Sun Devil

Bidding at the last minute I won Hilton San Diego Resort, 4*, $105/room/night, 3/21-3/23. Started at $60 and worked my way up in $3-$5 increments using the plentiful rebid zones. Was bidding 4*. Had won the Sheraton at $65 and 85 before, so I was disappointed to have to go up to $105, but still it was 1/2 the retail price. Unfortunately, the total of $487.44 for the two rooms for two nights, was increased by $80 or so in "resort fees and taxes on those resort fees".

I just went on a trip to San Diego and stayed in the Hilton San Diego Resort. See separate post for the details on that win. It was a last minute booking and while I liked the hotel and its proximity to Sea World, an other wise nice bid was turned frustrating when I awoke to find the bill had $19 per room (2 rooms) per night resort fee. They also charged some taxes on top of that for a total of another $80 something dollars on top of my $487.44 (taxes included) total winning bid. I called price line to complain and they just said that I agreed to it, so live with it. I looked at the contract (web page just before submitting the bid) and it merely mentions that it could pick up higher star level hotels, including resorts. It doesn't say, " by the way, we can charge any amount we want to above and beyond your bid, if we call it a resort fee." Priceline acts as if they have no control over this, but clearly they could just make the resorts include their resort fee in with their bid amount that they accept. I suppose I could try to bid only the zones that have no resorts, but that would limit my zone selections in a pretty big way. Anyone out there have a better way to work around this problem? It isn't such a big deal if it is one room, one night, but if I booked a 4 day holiday with my big family in two rooms, I might really need to think about doing things differently that priceline if I could get hit with Resort Fees of this magnitude. Thanks in advance for the input.

total of $155.12 for the two rooms with tax. bid up from $50 in $5 increments and was going to go in two dollar increments from $65 up, but won first.

Need to attend a seminar in SF 7/25 - 7/29/12. I can stay at the Holiday Inn for $139 plus tax at the conference rate. But looking at San Bruno wins, it looks like Holiday Inn is almost the only wins in the last year and considerably cheaper. I see wins from $60-$81 in March, April, and May. And going back further the range of the wins was $55-$110. So only one rebid zone, zone 6, so my rebidding options were limited. I bid $71 zone 7, rejected, $81 rebid adding zone 6, rejected. 24 hours later bid $91 zone 7, rejected, $101 rebid adding zone 6, rejected. I am within about $150 in total price difference and may not try to bid any higher, just to have freedom to make changes if needed. Thought I would post the fail for you all, in case anyone else is trying to bid that in the near future. Maybe July is a crazy month in SF? Sun Devil.

Won the Hotel Aberdeen in Rome Italy 5/21/11 - 5/24/11 for $340 through hotwire on April 12th the email confirmatin had a hotel confirmation code and a hotwire confirmation code. We didn't call to check with the hotel at that time. Then we get a call on 5/9/11 from hotwire saying that we dont have the room any more. I call the hotel Aberdeen and they claim they never heard of us, that the hotel confirmation code isn't one of their numbers, and that they have never had a relationship with hotwire. Basically a cold pound sand. Hotwire refunded our money. Now, 10 days out, few rooms available and costs are triple or more higher. I'll never book through hotwire again. can they really do that to you? If so, how do any of you trust to use them? I am so angry with them. :)

Hilton Tucson El Conquistador (Resort) $62/night, 4/15/11-4/17/11 Get away weekend to Tucson, AZ for 2 people. Booked day of - spent 30 minutes bidding. Wanted to stay in a Resort. Didn't really care too much about where. So I had all the zones available, with two true re-bid zones (Tucson airport and Tucson east). I'd seen wins from $56-$99. Started with bid of $50 and bid up in $2 increments per the chart below with A=zone 1, B=zone 4, C=6, D=zones 2 and 3, E=5. 1. La Paloma Ventana 2. North Tucson 3. Oro 4. Tucson Airport - rebid 5. Tucson Central 6. Tucson East - rebid Bid up to $62 and won the Hilton. Great hotel. Older, but renovated. The bathroom area is a bit cramped, but the rest of the room is spacious and we got a king bed with a nice balcony view. $151.88 with tax SunDevil With attribution to SmilingBoy Sep 7, 2008 post (modified to 4 rebid zones). Again, I think these permutation charts [for 2, 3, 4, and 5 rebid zones] should be a front page button on the betterbidding website: ... to get most free rebids you have to restart your browser a lot more often (actually after almost every bid with a few exceptions when you go to one more zone) and do A AB close browser AC close browser AD close browser AE close browser ABC close browser ABD -----------------------won here at $62 close browser ABE close browser ACD close browser ACE close browser ADE close browser ABCD close browser ABCE close browser ABDE close browser ACDE close browser ABCDE So with 4 rebid zones you can get up to 15 rebids.

Hyatt Regency Orange County - $95/night/room, 2 rooms - 3/17/11 - 3/20/11 Going to Disneyland with family of 7. Wanted to stay in a 3.5* or 4* near Disneyland. So I had two zones, Disneyland Anaheim (preferred) and Disneyland Orange Garden Grove that were acceptable. I'd seen wins from $43-$86, but expected the high end on a busy weekend and with only 9 days advance purchase. Started with a single zone 5 bid at $50. With 4 rebid zones, I had about 15 rebids, so I bid mostly in 3 dollar increments per the chart below with A=zones 5 and 6, B=zone 1, C=8, D=9, E=11. Here were my bids: 50, 55, 58, 61, 64, 67, 70, 73, 76, 79, 82, 85, 88, 95. Bid up to $95 and won the Hyatt. Great hotel. :) Looking for analysis of my strategy (Monday morning quarterbacking): - first: I am wondering if I should have played the Garden Grove zone as just another rebid zone (giving myself 30 rebid zones), but thought that since both zones were acceptable, I ought to keep both in every bid but the first bid. Any thoughts on that strategy? Maybe more is just more at some point. Even if I'd gone in $1 increments, the most I could have saved would have been $18 total over how this played out. -second: I was ok with 4* or 3.5* Should I have worked that into the bidding strategy? e.g. starting with 4* and then transitioning to 3.5* at some point? Again, it seemed that strategy might give me one or more extra rebids, but have more drawbacks than plusses. SunDevil With attribution to SmilingBoy Sep 7, 2008 post (modified to 4 rebid zones). Again, I think these permutation charts [for 2, 3, 4, and 5 rebid zones] should be a front page button on the betterbidding website: ... to get most free rebids you have to restart your browser a lot more often (actually after almost every bid with a few exceptions when you go to one more zone) and do A AB close browser AC close browser AD close browser AE close browser ABC close browser ABD close browser ABE close browser ACD close browser ACE close browser ADE close browser ABCD close browser ABCE close browser ABDE close browser ACDE close browser ABCDE So with 4 rebid zones you can get up to 15 rebids.

Omni San Francisco - $140/night/room, 2 rooms - 10/22/10 - 10/24/10 Going for the ASU v. CAL game with another couple. Wanted to stay in 4* in Financial District, SOMA, or USE / USW. Hoping for $90 - $150 based on what I saw others listing for wins. I knew 90 was overly optimistic, but why not try. With 5 rebid zones, I had 30 rebids, so I bid in 2 dollar increments from $90 per the chart below with A=zones 2, 7, 10, and 11, B=zone 1, C=3, D=4, E=5, and F=9. Bid up to $140 and won the Omni. Should be a great hotel. Go Devils! SunDevil With attribution to SmilingBoy Sep 7, 2008 post, which I think should be its own easily findable button on the front page of the betterbidding website: ... to get most free rebids you have to restart your browser a lot more often (actually after almost every bid with a few exceptions when you go to one more zone) and do A AB close browser AC close browser AD close browser AE close browser AF ABF close browser ABC close browser ABD close browser ABE close browser ACD close browser ACE close browser ACF close browser ADE close browser ADF close browser AEF ABEF close browser ABCD close browser ABCE close browser ABCF close browser ABDE close browser ABDF close browser ACDE close browser ACDF close browser ACEF close browser ADEF ABDEF close browser ABCDE close browser ABCDF close browser ABCEF ABCDEF So with 5 rebid zones you can get up to 30 rebids.

:) I am attending a conference 9/30 - 10/2 in Chicago and staying at the Westin Chicago River North. Room rates run $200 a night. I decided to extend the trip on my own nickle for two more nights (but not at $200/night). So I used the PRICELINE links from this site and won at $80.00/night, and BONUS it was at the Westin Chicago River North, so I don't have to change hotels. When I check in, I'll ask if I can just keep the same room to save the hassle. I was bidding only in that zone and rebid zones, so I had hoped that would happen, but didn't really expect the good luck. Here was my strategy. Bidding 4* only Zone A - Chicago North Michigan River North rebid zones: Zone B - Hyde Park Zone C - Lincoln Park Zone D - Midway Airport Zone E - Ohare Airport South Zone F - Skokie Bidding as follows: A - $70 rejected AB - $72 rejected closed browser AC - $74 rejected closed browser AD - $76 rejected closed browser AE - $78 rejected closed browser AF - $80 ACCEPTED I was prepared to go:ABF, ABC, ABD, ABE, ACD, ACE, ACF, ... another 24 rebids in $1 increments and/or to switch to the nearby Millinium Park zone and start over. Near as I can tell this is the best reported price on this forum in the last month or two in this zone for 4* Might have got $5-10 cheaper in other nearby zones. Very happy with this pull.

I won at $50 for a 4* near the airport, Westin Hotel Atlanta. It was $64.59 with tax. used the better bidding PRICELINE links. Started at $30, re-zoned at $5 increments. Pprobably should have bid up in slightly smaller increments, but in a hurry. Was going to go down to 3.5* on next bid. Looks like a good deal though. thanks.

Thanks for the advice. After reading through all that, we checked it out on hotwire and indeed, it looked like at hot wire, there was only one night that was much more expensive, $189 while the rest were lower. If we booked all at hotwire we would have an average $128 per night. Trying to get one leg on Priceline first seemed a little advanced for me, so before going there, I thought I would just see what would happen if I bid up to $120 on priceline for 4*'s Here is what I tried... Select 4* Convention Center, White House, Dupont, Alexandria and Georgetown... Bid $90, rejected added re-bid zone... Bid $100, rejected added re-bid zone... Bid $110, rejected added re-bid zone... Bid $120, accepted, Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, 5/8/09 - 5/17/09, 4* White House-Downtown. It is a few dollars less than the Hotwire average and I didn't have to piece it together. I'll be more adventurous next time, probably could have saved some bidding in seperate parts and/or with Hotwire combo as you suggested. I am guessing I could have saved another $100-$200 bidding in parts. Thanks for the advice and yes, I used the PRICELINE links to bid. I'll be back for future travel. Sun Devil :)

See my Priceline Washington DC thread for some thoughts along these lines. I haven't had any success yet up to $105.

Might be willing to split if it were two hotels. But how would that work over two weekends with an interveening week? I don't see how I might not get one hotel the first weekend, a second during the week and a third during the next weekend. If I don't split, I assume all that I can do is try the same bidding strategy again at higher prices? thanks, Sun Devil

Thanks for the plan. I bid it out exactly as outlined above (used the PRICELINE links, too). Bid up to $105 in three steps as outlined, but rejected each time. What would you do next. One thought I had was to try to split it up (1st weekend, week, 2nd weekend) but bidding only Alexandria (and my 4 free bid zones) so I would be guaranteed to be in the only 4* in Alexandria. [i don't think anyone has won a 4* other than the Westin Alexandria, in the Alexandria zone]. That way I would not have to change hotels. Any thoughts on this plan? Any other thoughts? thanks Sun Devil

Ok, so my 4 free re-bid zones are DC Suburbs, Mount Vernon, Springfield, and Crystal City. I think I get that part. Any other suggestions about strategy or starting price?

Hi. Just signed up, first post. My wife and I are going to Washington DC to do the tourist thing and enjoy some time without the kids. Dates: 5/8/09 - 5/17/09, 1 room, no car (want to be near metro) Hoping to keep to $100/night We are thinking only 4* or above (concern 3.5* might be unpredictable, dirty, rundown, etc.) But we'd listen to thoughts on whether 3.5* is a safe bet. We are ok with being in: A. DC (Convention Center - Capital Hill) B. DC Georgetown-Foggy Bottom) C. DC (Whitehouse - Downtown) D. DC (Dupont Circle-Woodly Park) E. DC (Alexandria) F. DC (Crystal City) - no 4*'s I tried the following bids a day ago after reading up on the forum. I could probaby do a better bidding strategy and I am looking for advice. 1st bid - E $65 2nd bid - EC $70 3rd bid - ECA $75 4th bid - ECAD $80 5th bid - ECADF $85 6th bid - ECADFB $80 all rejected. I've seen wins on this board in the April/May time period for 4* in the 70-100 range. Is it unrealistic to try for the whole week including two weekends at anywhere near these rates? Splitting sounds painful as I might wind up in three hotels over the week (I am there two weekends) and spend valuable Smithonian time lugging luggage across town. There are other area's that look like they don't have 4*'s, but they are far away (hate to get stuck there). Am I safe doing free bids with those areas? e.g. springfield, Mt Vernon, etc. thanks, Sun Devil