LWQuestie

Hotel Suizo Midscale Plaza Del Ángel 12, Barcelona, ES, 08002 011 34 93 268 90 62 3-star Hotel in La Rambla - El Raval - El Poblesec This Hotel features the following amenities: Pet friendly Pet friendly - terms apply Hotel Rate per night: $120.00 Nights: 1 Rooms: 1 Tax recovery charges & fees: $23.69 Subtotal: $143.69 Trip total: $143.69 Checked the price against the website rate - 159 euro/$206. Good deal, it seems!

Crowne Plaza Resort Anaheim 3½ star Disneyland - Anaheim South - Orange - Garden Grove 12021 Harbor Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92840 714-867-5555 Check-In: Fri, Jan 18, 2013 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out: Tue, Jan 22, 2013 / 12:00 PM Rooms: 1 room / 4 nights Offer Price: $56.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $224.00 Taxes & Fees: $39.68 Total Charged to Card: $263.68 Started bid at $50; offered auto-upgrade to $62. Used free re-bid zones by $2 a shot to get to $56. Best available rate on the hotel website is $134 per night. I think there's a $14/day resort fee.

Started bidding at $141 and was immediately offered rebid for +$30 at $171. Obviously was not going for that, with the 4* Express Deal at $164 available, so went back and increased bid $2 at a time till $151 was accepted. Got my first choice hotel, and am absolutely thrilled with this result! Rate on the hotel website is $229 for this night.

I expect I'll end up with the $160-ish 4* express deal. I'll bid up to right under that on NYOP before switching over. I'm hesitant to bid on 3.5* at all because of the possibility of "winning" in Station Square. And if the 3* is only $20-25 less, I'd rather pay more and win on a 4*.

Up to $143 now. Still no hit. Be back tomorrow night!

Bid up to $119 tonight. No hit. Keeping an eye on the Express Deals still - 3.5* is back at $113. It shows 8.0 rating, but it can't be the Wyndham, because that hotel has no pool. The other three (including the blasted Sheraton Station Square) are ratings of 8.1, 8.6 and 8.9. I'm leaning towards the 4* for $166. Will try bidding the next few days and see what happens.

Bid $77-$99 (in $2 increments). No luck yet. I'm keeping an eye on the PRICELINE EXPRESS Deals now as well. Are they tending to follow the same star level guide as the NYOP (ie, a 4 or 3.5 on NYOP could be picked up through the same level on Express Deals)? I noticed a 3.5* Express Deal for $90, but I'm worried about getting stuck over in Station Square. *edit* - that Express Deal went up to $104 in the last five minutes!

Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh 4 star Pittsburgh Downtown 1000 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-281-3700 Room Subtotal: $85.00 Taxes & Fees: $20.00 Total Charged to Card: $105.00 Started at $55, raised by $3 and hit at $85 on my second to last bid today. A bit jealous of the Omni William Penn hit that a previous user bagged at $75, but the Westin is nice also. It'll be a great place to stay for my birthday weekend extravaganza! Website rate is $169.

I bid this morning 3.5* on Priceline; Downtown using rebid zones ($120-145) and a final bid at $147 adding Times Square. No hit there, so I went ahead and booked the Hotwire rate that showed up yesterday. The World Center Hotel Upscale 144 Washington Street, New York City, NY, 10006 (212) 577-2933 Check-in Thu, Sep 6, 2012 3:00 PM Check-out Fri, Sep 7, 2012 12:00 PM Amenities Fitness Center Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access In-room accessibility Wheelchair accessible Rate per night: $147.00 Nights: 1 Rooms: 2 Taxes: $30.64 Occupancy tax: $22.32 Fees: $17.44 Subtotal: $364.40 Trip total: $364.40 Best rate on the hotel website is $219. I'm happy with this. Thanks for your patience and help while I dithered over what to do!

Yeah, I'm definitely making an assumption that it's the Doubletree. That listing is down to $147 now. What would you suggest for a PRICELINE strategy up to $145 for 3* including that Downtown Zone? It looks like Priceline has it split into two zones, Downtown and SoHo, so I could bid in both.

Looks like the F&F code is not available for use on this particular night. Bid again using the strategy above with no luck. Checking Hotwire today, there is a 4* Downtown/Soho/Financial District for $176. I suspect it's the Doubletree. I also saw a 3.5* Central Park West rate at $189, but I don't really want to stay that far north. Do you think I could do better than $176 on Priceline?

To help keep the bulletin board running!

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Airport Los Angeles Airport (LAX) 5985 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045 310-642-7500 Offer Price: $80.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 2 Room Subtotal: $160.00 Taxes & Fees: $33.58 Total Charged to Card: $193.58 Started bidding 4*; $70, 75, 80 - no hit Went to 3.5*; $65, 70, 75 - no hit. Raised to $80 and got the win. Hotel best rate - $106.18 per night. Other research showed a 3.5* at $92 and 3* at $74 on Hotwire.

I really appreciate your thoughtful comments and help. I don't think a 17 block walk with luggage would be a great idea (the party includes two women in their mid-to-late 70s, a blind woman in her late 50s, plus dog and all the luggage). But a taxi would work. I've also discovered that a family member works for Hyatt, so I've asked to see if some kind of family/friends discount is available.

JFK.

Tried again today. No luck.

Thanks! I followed the directions and no luck yet. I guess I'll keep trying, but bump up the starting big $5 each time. I have plenty of time to keep bidding. How do you decide which zones to combine in the two bidding tracks before combining at the end? I noticed some 4* results on Hotwire - $259-277. And if all else fails, I'll just book something by the airport. It's not super important that we stay on the island. Just thought it would be fun.

Thanks for your incredibly helpful advice. I'm aware that local events can have an impact on hotel prices. That's why I use this site as a gauge to see what other travelers are experiencing. This is just a layover night before a cruise, so the options are various. I'd just rather stay mid-town.

Good point. Perhaps not. I'll skip that one. I've been using the 6 free rebid zones on each individual zone and then will combine to increase. Does that sound like the correct scheme to follow?

Thanks for the advice. I've tried (and failed) up to $190 for 3.5* in Hell's Kitchen, Times Square and Midtown West. I think I'll try Madison Square, Chelsea and Midtown East next. I'll consider Central Park South, with the understanding of that Hudson Hotel with the tiny rooms.

The zone isn't "Southeast-Broken Arrow" any more. It's split into at least three now: Southeast Tulsa - Woodland Park Woodland Hills Broken Arrow I'm not sure if this one had been separate the whole time. South Tulsa - Bixby

Just Times Square, so far. Either. I think there's one in Chelsea and I know there's one in the Lower East Side. You bet!

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Tulsa South 3 star Woodland Hills 10020 East 81St Street, Tulsa, OK 74133 918-994-5000 Offer Price: $46.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 3 Room Subtotal: $138.00 Taxes & Fees: $27.87 Total Charged to Card: $165.87 Started at $42. Was immediately offered to up bid $11 to win at $53. I know better than that, so bid twice more ($44 and $46). Best rate on the Holiday Inn site is $93.33 per night ($317.85 total).

No idea on the identity of the HOTWIRE hotel. It's in the Broken Arrow zone which is not present on the list yet. It has such helpful details listed as Pool and Indoor Pool. The zone is much larger than the similar PRICELINE zone.

Bidding for two rooms 9/6-9/7. Heading to a cruise, so looking for something in the general area of the Manhattan Cruise Port. Tried Times Square 3.5* up to $158 today with no luck. I think I'm fairly open to anything south of Central Park. I want to be able to get to the Doughnut Plant easily!