fly_up_front

This is a "confession" post. I frequently use 1*s as a rebid when I'm OK with getting a 2* and had done it in the ORD zone some in the past. Well, it kind of caught up with me this time. Everything turned out OK but I was just needing a place for a night before a flight (with shuttle) so 'winning' this had me jumping. This place doen't have a shuttle of course so had to freeload on a nearby hotel's shuttle. This hotel is currently undergoing major work so the floor I was on looked like a warzone. It was just one night and I did hear them quote someone a price of $89 so I can live with it but wanted to share that there are some 1*s out there where there not expected. This is definitely a new hotel to any online list. Your Price Has Been Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $43 for a 1-star hotel room. Extended Stay America Chicago/Ohare Airport O'hare Airport (ORD) 1201 East Touhy Avenue Des Plaines, Illinois 60018 847-294-9693 Check-In Date: Fri, Sep 23, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Sep 24, 2005 Check-Out Time: 11:00 AM Your Offer Price: $43.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $43.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $13.64 Total Charges: $56.64

A word of caution - when I checked in I gave them my Priority Club card and a Visa card in case there were incidentals. I just recently received my America PRICELINE EXPRESS bill and this hotel has charged me for the NEXT night after I checked out and got my Amex number from my Priority Club profile. To me this is borderline credit card fraud. It's disputed of course and will eventually be removed but clearly another example of how this is the worst 3* in either SFO airport zone. At checkin there were two people yelling at the manager about something. We were put in a smoking room (Me: "It's pre-paid for a non-smoking room."; Them: "This is all we have.").

Yes - as I was pre-checking prices this property's rates are up $40 over last summer and the Crowne Plaza is still closed.

Bid $60 (same as last year) and rejected with a $17 counteroffer. Bid $65 and got a $17 counteroffer again(!?!?). Bid $70 and accepted. Maybe $67 would have worked. Best Internet rate is $139; Hotwire wanted $104 for similar. Courtyard By Marriott West Palm Beach Airport Palm Beach Airport (PBI) 1800 Centre Park Drive East Palm Beach, Florida 33401 561-207-1800 Check-In Date: Mon, Aug 15, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Aug 16, 2005 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $70.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $70.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $15.55 Total Charges: $85.55

I think what she's asking is if there is only one hotel in a zone, why are both 1* and 2 * levels listed. One reason would be to preserve the opaqueness. If you know absolutely for certain that you will get a specific property there would be limited reasons to book through the hotel at their prevailing rate. It also presents the possibility that there's some little low quality property out there in addition to the one you know about. PL's guarantee you'll get your requested quality level or better allows them to do this.

Grad school is fun - pay and work is no good but pretty of fringes that profs have to forego. I'm in the NWA deal for Plat status; can't get there by a credit card. Seems like using a card takes forever to generate a free trip anyway.

Finance prof at K-State; also football season ticketholder. While I meet the "free time available" requirement, I'm fairly lacking in the "work ethic" dept. Except when it come to swing trading in stocks and accruing FF miles with NWA; with these my work ethic is fairly strong. By the way, thank you for your very active involvement at BetterBidding.

I hereby grant you (and anyone else with most posts than me - including the late beloved 'bturner13' who I inexplicably miss a great deal) the status of "uber-poster". Maybe 'thereuare' can figure out a way to institutionalize this. Would be good for business. The word is he'd like to name me "asst. admin" but he knows that since I'm in academics, I'm extremely reluctant to do the actual work it would require.

Was there last night - renovation is still a pipe dream. Was PLed into a smoking room that was desperately in need of updating. High speed internet didn't work and no help available. When checking in, two different parties were complaining about something at the front desk. Beds are comfortable though and shuttle is reliable.

Yes - $38 would have likely worked. PL's unit profit in this case was base fee of $7.67 plus $2 overbid for the $9.67 total. Their best internet rate was probably twice what you paid though so all in all a great deal.

Congratulations to BetterBidding and thereuare for reaching 50,000 posts this last weekend. A great depth of information created in these last two years.

The SFO Hyatt is sold out this night so $38 was rejected. Added a downtown zone and accepted at $40. A new hotel for the list. Congratulations, you got your price of $40 for a 3-star hotel room. Holiday Inn Sfo Intl Arpt San Francisco Airport (SFO) 275 South Airport Blvd South San Francisco, California 94080 650-873-3550 Check-In Date: Sat, Jul 2, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Jul 3, 2005 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $40.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $40.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.87 Total Charges: $52.87

I didn't write that clearly enough - hotel shuttle to airport, airport to Newark Penn Station by NJ Transit, PATH to city. Cost per person total is $8.30 each way. Hotel shuttle won't take you to Newark Penn Station (although that would be a great marketing tool).

I would agree that this is not one of the "better" 3 star properties but the only part of the 3 star PL description where it might be sub-par is a "high quality" room. Some furniture is a bit worn. The elevators are also worn but mainly because the hotel - for some unknown reason - used a lot of wood trim in there that hasn't held up well. The hotel has a restaurant that serves all 3 meals, room service, fitness room, indoor/outdoor pool,- (these four will get it a 3 star rating with PL) - free wireless throughout the hotel, free USA Today and WSJ. There are several restaurants and businesses within walking distance (a third of a mile). As mentioned elsewhere, the Jersey City zone is much better for those wanting to visit the city but I wouldn't hesitate to bid this for a one night stay before or after a flight.

I asked the Four Points front desk guy this very question and he said it would cost $20 one way (which seems high to me) and that it would make sense with 3 people but not one. He said the best option for one person is hotel shuttle/PATH.

The differences in opinions make it nice that this site supports both PL and HW. Seems like I'm using Hotwire more mainly because of lack of availability with PL. I've had two customer service issues with PL (a mis-bid and a hotel of poor quality) and got very satifactory results in both instances.

Here's one for you. I'm at the EWR Four Points for a week. Early in the week I notice some odd things on TV ~ one day I see someone else's account summary, another time I see a recent movie (The Aviator) showing which seems odd as it's so recent. I don't think anything about it and didn't have any time for TV. Later in the week I have a little more time and so when I happen to see another account summary, I linger there for a second. Well it turns out that there's some glitch in the OnCommand system here so that on at least two of the channels in this room I can see the OnCommand activity of other rooms. If they buy a movie (yes, any movie) I can watch it as well. If I leave the TV on those channels you can see people check out in the morning and what they paid. Kind of funny to be watching someone scroll through the on-screen and hoping they'll pick something you haven't seen.

Needed to be in lower Manhattan each morning for a week (7 nights) and wanted a practical combination of price, accommodation, and accessibility. Backup was the Wall St. Club Quarters for $169 + (at least $200). Tried PL for all zones MTW and south up to $160 for a 4*, $110 for a 2.5*, Jersey City and Secaucus all quality levels up to $90 and then threw in the towel. This 3* hadn't been reported so rolled the dice. 3* for $51; Amenities= shuttle, restaurant, pool, fitness center. Total was $410.95 This place has a fair number of bad reviews online so I was prepared for the worst but it's actually been nice. Free wireless access and both WSJ and USA Today each morning. Transportation is as thereuare described elsewhere. Shuttle to airport, train to Newark Penn Station ($6.80), PATH to WTC ($1.50), 10 minute walk to the stock exchange. Can be done in an hour if eveything clicks; a late train made one trip back take 2 hours. So total cost per day is $75.60 ($59 for room and $16.60 for RT commute). And 2 - 3 hours of commute ~ the price paid for saving $125/day. It's worked for me since it's just me and I skip the sightseeing and come in for the 9 hour deal each day and leave but clearly it wouldn't work for most other situations or couples or families.

Technically Priceline just guarantees a room that accommodates 2 adults so the hotel is under no obligation to provide two beds. Having said that, most hotels are willing and able to provide two double beds, especially in airport zones. Areas like NYC and San Francisco will almost certainly not be able to provide two double beds for PLers without a surcharge. Your plan to contact the hotel directly with your request should work great.

Did you use different browser (ie - Netscape Navigator instead of Internet Explorer)?

I think by Priceline's rules you'd need to wait 72 hours since you aren't changing zones, dates or quality levels but as far as going ahead and placing a new bid, using a different browser should work with no problem. In addition to a different card, you'll want to use a different email address.

The Sigma Chi Fraternity 150th Anniversary Celebration is there that weekend ~ would account for a few hundred rooms in the Riverfront area.

Hotwire is showing a 3* for Newark Intl Airport EWR (mid-scale hotel) with just shuttle, pool, restaurant, fitness for $51 for June 18-25. Packages shows no hotels with this description. Any guess as to what this might be? Also, is this the best zone to commute into NYC?

This was a first bid. Hotel website best rate for this night is $89. Congratulations, you got your price of $40 for a 3-star hotel room. Holiday Inn Atlanta Airport South Hartsfield Airport (ATL) 4669 Airport Blvd. College Park, Georgia 30337 404-763-8800 Check-In Date: Sat, Mar 5, 2005 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Mar 6, 2005 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $40.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $40.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.93 Total Charges: $52.93

Just wondering if anyone has been over to Central Park to see "The Gates" exhibit. Is it something to see or not worth the effort? I'll be in NYC next weekend and was wondering if it's worth the trip uptown.