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Hi and thanks for your suggestions. Thereuare, after your suggestion I went into the "edit" profile but in that drop down box there are no Canadian addresses and the page still says "We do not accept credit/debit cars with billing addresses outside the US." So it looks as if the options are to leave the address "as is" or do not sign in but instead enter all the billing details each time we start a new bid as it's possible to put a Canadian address on that page. (Doesn't make sense I know but I swear that's the way it is) The problem with not "signing in" and using a profile is when we get into rebidding and have to keep logging on and off. Oh well, a bit of an inconvenience for great savings!

As a Canadian, I would now like to use my Canadian adress on the Priceline site. I had no trouble entering all the details and also put in a new "security" question in the optional box used for automatic sign in. This was yesterday. Today I tried to bid but at the sign in prompt, there was my "old" security question . Obviusly if I had answered that question my previous CA9999 address would have been the one used. Anyone know how to get your address changed whilst using the same computer. I know my question is a bit difficult to follow, hope you understand what I'm getting at. Thanks for any help

IMHO, the problem with bidding 3 star in Vancouver is that you may get stuck with the Sandman Inn which in no way compares with the other 3stars some of which are excellent. Also I should say that not all of the others are walking distance to the Coast Plaza although they are all within the 30minutes drive that you stipulated. Why not consider Hotwire? There is currently 3.5star showing at $51.00 per night which I'M GUESSING may be the Crowne Plaza. Take a look yourself at the amenities offered and compare them with the Hotwire Hotel list for Vancouver on this sight to see if you agree. And if anyone else out there has a thought on that, perhaps you'd jump in also. Hotwire prices tend to vary so don't take long on making a decision. You can access Hotwire through www.SavingsBarn.com There's no harm in bidding for a 4 star. I've been succesful at the $50 to $55 level on occasion however not for this length of stay. One thing you should know is that parking at any of these places is costly. Good luck!

Hi Sunlover, I think I recognise you as a person who posted on a www.cruisecritic.com looking for some advise as to how to go about learning about Priceline. If I'm right you're probably used to booking cruises way, way ahead but remember Priceline and Hotwire are non-refundable so you have to be very sure that you will be travelling. My suggestion would be to do as Thereuare says and bump this thread a bit later on. I've had quite a bit of success booking early ( about 4 months ahead or so) but others will have different ideas. In the meatime, may I suggest you familiarise yourself with all the information on the home page of this site. Particularly the General Priceline and Hotwire tips. Thereuare, I hope yopu don't mind my jumping in on this one

We recently booked Alamo in Pheonix .Using the Entertainment Coupon gave us a fairly good deal. We did find, however, a lot of pressure to go for an upgrade. We had booked an "intermediate" but were told that the only "intermediates" left were 2 doors and the agent said She was sure that wouldn't be at all suitable for us She repeated this several times. She was also insistant that our reservation did not include a second driver. Luckily I had printed off a copy of the agreement showing that it was indeed included. It had been may years since we had used Alamo and we'll try to avoid them in the future.

It is, of course, always a risk but the 4 stars that most often seem to come up on Priceline for Vancouver downtown are the Westin Bayshore and the Marriot both os which are very close to the Pan Pacific - quite a bit closer than Sutton Place or Pacific Palisades.

I didn't realise you don't have a car. How are you getting to Whistler? I'm pretty sure there are buses from Whistler to Squamish but the time and cost would likely be too much to make this worthwhile. Why do you have to be there for that particular night? As you haven't yet booked anything you might be better off going later. March is very much high season. This, weekend for example, the sun is shining and the snow is perfect. Wonderful Spring Skiing!

Just thinking about your dilemma. What about considering staying in Squamish if you are only there for one night? It's still a bit of a drive - about 45minutes- but,unless there's a bunch of snow on the roads, shouldn't be too bad> Lots of Whistler employees live in Squamish as housing is so expensive in Whiistler. Of course, you'd miss the nightime ambience of Whistler but it's a suggestion.

Hi Daniel, I'm sure you'll be getting advice from Thereuare on this but thought I'd tell you that we were in Bostone last year in June and had quite a time getting a 4 star. After checking rates and discovering what we would have to pay at lower grade hotels if we were to go direct, we bid quite a bit higher and were succesful at $105 (or $110 maybe, can't quite remember). I have heard that Boston is quite difficult sometimes. We "won" the Collonade which was by no means my first choice but, ultimately, we were very pleased with it. You'll find my review on this site. Good luc

We returned last week from a 3 night stay in Tucson at the Marriott Courtyard Williams Centre. Check in was easy, no mention of Priceline, and the desk clerk confirmed that we had a king, non smoking room as requested. We were particularly pleased as, when I checked the hotel website for availablity prior to our stay, it stated that non-smoking rooms were sold out. In fact, the hotel was very busy. Our 2nd floor room overlooked the parking lot . It seems that Courtyard facing rooms are considered an upgrade. However, our room was quite bright and spacious with king bed, sofa bed and large desk. Free wireless internet was available in the room. The bathroom was large, clean but very plain. There is a bright, comfortable lounge off the lobby with large screen TV and 2 "pay" computers. There was also a bar area but we didn't see it open. The outdoor area is very pleasant. However there was no hot tub and the pool was very shallow. I only saw children using it but they were certainly having fun! Tucson is quite spread out but easy to navigate and we found the location of the Courtyard to be fine. it's a block or so off busy "BroadwaY' so was quiet but central to anywhere we wanted to go. There were several restaurants fairly close by. All in all, a pretty good experience for 2.5stars.

We just returned from 4 nights at this "Courtyard". We paid $50.00 per night on Priceline so I really have no complaints. However I would have been pretty upset had we paid the rate quoted on their website for this time - $239.00 per night. It is the standard "courtyard" layout, of course, but generally needs some sprucing up. Our room, which overlooked the parking lot,(Free Parking) seemed too small for the king size bed, large desk and hide a bed & the drawer space might have been adequate except 3 drawers were jammed with extra bed linens.. The bathroom was large but very plain and the caulking around the bath tub needed to be re done . After the first night, we realised that the toilet was continually running and the shower continually dripping. We reported this and when we returned after a day of sightseeing, there was a very nice message left for us asking if all was now in order. Unfortunately it was not as it didn't seem that anything had actually been done to fix the problems! We didn't worry about it that night, but mentioned it to a very friendly and helpful desk clerk the next morning. "Debbie" immediately offered to change our room. We accepted the offer and were given the same type of room but overlooking the courtyard. She said this was a "bit of an upgrade". In fact, it was in better shape and much brighter because of the location. We had breakfast the first morning we were there. I had the "Continental" for about $7.00 and my Spouse took the full buffet for a couple of dollars more. My breakfast was fine but the full breakfast was not very good with almost burnt bacon and potatoes too cold and hard to eat. In all fairness, this was about 9.30am and breakfast was over at 10am. In any case we didn't eat there again! The courtyard area with pool and hot tub was exremely pleasant and we enjoyed an hour or so there after a day of sightseeing. The gym facilities also looked OK but we didn't use them. There was free wireless access in the rooms and couple of computers in the lounge area with free internet access for guests. The location is quite far North on Scottsdale Rd but we didn't mind it too much. There were quite a few restaurants that were close by and some shopping also. It really depends on what you are planning on doing as to whether you would like the location or not. All in all, not a bad stay, but I'm not sure that I'd bid 2.5 stars again in this area.

Yes, this is indeed still Tucson East 2.5star. Sorry for not including it in the earlier post.

Thereuare, Thanks for your" best guess". I did try Priceline again and had some success. We have confirmed the Marriott Courtyard at Williams Centre for 3 nights February 17th to 20th. (Yes, I know these are slightly different dates to the Hotwire I was checking up on but Hotwire didn't have the same availability for the night of the 19th.) After many bids and much changing of dates with the idea of perhaps splitting the bid we finally got the Courtyard at a rate of $80 per night. Not great considering that they have rooms going as low as $129 on their website and I know that Scorp nabbed a room in March for $42 a night when the regular rates are higher! Go figure.! My last bid prior to the $80 was $75. However I had bid as high as $105 for resort and $85 for 3 star with no luck. I really didn't want to try anymore and this is still a saving of about $45 a night. Also we got such a great deal on the Courtyard in North Scottsdale for Feb 12th to 16th (As reported in my earlier Phoenix Post) that I feel it all balances out. We still have to find a place for the night of Thursday Feb. 16th. So we will either try Priceliine's "add a night" feature or perhaps consider staying somewhere en route from Pheonix to Scottsdale. Would anyone have any ideas of an interesting place to stay for 1 night? Once again, thanks for all the help given to me from this board and, of course, I made the booking through savingsbarn.com.

After a number of failed Priceline bids for these dates, I'm thinking of trying Hotwire. There is a 3star offered in TUCSON EAST for $88 with the following amenities: Suite, Rest, Pool, Fitness, Golf nearby, Business centre. I can't match it up with the list on this board but I wonder if anyone has any idea? I'm planning on trying Priceline again once more but if I don't have any success, and providing this Hotwire deal is still around, I'll probably go for it. Any help is much appreciated.

Forgot to say that this is for a mid size car. That's the lowest level at which the Entertainment Coupon kicks in. You have a good trip too, Scorp Thanks to you both for the encouragement.

I just posted a new message re: Car rentals in Pheonix which I think I should have posted under "Car rentals" Sorry. Here is the link: Car Rental Entertainment Book Also the plans on bidding for Tucson are currently on hold as there is a slight chance that we may have to cancel this trip and I don't want to book a "non refundable" room at this point. If we do have to cancel, we will of course be out of pocket for the 4 nights we have reserved in Scottsdale but at the rate we got I'm not complaining. This is the first time that we have had to forgo a "Priceline" booking (and it's not for sure it will happen this time) but as the regular rate for the Courtyard is $239 it's only like being out the first nights accomodation!

"SCORP" asked me to report on how I made out with car reservations in Phoenix and whether this year's Entertainment Book has some good deals. I have booked with Alamo where I was able to get a discount of $30.00 US on the 8 day rental. Not a great deal I think but Enterprise was offering only a discount of $21.00US and Budget only $10.00 off the Internet rate although, when I telephoned them, they said it was a saving of nearly $50.00!!!. My total for the 8 days with Alamo picking up and returning to the airport including taxes is $243.38US. (We went with the airport location in spite of the extra tax because we are unfamiliar with the area) The Entertainment Book cost us $36.00US including free shipping. So we haven't made up the cost with the car rental but I'm sure we will find other uses for it.

Will do that for sure!

Thanks, Scorp, for all the great info. I went ahead and edited my res. at the Marriott and got the Non-Smoking guarantee. I also entered my e=mail and got the conf. but it would not allow me to enter my Marriott Rewards number. I'm not worried about this, however, as we've had 3 Priceline Marriott stays in the last year or so and never had any problem with the hotel accepting the rewards card for "Extras". I too love Marriott and find the level of service is always excellent. When I get started on my Tucson reservations, I will start a new Topic to avoid confusion. I am waiting for my new Entertainment 2006 book to arrive before going ahead with car reservations. In the past, I've found the discounts for car rentals to be very good & I want to check it out. Incidentally, I ordered my new Ent. Book thru the link on this site. I mention that only to remind and encourage others to use those links whenever possible in order to help keep this great resource going.

Apologies if this is a double post. And sorry about the confusion over the dates, I must be having a series of "senior" moments. We are staying in Phoenix Feb. 12th to 16th and Tucson Feb. 16th to 20th. I went ahead and tried Phoenix/Scottsdale and was succesfull with the Marriott Courtyard North Scottsdale at $50.00 per night. This was my first bid so there is always the niggling feeling that I started too high but I'm very pleased with the result. The AAA rate for those dates is $227.00 per night! Scorp, thankyou for your reply and I will certainly take your advice. I will check car rates on and off the airport and we are just trying to make a decision whether to try for a Foothills resort or go cheap again and try for Tucson East. If I can ask one more question. We are flying out of Phoenix around 2pm on Monday the 20th. Our plan is to drive to Phoenix from Tucson that same morning. Do you think this is a good idea?

Thanks "Stroud" for the reply. I'd love to know what dates your are going in March so that I can compare the rates at the time with the rates when we are going. I am going to try Scottsdale first as Downtown is a bit of concern to me. I've read reports it's a bit "sleazy" in parts. I've noticed a few people getting the Hyatt downtown, would you know if the area around there is OK. Thanks a lot

We're planning a trip Feb. 12th for 8 days. First 4 in Phoenix, last 4 in Tucson. Flying in and out of Phoenix and picking up and returning a car in Phoenix. I've been checking past posts and mapping out the Priceline borders as well as can but really need some advise as to where to bid. Currently I'm thinking of Scottsdale (2.5 to 3 stars - not looking for anything fancy this trip) but is this the right decision.? Would anyone suggest other areas as well or instead of. As I said, we will have a car for sightseeing but it would be nice to be walking distance to a few restaurants etc. I think I'll leave the Tuscon segmant until Phoenix is sorted out but any info would be very, very appreciated. And, Thereuare, I will, of course bid through SavingsBarn. com Many thanks

We really enjoyed our stay at the Omni earlier this year and found the staff to be great with no hint of "Priceline" attitude. We too had an upgrade certificate but the desk clerk was unable to find an upgrade that was available and suggested we keep the certificate for another stay. She looked for quite a while in her computer so I don't think it had anything to do with Priceline. I mention this only because you might want to be prepared for the fact that the upgrade may or may not work for your stay.

Last weekend, August 5th and 6th, we stayed at this hotel on a non-priceline/hotwire stay as Vancouver was very, very booked and I was having no luck at all with 4 star downtown. This hotel has been seen on Priceline once in a while but not for some time. The location on Hornby St. is excellent. It's next door to a brand new YWCA, across from a food court and a very short walk to many restaurants and shops both towards Canada Place and the cruise ship terminal and to Georgia/Granville which is really the heart of downtown. It's a boutique hotel with just over 100 rooms and has an elegantly decorated lobby and rooms although, for my taste, it was a bit "fussy" but then I prefer something a bit more sleek and modern. The standard suites have a small living room with couch, chair, tables and television but no window (I understand that the more expensive corner suites have windows in the living room). The bedrrom comfortably took a queen size bed, a couple of side tables and an armoire with drawers and a 2nd television., as well as a desk. There was a large floor to ceiling window which could be opened if you didn't mind the outside noise! In between the bedroom and bathroom there was an area for the mini bar, glasses, coffe pot and supplies. There was also a large closet with an in room safe. All of the luxury type amenities were provided, - bathrobes, aveda toiletries, luxury towels and, in fact, the bathroom was especially nice with lots of counter space and a super large shower wioth 2 shower heads. (No bathtub) I had read a review somewhere (I think tripadvisor) that mentioned free morning cofee being delivered to the room. We heard nothing about this and don't think it happens anymore. There was a newspaper delivered to the room each morning however. Housekeeping was excellent and the housekeeping staff great. We asked for some extra coffee one day and a couple of extra bath towels another day and both requests were met very promptly. The desk staff were pleasant enough but not exceptional and the Bellmen and Parking atteendant (There is only valet parking so you see quite a bit of the attendant) were not particularly friendly at all and, yes, we did tip well!! When we arrived with a loaded car including a number of large gifts for the wedding we were attending, the bellman just stood around with a cart waiting for my husband to unload. I'd really expect more from a 4 star hotel! All in all, it was a good stay and I'd be delighted to get it for a good rate on Priceline. Not sure I'd pay a published rate again as I prefer the Marriot or the Wall Centre even though the Le Soleil has a more central location than either.

Tried one final time today for this Vancouver bid with no success. So it's off to the Sutes Le Soleil this time. Don't know too much about this boutique hotel but I will write a review on my return, just in case it comes up on Priceline/Hotwire again. Want to add a comment to my last post re: booking early. I have had quite a bit of success with that strategy but I've also been quite succesful with same day or a couple of days in advance but I feel the city is too busy at this time of year to try that tactic and my visit too important.