hottieandginger

Thanks for the help. We went a different route and booked flight+hotel at the Vallarta Palace in Nuevo Vallarta. The flights are pricey, so the flight+hotel seemed to be the better all in value for late December.

Dates: 11/19 through 11/21 I'm getting a 3* for $39/night ... single amenity is Complimentary Breakfast. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Date of travel 12/22 through 12/29 Hotel amenities: Resort Beachfront Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-speed Internet Access Thanks for any help!

Thanks -- I have a typo in my subject -- should be $62, not $61

I needed one night by the airport (north) at the end of our trip. Saturday night, 10/9. Started bidding at $50. Increased by $4 increments. Won the Hilton OHare at $62 (plus $16.99 taxes/fees for total room cost of $78.99). (Just for reference, I priced on Hotwire and there was an ORD North hotel for $78 -- may have been the Hilton OHare.) I used the PRICELINE link to launch the search. Thanks!

We're staying in Chicago heading into the busy marathon weekend. Prices seemed higher than normal. We used the following strategy: Select 4* NMA... Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $125, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE Select 4* Loop... Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone... Overall, happy with the price and outcome. As usual, this site provides great intelligence on bidding. Thanks!

Oops, the dates got cut off. 6/10/10 through 6/12/10.

Starting bidding at $45. First bid ($45) rejected; added re-bid zone and $5; second bid ($50) rejected; added re-bid zone and $5; third bid ($55) accepted. Going in for wedding and spending first two nights in Denver, third in Littleton. I used the PRICELINE link to commence bidding. This continues to be a great forum and resource for travel -- thanks!

Ironically, I got home tonight and had a letter from Wynn offering three nights for $299 and free tickets to Le Reve (with a stay of three nights or more). Oh well, can't win 'em all. :) Just so everybody has the datapoint -- they gave us 3 nights at the Encore (Resort Suite King) for $299 ($334 with tax). They also gave us two tickets to La Reve (similar to Cirque) -- each worth $129. Really a great deal. I cancelled my hotel that I had booked yesterday. (The "rack rate" for a Resort Suite King at the Encore is $286/night which I hope nobody pays...)

You can close this thread (more detail below). I tried bidding again on a South Strip 5* hotel for the prior weekend. I started at $70 and bid in $5 increments up to $95. No luck so I changed my strategy. I found a great "package" deal on Bookit. Round trip airfare plus 3 nights at the Wynn (5/14 through 5/17) for $738 total. The airfare was $340 (for two people) and three nights at Wynn was $397. However, the airfare was discounted due to the package deal (the cheapest I could find the flight was $400). So the "adjusted" price for Wynn was roughly $330 for three nights. (The Venetian also had very good package deals for three-night stays.) I'm very happy with this result because my girlfriend wants to check out the "European" rules pool at the Wynn. I would have used PRICELINE but didn't want to risk the Trump (horrible reviews about the train). Great website -- I always use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to launch searches!

After doing some research, I tried bidding for a 5* on the South Strip today. My understanding is that the only 5* hotel on the South Strip at this time is TheHotel. I started bidding at $60 and increased by $5 increments using re-bid zones. I ran out of re-bid zones at $110 (purposely avoided the North Strip). Question: when I click on 5* hotels in the South Strip, PRICELINE tells me that the average retail price for a 5* hotel in the South Strip is $205. Is there a typical "discount" that works from a bidding perspective? For example, a 40% discount would be approximately $80, so I'd need to bid in the $120 range. On tripres, TheHotel is $230/night ... not sure if that's relevant. I avoided the North Strip because I'm avoiding the Trump Hotel for now. I'm not totally opposed to the Trump Hotel, but I'd really like a hotel with a good pool, and my understanding is that Trump's pool is nothing special. Finally, HOTWIRE lists a Central Strip 5* hotel for $132 with the following amenities: Casino Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center Golf Nearby Tennis Nearby Spa Services It's recommended in 90% of customer reviews and has a 4.5 star rating on TripAdvisor. I would usually keep bidding on PRICELINE but I might go with the HOTWIRE option because it seems like that hotel is either the Wynn or Venetian (both good options). Thanks for any advice/recommendations etc. I used the HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to launch my bidding.

I realized that the NCAA tourney is in town on the 18th and 20th. We just picked an expensive weekend. I bid on 3* hotels. Started at $50 in OKC North, added $10 (OKC North+OKC), added $10 (OKC North+OKC+Quail Springs) and added $10 in free zone ($80 total). Won the Courtyard Oklahoma City North in Quail Springs for $80. The cheapest "rack rate" on the Marriot website is $129, so happy with the result.

My girlfriend and I are also surprised. (She's from OKC.) PRICELINE says the average retail price for that weekend is $209/night. At $90, I'm still less than 50% of the average retail price. Our desired budget is $70/night -- we'd ideally be in OKC North -- OKC works if we can get better pricing in OKC. Cars are also more expensive than usual. I'm wondering if the NCAA tourney or some other event is happening that weekend. Thanks

I just tried the same approach: started at $50 in OKC North, bumped by $10 and added OKC, bumped by another $10 and then bumped by $5 up to $90. Still no luck.

I tried bidding on a 3.5* hotel in Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City North on Saturday (February 27). I started at $50 and bumped up by $10 (adding free zones) to $70, then bumped by $5 to $90. No luck. I'm trying again now -- will need to start over tomorrow and expand to 3* hotels if this doesn't work. Great website!

I used the PRICELINE link and bid for hotels on the strip. I started bidding hotels on the Strip South. I bid from $75 up to $115 and decided to shift gears and focus on the Strip North. I noticed that a number of bidders have won the Trump hotel under $100. I started bidding the Strip North at $65. I bid in $5 increments (changing zones) up to $90. Trump accepted my bid at $90. Based on reviews, we'll be happy to check out the Trump hotel. Many resorts charge the $15 resort fee, and it will be nice to be off the strip. Thanks again for maintaining this website! (My topic got cut off ... we're staying from 10/31/09 through 11/2/09)

Started the bidding at $70. Guess I started too high, because the Manchester Grand Hyatt accepted my first bid! Staying on Saturday night, July 18 -- leaving Sunday, July 19. Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $70.00 Subtotal: $70.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $16.76 Total Charges*: $86.76 I used the PRICELINE link to initiate the purchase. Love this forum!

Starting bidding at $45 for 3.5*. Added 3* at $50. Changed zones and got Courtyard for $55. I didn't do any research but this price was okay. In hindsight, should have kept bidding for 3.5* because I notice that the Sheraton has gone for $65. However, not a big deal. Used BetterBidding PRICELINE link as always ... thanks!

Just got the Maui Prince hotel for the last two days of our trip to Maui. Started bidding at $150 on Lahaina. Added Wailea, was rejected at $155. Added new zone, was rejected at $160. Added new zone, was accepted at $165. We're staying at the Hyatt regency on 3/29 and 3/30, so happy to check out a different hotel (part of the island). I used the PRICELINE link on this website. Great website!

Just got the Hyatt Regency (Maui) for two nights at the end of March. Started bidding at $125. Bid several times using other hotel zones. Was rejected at $160. Got accepted at $165. (Only bid two nights because didn't want to get stuck in Wailea for four nights...now need to bid for 3/31 and 4/1.) I used the PRICELINE link on this website.

Just got the Sheraton Waikiki for our four-night stay in March. Started bidding at $90. Bid several times using other hotel zones. Was rejected at $115. Got accepted at $120. I used the PRICELINE link on this website.