Analise

We've never been to Toronto before and I would like to Priceline our two nights in Toronto. We are not renting a car and we want to keep this weekend as inexpensive as we can. Which regions should we bid in? What should our first choice be, second choice, etc.? We live in NYC so taking the subway is a breeze....that's how we prefer to travel....or by bus I guess. Please advise how to tackle this city. Are the prices in US$? Our itinerary involves Yankee games, the CN Tower, Hockey Hall of Fame. We are flying into YYZ. I know it is at the end of the big film festival in Toronto so I'm not sure if we're in trouble. Thank you for your help.

I saw this on the list of Priceline hotels in Portland and I wanted to help clarify. While this hotel calls itself the Fairfield Inn, Portland Airport, this property is in the Portland zone, NOT THE PORTLAND AIRPORT ZONE. I have stayed there and can account for it. They are in the City of Portland but they do have a shuttle which runs to PWM. That said, the Fairfield Inn in Scarborough by the Maine Mall is listed in the PWM zone even though it is not considered an airport hotel by Fairfield Inn. There is no shuttle to the airport.

I had been bidding for over two weeks now and kept getting rejected. Yes the zone is the South Portland/Airport zone, not Portland. I used all the zones especially Westbrook since it only has a 1* motel to maximize my rebids. I had bid this $60 before and didn't want to go any higher. Yesterday, I got the acceptance. I prefer that zone because the parking is ample, I like being near the Maine Mall, and it's close to the lighthouses. Plus the Portland region is not too big so a drive in the city takes 10 minutes maximum.

I shared this info with TOBB and the little girl who runs it banned me. Well screw that. Clearly intelligent businessmen/women don't do such things as it adversely affects their advertisers. So I'll just milk it for what it's worth and share my successes right here.

I started bidding on this over two weeks ago and got this hotel for my long weekend in Maine. AAA gives this property a 3 diamond rating. Maine's prices keep rising on Priceline but I guess $60 isn't so bad. I'm just so used to paying much lesss. : )

Since you are going to the Waldorf, let me make this even easier for you. Do as the instructions say and take the Q33 bus to the subway station (74th/Broadway/Roosevelt Ave) but instead of taking the 7, take the E train which is downstairs. Sit in the first car. Take the E to the first stop in Manhattan which is Lexington Avenue. Get off the subway and take the escalator up. This subway lets you off at 53rd and Lexington. Just walk one block west to Park Avenue and then 3 blocks downtown (toward the Pan Am/Met Life building) to the Waldorf. This is much easier than you taking the 7 to Grand Central. You don't need the hassle of that subway station. Also, please note that a seven-day metrocard costs $21.

Thanks. I added hotel bidding info on an LAX bid (I need your advice on that one) and on a successful bid for an ES in Phoenix. Yes, even though it's in the "Portland" zone, it is the Fairfield Inn on 340 Park Ave which serves the airport and has an airport shuttle. Geographically, it is in Portland thus I am assuming that's why Priceline included it in that region. The airport itself is not in Portland (it's in So. Portland). Oddly enough the Fairfield Inn in Scarborough (by the Maine Mall which Priceline includes as the PWM zone) is a bit closer to the PWM than the Fairfield Inn on Park Ave. They won't admit it but I have known that area since I was a child. Yet even though the one at the Maine Mall is closer, there is no shuttle. Only the one in Portland has the shuttle. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Very happy with this rate. We are going to watch Cactus League baseball so all we wanted was a nice hotel without resort fees. Why pay them if we won't be there to enjoy them?

Very mixed reviews it seems. We need to be at LAX at 5am. Should we return the rental car the night before and take their shuttle? From what I've read, their shuttle may not be reliable. Anybody have any experience with this? Do they charge for parking at Furama? It looks like I should ask for a room in the tower from what I've read. I guess the Tower has the cleaner rooms?

Priceline bidding is getting more expensive in the Portland area these days. I would have thought I could get a 2* for $32. Not anymore. I'm still ok with this. I incremented each bid by $2 to get this rate.

My lodging needs have now been completed. Yeah! : ) I got another Courtyard (and I love this brand) for our first night in Phoenix. I'm quite pleased with the price. My boyfriend and I will land in PHX late in the evening on 3/12, go to Tucson the next day and go to two spring training games (spend the night in Tucson), then travel to Flagstaff where we will stay 2 nights. We'll go to the Grand Canyon for the day and then collapse in Flagstaff for the second night. Next day we'll tour Sedona and the Red Rocks area. Then Wednesday to Saturday, it's all Spring training games in the Phoenix area. We plan to throw in some time to play tennis as well. Looking forward to a great trip. : )

I started the bid at $30 and got to this one. I'm happy with this as I did not want a resort with all of its resort fees. I'm there to watch baseball---not play golf or languish by a pool.

Edited to add the winning bid. $30. Not sure why it didn't show up. I guess I hit "post" before I typed the winning bid? One night. I love Courtyard by Marriott properties so I'm quite pleased AND I think I got a great bid especially since those down there (like me) are there for the Spring Training games.

2 night stay. Very pleased. Started bidding at $20.

I just won this bid for a stay next week. Actually, I was a "coach" for a friend of mine who used Priceline for the very first time. I saw that $55 was accepted for November 2003 so I wanted to start the bidding at $45 (given the free rebids) but my friend was very reluctant. Not quite sure what she was afraid of so I said that she could not bid anything higher than $55. She made the bid and got accepted. Yea!! She was so happy she decided to use Priceline for her car rental. She bid $25 for a full size and was accepted by National. I think I created a convert!

I was bidding and bidding and bidding for a 2.5* or higher at BWI but got rejected up to $62. I used every rebid in the book (adding Balto regions which I knew didn't have any hotels above 2*) but kept getting rejected. So I went to Hotwire. They had a 3 star for $65 at BWI. Called my boyfriend prior who suggested that I try a neighboring town---he said my luck with Priceline should not warrant my bidding anything in the $60s. Yes he's enjoyed the fruits of my labor. So I researched Columbia, MD (Hotwire offered a 3* at $65) and made a bid for $48 for a 3* on my second try. I got accepted. This probably tells me that I bid too high but you know what, I'm happy with the savings. Besides it's too late for me to take it back. The tax and Priceline fee was $16.99. The hotel tax rate is 10%. So assuming that Priceline's fee is still $5.95, the actual price of the hotel for two days including tax was $110.40. So I overbid by only $1.60. I guess this is a good thing?

I'm not sure how to edit but I made a mistake with the dates. They should be 6/27/03-6/29/03. Sorry about the confusion!

I already am staying at the Sheraton South Portland that weekend thanks to a Priceline bid I made a while ago. Well my weekend pleasure trip got extended a day as I now have a business appointment in Portland. So I took the same bid I made for that weekend and sent it to Priceline and was accepted. The tax and fee together were $9.34 so assuming Priceline did not reduce its $5.95 fee, the tax was $3.39. Priceline paid $48 for the night. I can't complain that much for an overbid of only $4. I wonder if they'll let me keep the same room all three days. My first bid was on my credit card; the second on the business card. Anybody with experience concerning keeping the same room?

If you're coming in to the city for the weekend, you can often find parking on the street. On the east side for example in the 50s, parking is allowed after 6pm, 7pm and 8pm depending upon the street. Arrive maybe 30-45 minutes prior, sit in the car (bring something to read), then when the time has come, just leave. There are so many doormen buildings that you can feel a real sense of security with your vehicle. Just food for thought.

All I know are the things I've experienced through trial and error. I did get a lot of helpful hints from TOBB so I must give credit where credit is due. I'm always open to learn more about mastering the art of bidding! :)

Just going through my old Priceline records to furnish this info to you all. This one is from 2002. I tried to edit the subject line to include the year but I'm not sure if I can. The tax rate was 12.4% and the taxes paid were $3.72 so Priceline got this for $30. This was my first bid and as you can see, I totally overbid. Live and learn. Satisfactory hotel, nothing to write home about.

I went from "newbie" to "member" in under 24 hours. Wow. :)

I see that I've done this twice. Sorry about that. From now on , I'll review my stays in the Hotel review section.

Here is another hotel entry which I thought you all might be interested in. As you can see, I try to get to Maine as often as I can. I wish I could go more. The tax was $5.74 at a 7% rate so Priceline paid $82 for my two night stay. It was adequate. We got a studio suite which is a bedroom, cable TV, kitchen with silverwear, china, pots, pans, dishtowels, dishsoap, coffee maker and coffee, dining room table. This was the second time I had stayed here via Priceline; I had done so last summer and was quite pleased. This was why I bid 2* because I know the hotels in the South Portland area (this is actually in Scarborough) so I know what to expect. TS usually does a "refresh" clean if you stay for more than one night which means make the bed, replace the towels and bathroom tissue, and replenish the coffee. On this visit, nobody came to clean. We had returned at 6pm to change for dinner and found the room as we had left it. I had called the office and was informed that Priceline customers don't get the refresh. Well since I knew this was not true, I set the office person straight by saying that he was 100% wrong and that I have been a previous hotel patron so I'm not a priceline newbie. He backtracked and said that the maids went home but he himself would come to refresh the room. He also said that he was working his first day for TS. Ok..... So he came and did refresh the room. So outside of that little hassle, our stay here was fine.