fly_up_front

KC is two hours from here and I'm taking the dreaded CFA exam Saturday morning at UMKC near the Plaza and thought I'd get a good night's sleep. Vacation starts immediately after so should have some more PL posts. Will be out in CA first but may try to get up to NYC sometime this summer.

$55 rejected with no counteroffer. $60 accepted. Used SavingsBarn.com. Congratulations, you got your price of $60 for a 3-star hotel room. Sheraton Suites Kansas City Country Club Plaza 770 West 47th Street Kansas City, Missouri 64112 816-931-4400 Check-In Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2004 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Jun 5, 2004 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $60.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $15.25 Total Charges: $75.25

It's East - it's right across the street from the Renaissance. $86 is a great deal.

I'd been messing around with this for over a week on PL and just getting nowhere. There was a huge video game conference in town and the word on other travel sites was that on certain nights, LA was completely sold out. This was seeming to be true as I bid up to $48 for a 3* at LAX with no luck when usually $35-38 will get the job done. Similar higher than normal bidding attempts at lower rated hotels wasn't getting anywhere either. I didn't bid high enough on PL to know for sure whether or not this is another situation where Hotwire had access to rooms that PL didn't. Was running out of time and re-bid opportunities and couldn't risk being too far away from the airport so used Hotwire and went with the 3.5* for $57 and it was the Hilton which PL rates a 3*. Not my proudest travel bidding moment but a decent savings off Hilton's rate for that night of $109. Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Towers 5711 West Century Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90045 (310) 410-4000 Check-in: Fri, May 14, 2004 Check-out: Sat, May 15, 2004 Hotel's amenities:Airport Shuttle, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Business Center, Laundry Facilities. 1 room(s) @ $57.00 per night x 1 night(s) $57.00 Taxes and fees: $13.95 Total Price $70.95

She's a great writer and her articles are always must-reads for travellers, especially those looking for great deals. You also have to like the fact that she's good at alphabetizing (Be.. before Bi..). :)

The print version is in this weekend's (4/30) USA Today. Nice job!

Hard to say how many golf vacations and cruises they'll be giving away. If they wanted to stir up interest and business, we'd be scratching off for hotel bonus money.

Bid $38 for 2* just to see. Dropped to 1* and accepted at $40. As predictable as booking direct with the hotel. Except their online rate is $65. Used SavingsBarn.com Congratulations, you got your price of $40 for a hotel room, and we've upgraded your hotel quality level to a 2-star hotel! Fairfield Inn Quincy 4315 Broadway Quincy, Illinois 62301 217-223-5922 Check-In Date: Fri, Apr 2, 2004 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sat, Apr 3, 2004 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: $12.03 Total Charges: $52.03

It's Memphis East.

Been working on this a while with a lot of different variations. With the weak dollar, rates are up a bit. Tried 4* up to $90 with no luck in East or West (didn't want Southeast). From rate-checking, I knew I could get the 4* Movenpick from Expedia with a Buy 2, Get 1 Night Free promotion that averaged to $85 a night with breakfast included so wound up PLing 5* for the first two nights and using Expedia with the free night for the next 3 nights. First 5* bid of $98 rejected with a counteroffer of add $22. Added Southeast zone for a free re-bid and accepted at $105. Used Saving Barn for the first two nights and the Expedia link here for the next three nights ($255). Renaissance Prague Hotel East V Celnici 7 Prague, Czech Republic 420-2-2182-1111 Check-In Date: Sun, Mar 21, 2004 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Tue, Mar 23, 2004 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $105.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $210.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $21.97 Total Charges: $231.97

Very cool - I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else. Almost makes me wish I had a 13 question form to fill out. Just kidding ....just kidding.

Bid $35 and received counteroffer of +$9. Rebid at $38 and $40 with no counteroffers. Accepted at $42. Having to go within $2 (at best $3) of counteroffer makes you wonder if PL is tightening up. Used SavingsBarn. Congratulations, you got your price of $42 for a 3-star hotel room. Hilton Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles Airport (LAX) 5711 West Century Blvd Los Angeles, California 90045 310-410-4000 Check-In Date: Sat, Feb 28, 2004 Check-In Time: After 03:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Feb 29, 2004 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $42.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $42.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.01 Total Charges: $54.01

I think for me it originates from an "Ebay" mentality of bidding and not knowing and later finding out that you won. Of course, there's no counter bidder here. These days, PL lets you know in seconds if you have a contract but as we all know, it used to be 15 minutes or more before you knew if you "won". And yes, pretty much all of the deals make you feel like a winner.

This one took some time. Tried 3* up to $44 and rejected. Started over at 2* and got a $7 counter at $30, an $8 counter at $31, no counters at $32 and $33, and then accepted at $34. I think $33 used to work for this hotel on a regular basis but now it appears it's $34. Used the Barn. Congratulations, you got your price of $34 for a 2-star hotel room. La Quinta Inn Airport Indianapolis 5316 West Southern Avenue Indianapolis, Indiana 46241-5510 317-247-4281 Check-In Date: Sat, Feb 14, 2004 Check-In Time: After 01:00 PM Check-Out Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2004 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $34.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $34.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $10.35 Total Charges: $44.35

Someone needs to visit North Dakota so we can have a post there. :)

I had been surprised that WillTravel wasn't here - seems like all the usual suspects have now stopped in.

We seem mostly well-behaved. Ever had to delete a post?

thereuare - what has been the biggest surprise of admin-ing this site?

lol - you should remember it. :) It's a quiz I guess because I remember. Guess it took about 2 weeks to get a name.

Kind of quiet - looks like we're light on lurkers tonight. Happy B-day BetterBidding. A very successful first year. By the way, who else remembers the original URL of this board?

Just out of curiosity, what was the other choice? Happy birthday BB!

I happened across this online. Apparently this Kiplinger's column is distributed through the NY Times wire service. It showed up in the Deseret News (Utah) last month. Money Power

This trip didn't materialize right now but thanks a bunch for your tips. We'll probably go in March and will keep that resort in mind.

Hi everyone - The BetterBidding first anniversary is Wednesday, January 28. The growth of this site and the media attention it has received in such a short time has really been something. Even more impressive is the respect members have for each other and the fact that everyone's opinion and input is valued. In recognition (and to create a new "most ever users online" - it's been stuck at 64 too long), I propose everyone pop online for a few minutes at 8pm eastern time that day. Someone can start a Happy Anniversary thread and we can pay homage to our tireless and respectful administrator. Lurkers welcome. I'll bring the champagne.

I'd be interested in what your bidding process was if you remember. Thanks