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1st bid $89, counter $185.50 + $28.65 = $214.15 total

2: $99, same counter

3: $111, same counter

4: $123, same counter

5: $144, accepted

$144+$28.65 = $172.65 total

American Airlines: Leave CMH nonstop for LGA @11:25am 6/24/09,

American Airlines: Return from LGA nonstop to CMH @1:35pm 7/2/09

You're a kind, generous member of betterbidding.com, WillTravel!

Thanks again. :)

On Sunday, I shot my last chance at Priceline (for a 6/17/03 stay) with a bid of $100 (before taxes and fees) for a 3* CDG Hotel, and an $85 bid on a 2* -- both of them were summarily rejected.

But as things turned out, I balked at subjecting my son to yet another night's stay without a private bath, and splurged last night on a non-refundable 2 Double Bed Room at the CDG Airport Holiday Inn -- for a total (including taxes and fees) of 146 Euros.

I had been scouring the net for hours, when I finally stumbled over that 146 Euro "Internet Saver" rate at about 2am EDT (at www.holiday-inn.com).

I checked again this AM, but their website now reports "No Availability".

146 Euros definitely isn't a bargain to gloat about, but at least it's over-with, right? :)

Thanks much for all of your input, people!

Wow -- thanks again, WillTravel!

They want to be near the airport because they're coming home from CDG on 6/18.

I'll be checking out your suggestions later today -- thanks much!

Thanks for the suggestion, WillTravel!

I'd like to treat my son and travelmate to a conveniently located 3*, but I really don't want to go over $100.

There seem to be very few bargains around CDG on 6/17.

I've seen several 2* rooms listed for under 50 euros (i.e., on Orbitz and on cheaptickets), but each time I've tried to buy one, it's fallen through.

I guess I will try Expedia, and maybe even Travelocity (via the link here, at betterbidding). (If I remember correctly, Hotwire doesn't do hotels in Paris, right?)

I may even look at some student hostels, too -- I'll eventually post how things work out.

3 rounds of bids later, I now have the following rejected Priceline CDG Airport bids to report (for a 1 night stay, on 6/17/03):

Bid 6/6/03 for 3* near CDG: $50 (rejected);

Bid 6/9/03 for 4* near CDG: $70 (rejected);

Bid 6/9/03 for 3* near CDG: $60 "

Bid 6/9/03 for 2* near CDG: $50 "

Bid 6/12/03 for 4* near CDG: $90 (rejected);

Bid 6/12/03 for 3* near CDG: $80 "

Bid 6/12/03 for 2* near CDG: $70 "

(All of the above bids exclude taxes and fees of up to $10-$15 per night.)

Sure enough, thereuare --

The Marriott Courtyard Hotel site reports a "Special Event" rate for 6/17/03 of 230 Euros at CDG (including taxes and fees), while the July dates (which were reported here at a winning bid of $45, before taxes and fees) are available at 95-125 Euros per night.

(BTW, I originally posted this in that previous CDG Thread just because I thought it would be helpful to gather the info about this specific hotel in one place -- your help is much appreciated, but I didn't think I really needed any. :) Wrong again, I guess! :) )

This AM, I spotted these other reports of successful bids for the Paris CDG Marriott Courtyard:

$47 + $8.18 taxes and fees for 1 night, bid ~5/6, for 7/21/03;

$45 + $7.60 taxes and fees for 1 night, bid ~5/18, for 5/27/03;

$45 + $8.24 taxes and fees per night for 2 nights, bid ~5/8, for 5/28-29/03;

$41 + $8.18 taxes and fees for 1 night, bid ~5/6, for 5/11/03.

So far, I've bid $40 and $45 at Priceline for 1 night on 6/17/03, without success.

(Someone has reported that the Paris Airshow runs around the date I need, so availability may be limited at that time.)

Very interesting, zbenye! :o

And thanks very much for that flyertalk link, Scorp! :)

IF you have a good pop-up filter (I really gotta get me one, soon!), :)

here's another link to some Air India (a/k/a AI and A-I) Trip Reports, at:

airwhiners.net

Great responses, People!

Thank you ALL very much.

This gripping drama about airfares (:)) just came to an end about 35 mins ago.

It turns out that my son and his friend stumbled into an open-jaw itinerary through a Travel Agent that they're friends with at statravel.com, so they ended up paying a total of $435.80 for non-stop American Airlines flights from JFK-LHR and then from CDG-JFK.

That's about $55 more than the $381.60 non-stop United fare (at airfare.com), but they figure that the open-jaw will save them both the time and the $$ that they would have otherwise spent backtracking (to go home from LHR).

BTW, the $350 Air India non-stop fare went up to about $395 late this afternoon at cheaptickets.com, but it simultaneously reappeared at their sister site (studentuniverse.com) at the same $350 fare -- except now it's only for students and faculty.

Thanks so much, everybody --

I like it here, so I'll probably be back often! -- :) --

Goodnight!

Thanks much, WillTravel, for your thoughtful reply (and each additional edit, too)!

I'm actually shopping for my 22 year old son and a friend, and I doubt that they've checked into LGW vs LHR -- I think that the trains to/from LHR are a little bit cheaper, and since most of the lowest non-stop fares I've found are going to LHR anyway, I guess I'll just leave well-enough alone (at least for now).

Even putting SARS aside, I'm afraid that my son and his friend may be spooked about traveling on Air India, just because it's not very well known. (As I understand it, Air India is not sold through PL or Hotwire, but please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Buying 2 tickets, I generally like to compare airfare options with regard to the total savings, so I'm now considering raising my PL Bids (including ALL taxes and fees) from $320 up to about $340 for each ticket -- because the total savings (vs. that $381.60 non-stop United itinerary at airfare.com) would still be ~$80, and we'd still have SOME chance of getting a non-stop flight (or 2!).

The leader of that other Board seems to have some reservations about purchasing through airfare.com, which is suspiciously selling those non-stop United tickets for about $20 less than everyone else.

Can anybody here vouch for airfare.com?

(Please! -- No CROWDING! -- LOL)

Thanks again.

I forgot to mention that cheaptickets.com also has a non-stop Air India itinerary available, for a total of $350 each (after shipping paper tickets).

Does anyone know much about Air India? They fly 747-400's on that route, but their pilots went on strike a few weeks ago re: SARS concerns??? :)

Thanks again.

In general, what's important to focus on when comparing various airfare choices, which are like apples and oranges (i.e., making bids for airfare, versus considering semi-blind counteroffers and Hotwire-type offers, versus considering various other discounted fares, at websites like cheaptickets.com, airfare.com and studentuniverse.com)?

The specifics are that I'm currently trying to decide how high to bid at Priceline (PL) for 2 NYC-LON seats, leaving 5/28/03 (or 5/27), and returning ~6/18/03.

On that route, there are several competing non-stop flights every day, so I've been trying to quantify the risk of winning a blind PL bid (and/or the risk of buying a blind Hotwire itinerary) which could certainly include connecting flights -- maybe even both ways.

Up to this point, I've been bidding up to about $320 (including all taxes and fees) for each seat, which is about $50-$60 less per RT ticket than the non-stop fares available at cheaptickets.com and airfare.com -- and in a few of PL's non-stop counteroffers (as deduced from their taxes and fees).

Being new at all this, I'm also wondering if there are any special caveats about buying from cheaptickets and/or airfare.com. For example, do they sell "consolidator's" tickets, which might have some different restrictions than the PL or Hotwire tickets?

I'd sure appreciate some feedback -- :)

TIA