4family

Tough to find a property for 3 of us without having to get 2 rooms somewhere. Still pricey but better than rack rates. Inspired by a previous poster, gave this a try and got the brand new Intercontinental. Hopefully less chance of bedbugs! Looking forward to the stay. Used the HOTWIRE link on this board to start purchase. Amenities: fitness, restaurant, business centre, high speed internet access. 100% customer rating

Tried again tonight, success on 1st bid, so I should have started lower. Anyway, PRICELINE accepted 2 rooms at Omni Parker House, $120 per room for May 5-9th/10. Hope that works out for my relatives. Placed bids through links on the board. Thanks as always for the advice.

Tried again today, no luck with rebids up to $145. Used PRICELINE links on this board. Something special happening that week in Boston (beside's mother's day weekend).?

This is a bid for family members who are travelling there, and this is the zone they want to stay in. I found rates of $199 for properties like Omni Parker House and Westin Boston; also found an interesting rate of $165 for Fairmont Battery Wharf through one of those prepaid sites (but can't find the website again, something like ?scroosh.com). My max bid would be probably around $140 per room. Definitely want 4* quality. It's frustrating that hotwire continues to show the property matching the Ames when I enter the dates on a new search, at $149, but then going through the booking process at the very last page it says again "itinerary not available". Maybe I should just wait it out and book later in the winter.

I ended up not wanting to take a chance on this holiday, and I found a great promotion at the Fairmont Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, so booked that for $159/night using the Fairmont friends and family promotion that expired Dec 31st. Hope it turns out well! Thanks for the advice on the board.

I would welcome suggestions for bidding strategy and bid amounts for 4* Boston, Quincy/Faneuil hall district, for 2 rooms for the above dates. Started at 80/rm/night, added free rebidding zones up to $120 with no success. Are prices that much higher in spring in Boston? Any other suggestions. I had looked on Hotwire, and description matching the Ames came up at $149, but then disappeared when I tried to book it. Thanks. I'll place my bids through the board links.

Thanks, I appreciate the quick reply. I am familiar with the rebidding process. I'm trying to decide between trying for a 5* or going with a resort property, but want to be in the downtown/beaches area only. So, my strategy was going to be try 5* at $75 in zone 1; then add zone 2 at $80; then add zone 3 @ $90, then zone 4 @ $100. That may be unrealistic for a 5*. For a resort bid, considering zone 1 at $60; then adding zone 3 as a rebid at $70. Are those realistic starting points, higher or lower. Also, I note that some of the resort properties are possibly "adults only", is there a risk of getting one and not being able to go there with my kids?

Can the wise sages of the board offer a bidding strategy for a 5* or resort level in Cancun, 1 room for myself and my 3 kids aged 13,8, and 4, for February 6th-13th/2010 inclusive. I'm clueless about a good starting price here, and not very familiar with the free rebidding zones. Found cheap flights, just need a hotel for family vacation. Will place bids through the links on this board. Thanks in advance!

My wife fired me as her travel agent for that trip and ended up staying somewhere with her friends that cost more than they should have paid.....oh well, sometimes "getting the deal" is trumped by "getting the husband off the computer and helping look after the kids". :)

I've had lots of luck in the past for priceline rentals in Florida. This March, I'm flying into Sarasota SRQ and flying out of Ft Myers RSW 10 days later. I know priceline doesn't have an option to name your own price on one way rentals. However, most of the major rental companies usually have no dropoff fee for an alternate airport in Florida. So my question: if I bid for my entire stay, entering pickup and dropoff at SRQ, what do you think the chance of the counter agent then agreeing to a dropoff at another airport? Anyone had any experience with this, or alternate ideas. I need a minivan or 7 seat SUV from Feb 28-March 10 inclusive. Thanks.

They were happy to accommodate with a nonsmoking room on arrival. Excellent location and no complaints about the stay.

Just to make sure I'm looking at the right properties, is the Holiday Inn express the same as the Holiday Inn express Chelsea (madison sq garden); and the holiday inn is the one on 57th st?

Thanks. Their dates are likely to be checkin January 17th for 4 nights, checkout Monday the 21st. The alternative is the previous weekend Jan 10-14th. I didn't realize the first weekend is a holiday weekend in the US....does that usually increase rates. I think they'd prefer to share a room if they could all fit. I didn't realize on hotwire that plugging in 3 people was an option. When I check for the 17-21st, I find 2 hotels that might work. First, a 3* in midtown central (amenities fitness centre, pool, restaurant, hi speed internet) for $169 (maybe Holiday Inn midtown?). Second, a 3* in midtown south (amenities complimentary breakfast, fitness, business centre, hi speed internet) for $115 (maybe Holiday Inn express). I don't think they want to go below that star level. Last question, does hotwire guarantee a nonsmoking room? I appreciate the help from the board.

Hello all......I DO realize that priceline wins guarantee only a room for 2, and often just one bed. My wife and 2 girlfriends hope to find a weekend in midJanuary in NYC midtown area. My questions are: based on this being a slower time in Manhattan, how likely would you guess that winning a 4* midtown bid for 1 room, the hotel might have enough empty inventory to provide a room with 2 double beds. I know it depends entirely on what's available at the time. I did find a weekend January room rate of $239 at the Carlton on Madison, for a guaranteed 2 double beds, and the hotel looks pretty nice. I'm just trying to decide if it would be cheaper to try and get 2 rooms on P/L or hotwire, try to gamble for 1 room and hope for 2 beds... Any other suggested hotels that can definitely accomodate 3? They want to be within an easy walking distance of central midtown/times square. Thanks.......

Tried bidding again today with success. 4* NYC (MTS) Morgans Hotel $179 April 6-9th/07 3 nights. Reviews I could find look mixed.....I hope I didn't pull the trigger on this stay too early and miss out on the same rate in MTW/MTE. Anyway, good savings over the other rates I could find and nice to have it booked. I'll post a review after my stay. Thanks to thereuare for all of the assistance.

The link works, unfortunately when I enter my planned dates, it tells me information is unavailable.

Tried again, up to $180, no luck. For a backup, tried to access the links to the Beekman, but it doesn't seem to work. Is there an updated link? Do hotels usually wait until later in the winter to release their spring inventory of rooms to p/l? I'm not in a huge rush to lock in a reservation, but will keep trying this strategy for the next few weeks. I hope I don't have to go to $200 or more......

Tried all of the above to $160, no luck. Lots of time before my trip, I'll try the same strategy a few more times over the next month. Thanks to thereuare for the quick reply and help. Although prices go up for the spring season in general, what usually happens for Easter weekend in NYC.......cheaper, or more expensive, than the usual spring rates?

Sorry, it was AVIS.

Looking for 1 room, 4* for NYC for 3 nights April 6,7,8. Are prices typically higher or lower for NY over Easter weekend? I've tried bidding MTW up to $130 with 2 rebids, no success. Added MTE, nothing. I don't know NY well enough regarding the other zones. I'd like 4*, and relatively easy access to Times square, theatre district, etc. I know its the weekend of the auto show ('cause I'm going!)..... I'd like to pay no more than 150ish, and less if possible. Maybe that's not realistic... Any bidding strategy would be appreciated. I've not yet booked a backup reservation, and any ideas there would also be welcome........

Have kept trying these dates for several weeks with no luck.....cheapest quoted rate for a minivan I could find, even with corporate discounts and coupons, was about $55 per day, for a total of $620. Finally priceline accepted at $43, for a total including taxes and fees of $532. Still pricey, but I need a van and its peak travel time for SW florida. Last year, the car companies sold out of vans and I couldn't find one at any price for the same dates......... Placed bid through savingsbarn.com Thanks to this forum for all the ongoing help.

Dates Aug 25-28th. Started at $65, added by $2 with 2 additional free rebids. I've stayed here a number of times and have been very happy. Thanks for all the help from this board!

Your Offer Price: $25.00 Total Rental Days: 9 Subtotal: $225.00 Taxes & Fees: $90.80 Total Charges: $315.80 Priceline booked this car through AVIS.

Found a last minute Florida convertible special at Dollar, now extended into March...... http://www.dollar.com/special_offers/details.aspx $169 wk, $34.99 day

Bid on priceline hong kong (using a Canadian visa card) Accepted offer: HK $475 per night, + taxes and HK $75 priceline fee for Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel With all the conversions before taxes, about $64 USD per night at the Sheraton Centre. Took a bit of a gamble on this one as I'm attending a meeting at the nearby university conference centre, and lucked out getting so close. Thanks to all of the posters on this site; this saved me easily 50% over what I could find through the hotel, the conference, or any of the travel sites. Keep up the great work, you're all saving me a lot of $$$.