to up bid by $22. I ignored that and used another free rebid and got the Westin on the next free rebid for $89. Best price on Westin website was $139. I am satisfied with my hotel and price.

Found this on Hotels.com. Expedia also had it with the 50 gas card for a 3 day stay. Just wondering if this would up the chances of getting a better bid on PRICELINE during this time period? Does priceline usually coincide with deals like these on their room availablitiy?

Now that the Intercontinental has been confirmed on Hotwire, I am wondering if I should base my priceline bid on Hotwire if it is offered for my dates in the future. I just checked the date of 7/22 on the I/C site and the advance purchase rate for that date is $153 and the winning Hotwire rate was reported at $173. Seems Hotwire came in higher than the hotel itself on this one :)

Beav, thanks for that detailed information on the Intercontinental. I was suspecting that the Hotwire *4 was the Hyatt, but was not sure. And a thanks to everyone on this board for all their contributions. I am sure I will be a frequent visitor for our upcoming San Francisco, Tahoe, and Coastal California trip in September. Hoping to be able to score rooms on Priceline or Hotwire for most of my stays. I do have backup rooms booked, so I have time to bid away.

I gave it a shot this afternoon, but no dice. I bid $85-denied, free rebid Carmel zone at $90-denied. I did not use the rebid for Marina as I am not sure about this one. It is showing a Resort. Will they upgrade from *4 to resort?

Since my stay is not until September I figure I will keep plugging away instead of being impatient and overbidding.

Started bid at $65, rejected but counter offer to up bid by $17. I ignored it and used free rebid west zone rejected $72, used another free rebid zone and was accepted at $75. Had a nice stay at Crowne Plaza hotel. Would stay there again if I could get a good deal on the property. It is close to downtown, and has been redone recently with comfortable bed. I would not pay asking price for the room.

Just noticed priceline now has a *4 hotel category for Monterey-Pacific Grove that seems to have just popped up. Any ideas what this property might be? I am planning to bid for a 2 night stay on 9/14-9/16/08. Any strategy help?

Thanks