nexofa

Update: I bid up to $151 for a two-night weekend stay (7/17-19), and had no luck. I ended up at the Omni William Penn for $110/night.

I started looking on Priceline for a room in Pittsburgh - Downtown, and was surprised to see a 4.5* option for Name Your Own Price. Did a regular Priceline search and saw the following listed as 4.5*: Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh, A Kimpton Hotel. Couldn't find anything on BetterBidding. Google reviews are very good. I'm going to give it a shot. Has anybody had any luck with this hotel?

I started off trying for 3.5* but didn't get anything going up to $95, then I lowered my standards to 3* and still had to go up to $95. What's this world coming to?? :)

Like taking candy from a baby... I had a regular reservation at this hotel because an event I'm attending is being held there. $179+tax = ~$210. Then I saw that it was the only 3.5* hotel in that zone, and that I had something like 8 rebids! I started at $50, PL countered with $64, then I went up to $55 then got it at $60 BTW... It appears that PL has added zones in Minneapolis. There are now 18 vs. 14 listed in your Priceline Hotels List. Is there a better way for a user like me to let you (the mods) know about changes like that as I run across them? T.

I remembered to use your [url=http://www.betterbidding.com/clicks/click.php?afsrc=1&id=40]PRICELINE[/url] link this time! I started at $60, then $70, was offered $88, then bid $80, which was accepted. $80 is still pretty good for this hotel.

Best Price is $114, so $70 isn't bad. I started at $40 and went up in $5 increments. Still had a couple re-bids left when my price was accepted. I was a little confused by the following note, which appeared right above the list of regions: "Please note: Cromwell, Connecticut is located within the Hartford, CT region and may or may not be in one of the areas listed below." Then on the BetterBidding Hotel List, Cromwell is included in two regions: Kensington-Cromwell and Rocky Hill-Cromwell-Wetherfield. That added to my confusion. I chatted with a Priceline agent, who told me that i'm guaranteed to get a hotel in the area shown on the detail map, so i figured i'd be ok. But that note sure did confuse me. Another piece of weirdness: When I typed in Cromwell, CT as the destination, I got a whole bunch of areas around Hartford, including Cromwell, as well as Meriden North. Meriden is the next town over from Cromwell, so that made sense. But when I typed in Meriden as the destination, it showed areas mostly are New Haven, CT, but included Meriden South as an area. So they divided the tiny town of Meriden into two regions - Hartford to the North, and New Haven. Isn't that weird?

A couple of things have changed since the last time I used PL to book a room on Long Island. 1) It used to be that I had three re-bids for 3.5* in Hauppauge, as none of the other areas had a hotel of that star level. Now there are only two. Glad I checked before bidding! 2) I used to routinely get winning bids in the mid $40-$50 range, but have had no such luck recently. In fact, the last couple times I've tried, I've reached my bidding limit without winning, and have booked directly at the HIExpress, trying to avoid at all costs staying at the 3* Wingate, which will never get my business again if I can avoid it. 3) I like the new interface for Posting a Winning Bid (or is it old and I just never noticed it before?)!. I could never keep straight what information was needed on what line and in what order. So this is much better. Anyway... $85 for the room ($104.90 total) is still not bad at all. -Tony

Thanks. I kinda figured/suspected that there was no way to generalize. I def want to be in the Convention Center region, 4*, so I have 10 rebids. 1/24-26. I'll be ok with anything I end up with. Will probably start at $50 and see what happens.

Let's suppose that in a certain area with several 4* hotels, there's one that appears to accept a lot of $45+/- bids, and others that appear to accept $70 bids. And let's suppose that I would rather stay at the hotels that tend to accept the higher bids, and that I'm ok with spending the additional money. All thing being equal, do you think I'm more likely to get the hotels that tend to accept the higher bids if I start my bidding at $70 vs starting at $45? In other words, does starting by bidding higher necessarily increase the chances of getting a hotel that typically accepts higher bids? Or if i start bidding higher, will PL just put me in the $45 hotel and pocket the difference? I'll be happy either way, but I'm just curious.

The bidding sequence was $50... $55... $65. Not bad, but not the same feeling of beating The Man as the $46 rooms I used to get at the same hotel.

with taxes and fees it's $60.09, a saving of over $100 off the "Best Available" rate on the hotel's Web site.

I've been wondering the same thing... I wonder if PL (trying to maximize profits) has a formula for this type of situation, in which the bid award decision is made not simply with the bid price, but also factoring in an "incentive", expressed as a percentage of the overbid that the hotel is willing to give up to PL. So in the example with the three hotels, if the two "cheaper" hotels are not willing to provide any "overbid bonus", and the other one is, then the $95 bid will go to the $90 hotel. But if one of the other hotels offers any overbid bonus, it's likely to be the one chosen. I guess they could also include other "tie-breaker" variables - like a percentage of the bid itself that the hotel is willing to give back to PL to break a tie. Then again, PL might sometimes want to sacrifice some short-term revenue for a greater number of satisfied customers (building their recurring revenue) by awarding bids to the hotel whose minimum acceptable bid (a proxy, useful or not, for quality and customer satisfaction) is closest to an actual customer bid. So the $95 bid would get the $90 hotel. Probably just depends on if they need extra cash to pay Shatner's contract...

Amenities: Airport Shuttle Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Center Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access

I tried for 4* first, starting at $71 then going up to $101. with no luck. I closed the browser, and started again at 3.5* and my first bid at $71 was accepted. Shoulda started lower. Wasn't thinking clearly. PL's regular rate, and the rate on the hotel Web site, is $189 for that night.

This Wingate by Wyndam isn't on the Hauppauge list. Second time since December that I got it (it's Plan B when the 3.5* Hyatt Regency Windwatch and the Sheraton aren't taking reasonable PL bids).

Usually this is $50-55/night. The rate seems to be a bit higher during the summer. I bid $55, $60, $70. Does anyone know the answer to this: Is there any difference somehow between "Hauppauge, NY" and "Hauppauge-Smithtown, NY" in Priceline's list of regions? When I enter Hauppauge into a "Name Your Own Price" search, I'm given the choice of two regions - Hauppauge, NY, and Hauppauge-Smithtown. I always end up on the same next page, which shows Hauppauge and the three other regions in Suffolk County. Just curious about if there's actually any difference on Priceline's back end?

3.5* Hauppauge (Long Island) Hyatt Windwatch $52 I either get the Hyatt or the Sheraton. A bargain for either one.

How often should I post identical (except for the dates) winning bids? I posted this for my stay last week, and now I got the exact same deal - same region, same hotel, same rate - for this week's trip. Don't want to sound like a broken record (for those of you who remember what that sounds like...)

And I thought they weren't accepting $46 bids anymore...

I'm thinking this is the new minimum bid (used to be $46). PRICELINE has it for $169; $159 on Hyatt's site.

started at $46; PRICELINE counter-offered $59; met them (about) halfway at $52

What ever happened to the $46 bids they were accepting? Those were the days...

My standard $46 bid was rejected! Maybe they're bumping up their minimum for beach tourist season?

Maybe one of these visits I'll play the golf course next door...

The standard $46 Priceline bid (which always gets me the Hyatt Windwatch) was rejected; turns out they're SOLD OUT! First time for everything. Must be the Easter thing... Got it on Hotwire for $71. $83.62 including everything, even a ride from the airport. And I'm sorry - I was in a hurry and I don't think I used your HOTWIRE link!