I usually don't book this far out from a trip so honestly I was kind of goofing off on PL - did *not* think it would be accepted at that price. Happy it was though! Very first try at 3* level. Two zones were selected, Central and Downtown.
Should have started lower. :D
Thought from the list that it was going to be the Four Points and I was wrong, but not disappointed. :)
Amenities given were Fitness, Internet, and Business Center.
Started at $60 with two rebids. Will work nicely for sleep after a late night flight before switching hotels in the morning for French Quarter. (For whatever reason, this first night was throwing off the price of the next three so I split up the trip.)
Will hopefully report the other win here in a few if I have success.
Started at 4* at $64 and no luck so just dropped a little bit. Accepted first try at 3* for $60.
ETA: Looks like a new property for the list! YEAH! :)
Started at $40 (for 2.5*), they countered at $48.
Added a rebid at $41, rejected. Added another rebid at $43 and accepted.
For a random area with not much choice, I think this is decent. (2.5* was actually the highest level even available on Priceline.. LOL.)
Per board moderators, I'm reporting this win that a friend of mine had. Unfortunately, since I didn't make the purchase, I am unsure of what amenities he was shown.
For future reference, there is a parking fee at this hotel. I believe it is $10/night, with in-out privileges, which isn't bad.
EDIT: I used the "reply and report win" link. I assume the win went to the win board. :) The hotel was Adams Mark downtown.
Alright, wrapping up this fiasco, LOLOL...
My final bid prices were $95 for a 2.5* in multiple regions, and $83 for a 2* in multiple regions.Still no luck,
My friend decided to book nights 1 and 2 through Hotels..com. The last I talked to him, he was looking at the Microtel by the airport at $95/night. For nights 3-5, he used Hotwire (he did it himself instead of me since it was no bidding). I wasn't going to report the win here since he didn't use the board link. (Sorry guys.) I did help him identify which hotel he was going to get, though, and I was right - woot for that.
Everyone's help was much appreciated. I sure hope this terrible bidding experience was a fluke and not the sign of things to come with PL and HW. :( Because in the past I've had about 95% wonderful experiences and deals using them.
Hi Romelle,
Thanks. Yes, I'm familiar with the lists. Any room with an exterior door is a dealbreaker, though, and that's most 1* and 2* hotels. I would be very hesitant to book at that level for that reason, mainly.
In my past experience, I've stayed at some high star (3* and up) hotels that had poor reviews, and everything has always been fine. I have only been terribly disappointed with one of my Price.line /Hot.wire wins, and in that case I think it was because the amenities qualified the room as either a 2.5* or 3* (don't remember now), but the quality of the bed and the room itself was 1*. AWFUL. lol. But most of the time I'm very satisfied.
Wow! Thank you both - great insight to know that it seems to be the first two nights causing the issue.
I'm going to talk to my friend about possibly splitting the week up into two different hotels. Will let you guys know the end result.
If it helps, the acceptable zones by name are-
Most preferable: Downtown, Buffalo East, West Seneca
Less preferable but okay at the right price: Amherst, Airport, South Buffalo
I'm trying to book a room for a friend for 8/8 through 8/13. I have used Priceline for years and never had this much trouble getting a good deal!
His event is downtown, but any of the areas surrounding the downtown (within ~10 miles) would also be okay -- however the Niagara areas are a little too far.
I have bid up to $78/night over the past few days, starting with a 3* level and then lowering to 2.5*. I don't want to go any lower as neither of us are big fans of the room doors that open to the outside, and that's often what you get at the 2* and 1* levels.
Absolute max budget would be $90/night, but we really don't want to go that high if not absolutely necessary. However, rack rates are truly insane... $118 for a Red Roof Inn?!? That's outrageous, IMO.
Any idea what may be driving the prices up? Just the fact that it's summer, and people vacation in Niagara? I'm starting to panic a little, since his trip is only ten days away and I haven't had any success yet... :(
Ended up booking tix on Sunday for $1803 pp, after seeing that the price for travel exactly one week before we are going had sharply increased as of that morning. I figured my week would increase next. Now the price has, of course, dropped to $1728. Don't know why I looked today; I know better!!! Could have saved $150, which really sucks.
Honestly, there is nothing more frustrating than the airline waiting game and pricing schedule (or lack thereof!!). I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to traveling and I still have trouble with plane tix. Then again, it didn't help that we just decided to go on this trip like 2-3 weeks ago... I could have been monitoring this for months and probably gotten a much better price several months out. Sigh.
WOO!!! I finally see it. No idea what I changed.
However... (Why is there always a "however"? lol)
I didn't realize that the minimum for using Pay With Miles was 10,000 *per passenger.* I thought it was just increments of 10,000 for $100 per increment off the total fare. So, since 2 of us are going, I need a minimum of 20,000 to save the $200- and guess what I'm sitting at? 19,250 after tomorrow's accrual.
LOLOL. This is just so sad.
Medallion status -- unfortunately, no. :( Just a gold Skymiles CC, which makes me a peon. lol.
I did a separate search yesterday for *only* pay-with-miles eligible flights, and this did not appear -- however, I think that had more to do with it showing only RT flights that were eligible -- all of which have two layovers during the return flight. So, that's a no-go -- I'd rather pay more than deal with a 24+ hour travel day. OY VEY.
I have never flown internationally and this is turning into a bit of a PITA, to be honest. I had priced the trip including both my pay with miles discount, AND not knowing about a 3% foreign currency fee that my bank has been charging on everything I'm booking in advance. Sigh. (Not on the flights for the 3%... just whining in general.)
No matter what I do, I am not seeing it! Filtering for 1-stop and only ATL only gives me two results, and selecting Schedule (rather than Price) gives me about 10 results, but not including DL 10. This is extremely annoying!!! LOL.
Kayak will take me to book directly on Delta, but not let me use the "Pay With Miles" option, as I have a few miles to get a bit of a discount, but not enough to cover the entire ticket.
Wow, this is nuts. I don't get it.
I have used Kayak.com for years as a starting point when booking flights. I usually look at schedule/price there, and then book directly from the airline’s site once I’ve chosen one. I typically fly Delta as I have their CC and get free baggage and miles.
I am planning a round trip, CRW-LHR, departing June 14. On Kayak, filtered for only Delta, I am given several options, including a 4:54 pm departure to Atlanta, then on to Heathrow on redeye DL 10, arriving at 12:20 pm. Ideally this is the best outbound for me.
On Delta’s site directly, I am not given flight DL 10 as an option. Any thoughts as to why this would be?
Sorry, I should have clarified. Bidding was not an option for that trip because it was a multi-city itinerary. I did not realize you couldn't bid on multi-city.
I actually thought I read that you couldn't bid on one-way either, but I was sneaking to look at work and may have misread.
Thank you. That was a tremendous help. The "arriving the same day" portion is what I was looking for.
For this particular trip, though, it isn't going to work as it's a multi-city itinerary. I didn't realize you could *only* bid on RT. But at least I have this bookmarked for the future. :)
Anybody have a quick link to the terms for airfare bidding?
I feel like at one point I saw a document telling about the earliest/latest flight times you are agreeing to when placing a bid, and a maximum number of connections allowed. Can't seem to find it anywhere on PL anymore. Trying to decide if possibly saving some dough is worth sacrifing hours (days?) of a trip or not. I feel like I'd end up losing both travel days altogether.
Thanks!
Started awhile back at $30 (optimistic :))... finally had some success today. I bet NYE was driving the prices up some.
Started at $30 using the rebid process, accepted at $33. Pleased enough because there's free parking, and it will be a super short stay, just the night before an early flight.
I don't work for this board, just being nosy, but I have quite a bit of experience on PL and HW. :)
My best guess, based on the info you provided (especially "spa", which is kind of a rare one to see) would be the Galt House.
Good luck!
Looks like a new one for the list! :lol:
Rack rate is $99, advance purchase direct rate is $84.
Amenities: Indoor pool, free parking, in-room accessibility, smoke-free rooms, free breakfast, high-speed internet, free internet.
Avis, $13.95/day
Was watching this trip for a bit and it was $11.95 when I first started looking (don't know why I didn't get it then...kicking myself now!), then up to $18.95, so I jumped on it today when it went back down some.
Tried and tried for something a little better to no avail. Been trying up to $55 for a 2.5* for about the past month on Priceline. No luck. I guess it's due to low selection in the area.
This has interior doors, though, my only must-have. So hopefully it'll be okay.
Also looks like a new one for the list!
Amenities: Complimentary Breakfast, Free Internet, High-Speed Internet
2* Cleveland (Independence) Red Roof Inn Cleveland - Independence
in Hotwire Hotels - Ohio
Posted
Was trying some bidding on PRICELINE with no luck, so went ahead and booked on HOTWIRE. Amenities given were Free Parking, Internet, Pet Friendly, and Smoke Free. Looks like a new hotel for the list.
I've stayed here before about 6 years ago, it's nothing fancy but it'll do. I've stayed in much worse. :-) From the photos given it looks like they may have remodeled since my last stay.