sfbound

Won $63 bid for 2.5* SF South 8/10 - 8/15, Marriott Residence Inn Oyster Point Waterfront Rack rate is $219. Expedia $179. Bid $61 3* SF South, rejected $63 3* SF South + Lombard, rejected $63 2.5* SF South + Lombard, won (2.5* SF South) Works for me. So thanks for your help & feel free to point out anything that I did wrong for next time.

Or rather, as I think about it, I suppose I should be bidding 3* to start with & then move to 2.5*. I'm just thinking out loud as I am new to this. I'm not really expecting an answer unless there are flaws in my thinking & someone is kind enough to point that out. So, I'm thinking that it would make more sense to bid from the forum link to PRICELINE.. (Aiming for a 2.5* or better, with a preference to be in SF South) $50 3* SF South $55 3* SF South + Lombard (free rebid as Lombard is all <2.5 stars) $60 2.5* SF South + Lombard (free rebid if changing 3* to 2.5* i.e. lower) If rejected close browser and see if Priceline will let me bid again at $65/70/75 without having to wait 24 hrs. If not then wait a day or two & try again.

Thanks for your advice. I'll be sure to bid through the forum links & let you know if Priceline makes a counter offer. I'd pay more to be in the South area rather than Airport based on what seems to be better property reviews for the South Area & being a bit closer to downtown. While I'm willing to spend $125 if I have too, I'd rather find something for $80-ish if I can. I'd be looking at USW, USE, etc too if it wasn't for the $30 or more parking surcharge that being downtown entails, which effectively means that I can bid $30 more in zones where parking is probably inclusive. Driving 10 minutes to get somewhere is not a big deal to me & on this particular trip I have to rent a car to do some specific side trips & will have to park it somewhere each night. So, I'm thinking of bidding tomorrow, starting low, along the lines of: Follow forum link & bid: $50 2.5* SF South, $55 SF South + Lombard (free rebid zone, Lombard has no 2.5*) If rejected, close browser & try again as above @ $60/$65 Since my trip is two months away, I should have lots of time to just bid every few days if I didn't understand how the closing browser trick works. Until prices (hopefully) fall or more inventory becomes available. And if the bidding range goes up quite a bit, I can start bidding on 3* rooms, instead of 2.5*. Feel free to point out any flaws or mistakes that I'm making. Your help is appreciated.

These are the rack rates for the properties in SF south. Does the % of the rack rate where you start your bidding vary by area for Priceline? I suppose I am looking for a deal. Hoping to stay under $125/night max & don't want to be farther from downtown than this zone. Zones closer to downtown would be fine, but I'm noting that parking downtown adds $30 or so to most prices, while parking is free in the SF south zone. Also seems to be nice properties in SF South at this price point. $199 2.5* Marriott Courtyard Oyster Point $149 2.5* Hilton Garden Inn Airport North $159 2.5* Hilton Homewood Suites $139 2.5* Larkspur Landing South $219 2.5* Marriott Residence Inn Oyster Point

Hi all. I'm new to Priceline & this board, so I'm hoping that someone can tell me if my Priceline strategy makes sense or if I am all screwed up in how I'm going about this. I read the sticky notes & some posts in this forum and *THINK* that I understand what is going on. I'm looking for basic accomodations in the South SF or Airport area for Aug 10 - Aug 15th. Based on the hotel reviews, I'd have a strong preference to be in the SF South zone, rather than Airport as you seem to get more for your money. I'll have a car, don't mind driving 10 minutes to most places & having an in-room fridge (as most of the SF South rooms seem to have) would be a real plus. Anyway, am I on the right track if I follow the forum link to PRICELINE & start bidding low, say $50 for a 2.5* SF South property? This is almost an arbritrary price point as there doesn't seem to be a lot of people bidding in this zone on the forum. And if priceline counters that I have to bid say "at least $18 more".. bid perhaps 50-ish % more than that, ie. $10, rather than $18. And in particular, do you think that I will probably be safe rebidding by adding zones that I definately don't want, as long as I check priceline just before & confirm that Priceline doesn't have anything more than 2* in that zone? I'm a bit worried that 2.5* is a "half-step" rating and that priceline might stick me into a 2* property. Sorry for all of the stupid questions, I did read the strategy posts, I'm just trying to confirm that I understand them to reduce the chances of being booked into an area of the city that I don't really want to be in. Thanks for any advice that anyone would care to give me.