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MichaelBei

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Everything posted by MichaelBei

  1. Hmmm. First bid accepted with so many rebidding opportunities left on the table - but still looks like a very good deal. And I do like to do things quickly. Best retail price for a 3 star in this zone that I could find was $80 for the Sheraton Four Points Houston Southwest. Property info: Crowne Plaza Hotel Houston Near Reliant/Medical Center 8686 Kirby Drive, Houston, TX 77054
  2. First and only bid at 3 star level. Perhaps someone else can get it a bit lower. Express deal in this zone was $77 for a 3 star (none offered for 3.5 star).
  3. first bid of $50 was counteroffered. I did not take but added Mt. Vernon zone and bid $55 which was accepted. I bid at about 8 pm day of arrival.
  4. Sorry for posting this after the fact, but I think this might be helpful info, especially as someone else could only get a room for $78 for the same night when bidding earlier in the day (I bid after 7 PM day of arrival). $55 was my first bid for 3 star in CC zone.
  5. Bid *3 and above in upper 60s then 2*, then 1* up to $61 in all zones, all rejected. Then booked the Coconut Plaza thru a discounter in Oahu at $63 (which is actually cheaper then $61 plus the priceline fee), presumably would be rated as a 2 star by Priceline. Lowest price listed for these dates by Priceline was $92 for the Aqua Continental, which Priceline classifies as a 1 star. Zones included in these bids were: Executive Center Ihilani Waianae Waikiki Beach Area Waikiki City Central Waikiki Marina Area
  6. Thanks goldendeal for posting this information. It will help - I think we all know now to never purchase trip insurance through Priceline - unless we see that they do somehow make up for the shabby and despicable treatment you received. Let us know if this happens.
  7. Moderator, as you can see, I cut and paste in error on the title. Can you please correct? Westcoast Ridpath Hotel 515 W. Sprague Avenue Spokane, 99201 Tel: 509-838-2711 Fax: 509-747-6970 Final bid including all zones accepted after reject of other zones (including downtown) at $33. All bids were at the 2* or greater level. Saves me (after the priceline fee) only about $2 over the cost of the Microtel at the airport, but then costs me $10 more if I park there. Hopefully though, it is a more enjoyable place to stay even though I won't be there very long. About the $10 parking fee: Hoping that there is free parking in downtown Spokane on Saturday nights. Anyone know? Is the area where this hotel located in ok? Subtotal: $35.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $12.15 Total Charges*: $47.15
  8. Hotel Name: Fairfield Inn New Orleans Airport 1801 32nd Street Kenner, Louisiana 70065 504-443-9800 $43, 3* rejected, first bid 2* accepted: Your Offer Price: $44.00 Subtotal: $44.00 Taxes and Service Fees: $14.31 Total Charges: $58.31 online rate is $129
  9. Lanidar, your human and dog families are more important than $$. Rejoice and be glad that they are getting good care, and don't let this stress you out. Maybe Hotwire and Priceline are not good choices for you with all of these family health problems. Both products discussed on this board are non-refundable non-changeable and always have been. That meains customers are going to and regularly do get stuck with the bill when their travel plans say.
  10. Only the East Baton Rouge zone has 2.5* I forgot to say that I bid for 2.5 star only. The other 3 zones have no higher than 2 star. The bidding order was EBR EBR + Sherwood F EBR + Port Allen EBR + SF + PA This happens to me all of the time on Priceline. Apparently I am the only one that Priceline treats this way - that is, they often reject my bid even when they have availability at the price I name. The timing between bids was a few minutes.
  11. Bid $49, counterbid offer of $61; instead rebid at $52 and $55, REJECTED both times. Go to another location, add another dead zone (there are 3 opportunties for 2.5 star risk free rebids), bid $55 again, ACCEPTED. My Priceline Twilight zone experience continues. :) :) Did not save too much on this property (can get for about $70, so this is really only a $10 per night savings), but I am quite happy with getting this property next to the Mall of Louisiana. I also wanted to find out if Priceline is still playing games with me, and indeed they are. One of the reasons I use Priceline less and less now. Amerisuites East Baton Rouge 6080 Bluebonnet Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809 225-769-4400 Your Offer Price: $55.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 2 Subtotal: $110.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $23.07 Total Charges: $133.07 Taxes are 13%, or a little over $14, therefore Priceline add on fee is about $9
  12. It has happened again! Priceline hotels are nasty, nasty. Bid $49, counteroffer to bid at $61. Added "dead" zones, rebid at $52 and $55. REJECTED. Go to another location, add another dead zone, don't use same email etc. Bid $55. ACCEPTED. This is Maddening! :) I still don't know why this is happening, but the worst thing is that I don't know when this cheating mode is invoked by Priceline, and Priceline really has availability and is just trying to get me to overpay.
  13. You really got to look at the whole picture of car rentals. Some companies are really out to get you with significant add-on expenses anyway they can. So don't always go for the lowest rate. I rarely consider companies like Enterprise and Fox no matter how much cheaper they are because of past negative experiences with this sort of thing. If there is any chance that you are going to travel outside of a company's designated area for your rental - rent with someone else or ask for a rate that covers the entire 48 states without surcharges or whatever it is that you want. :)
  14. I already posted a winning bid for the First Hotel earlier this year: Taipei First Hotel It was just fine, well kept, with 3 or 4 restaurants inside the hotel. It is a good 10 minute walk to the subway (halfway between stops).
  15. No - you check this board, look at the hotels which have been won previously (there is a pretty good chance you will get one of them if you win your bid). Call some of them and or check their website to find out if you can get a room with two beds upon request most of the time (all US 2.5 star hotels and above that I have ever been in have double beds or larger, not "twins"); you could even ask them if it makes any difference if you get your room through priceline as to whether they are likely to honor your request. About 95% of the time I have no trouble getting a room with 2 beds if I want it (again, this is not true everywhere in the US, just most places). Most hotels in the US limit the # of occupants to 4 persons in a room with 2 beds, sometimes the limit is 5, rarely they have a limit of 3 persons in a room with 2 beds (a few Residence Inns and Marriott Courtyards are this way in their rooms with 1 king or queen bed and a sofa bed).
  16. In most parts of the country (not including New York City) your chances of being able to get a room with two double beds are > 90% for a 2.5 star or higher bid, especially if you arrive relatively early. Call some of the hotels where you see previous winning bids and ask them what your chances are of getting two beds upon request. Also check to see if they have a higher price for rooms with two beds (usually not the case in the US, again with a few exceptions like New York City and also certain types of 1 or 2 star hotels.
  17. I ran into something a couple of days that I have not experienced before in bidding on Priceline for hotel rooms in the US (have seen something similar for foreign bids). In Las Vegas I bid for a 4 star hotel room in the Convention Center at $45, received a response that I could get a room right now for $100 (slightly different language from that normally associated with rebid offers): I have never gotten a counter bid offer (as opposed to this buy it now offer) with such a wide discrepancy between what I bid and what the room could be obtained at. I was only willing, however, to bid up to $62 in this zone, which I did and was unsuccessful. After this I bid for a 3 star hotel in the same zone at $32 and got the same kind of buy it now offer for $50. I was only willing, however, to bid up to $42, and I was unsuccessful. Have others had similar experiences for domestic hotel bidding? Is this going to replace the old Priceline counter bid offers (for which one could usually half the difference and get a hotel room)? Parenthetically: Later I found the 3* Orleans available with a large 2 queen bed room at $23, which I booked conventionally (yes, this is a different zone than I bid on Priceline previously, but I didn't even bother to bid on Priceline for this since it would require a bid of $14 or less to save even one dollar off of what I got at the Orleans (because if you back out the taxes you find that the minimum priceline fee for a hotel reservation is currently in excess of $8.
  18. Actually you can in this case. You can bid for 7 days instead of 6 - 11/24 to 12/1. The rates are usually the same for 7 as 6 days so you could bid a lower per day (but higher overalll amount) and possibly get accepted. Now, I have never been penalized for returning a car early on a weekly rental, but that's just my experience, so buyer beware. You could also try entering in 11:30 PM 11/29 which should get you 6 days rental and allow you to return on 11/30 at 7 am. I believe these strategies will work, but use them at your own risk!
  19. 2nd bid after $40. 3 star rejected at $62. This is not the Greenbelt Courtyard. Your Hotel Information Courtyard By Marriott New Carrollton 2
  20. Overbid because I literally had about 3 minutes on the web to do this. Still nice to had a place to stay quickly set. Later found the cheapest rate conventionally was $55, this is about $3 cheaper than what I paid after you add in the Priceline fee. Nice property with decent size indoor pool, Computer room. Free but limited Continental Breakfast. Sorry, no time to post this at the time of bidding. The next week I had the Bozeman Holiday Inn at $40 via an Entertainment Card rate - a real deal!
  21. I was unable to get to a hotel because ALL public transportation was shut down due to Hurricane Isabel (believe me, I tried). This was in my opiinion an overreaction of the authorities, damage was fairly localized (some hotels flooded on the first floor in Baltimore, but not mine). Nonetheless, I couuldn't get there, Priceline refused to refund all my money, but did cancel it for a $25 fee. They were very adament that this was a one-time exception. I guess I was suppose to walk 28 miles to the hotel? :)
  22. that should be $72 rejected for a 4* (not $2). In a hurry, that's why there was no messing around here on rebids.
  23. 4* $72 rejected, 3* $66 won on first bid. Only zone bid for. Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel 999 Ninth Street NW Washington, District Of Columbia 20001 USA Phone: 1-202-898-9000 Ideal location for me obtained on this Wednesday night bid. Previously a higher multi-night bid and a $65 bid for the Monday (8/29) night both rejected. Hotels sometimes manage their rates night by night especially dicey in the big city to get a multi-night bid that includes weekdays. Some of the Marriott rates for this night (some of these are in White House zone): 1 Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel >> Washington 309.00 - 389.00 (USD) 2 Courtyard Washington Convention Center >> Washington 239.00 - 329.00 (USD) 3 Marriott at Metro Center >> Washington 309.00 - 359.00 (USD) 4 Residence Inn Washington, DC/Vermont Avenue >> Washington 219.00 - 219.00 5 Marriott Hotel Pennsylvania Avenue >> Washington 309.00 - 349.00 (USD)
  24. Too bad they add on 80% taxes and fees!! Saves about $17 over the lowest available rate I see without coupons.
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