Willow Branch

THANKS for your expertise, Thereuare!! I knew you would have an answer! Willow Branch

YES, it was at the Detroit Airport Westin location; sorry, thought that I had included that!!! :) I do have a question, don't know if this is the correct place to put it or if you would prefer it in the "Off topic: Run of the House".....feel free to move it if you wish. I bid the $70.00 as I had posted--actually for a friend. After I had won this hotel, my friend wanted me to try & get another room as their teen-age son had decided to come along VERY LAST MINUTE!! I closed out of Priceline & then started the entire process all over again! When I tried to bid again, (which was literally 5 minutes later at the MAX--probably more like 3 minutes), Priceline kept telling me that I had already gotten a hotel for this same night & same location (I do NOT remember their exact wording!!!!!!!!!) & then something like "try again". I bid up to $85.00 & it just kept rejecting me with this same answer! Now, my question to you is this...did the Priceline rooms just happen to be gone when I tried to bid the 2nd time, & I was lucky to have gotten their last room the 1st time around? Or, was Priceline just so confused that I had bid again for the same person, the same area, the same date & the same credit card, that it just couldn't do it??? They ended up just getting a rollaway for their son because my bidding just wasn't working! This would be really helpful to know . THANKS!! Willow Branch

$70.00 was my first bid & was accepted. Thank you to the person who had just gotten this hotel last week for $70.00, so that is why I had started at this amount! I had 3 re-bids but not much time as I was bidding for the same evening, so I just started at $70.00--did not have the time to see if $65.00 would have worked. Yes, I bid through Savings Barn! Willow Branch

Just thought that I would give you "closure" on this topic........I ended up getting a car conventionally. I bid a couple of times & then noticed that the rates had come down on the Thrifty-Rent-a-Car site, so I booked through that. I could also explain to them what I was doing & felt better that I could clarify the situation to them. This, by the way, was cheaper than my bid that Priceline would not accept (Yes, it was for the same class of car.) Go figure! Anyway, thanks again for all the friendly help!! Willow Branch

Thank you Goldendeal for your comment. I bid for my father who is in his 70's & he just doesn't get it!! So, it is just easier for me to do the bidding for him instead of trying to explain the bidding process on hotels that you don't know what you'll get!! HOWEVER, he LOVES the GREAT deals that I have gotten for him on Priceline in the past. I have never done a car for him using Priceline & it just worried me the more I thought about it. I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to respond to me! Since no one has stated "No, don't do it", and you have done it, guess it is OK!! Thanks again, Goldendeal!

Hey, I have a question for all of you seasoned "Priceline Users" (since theruare is on a cruise :)) I was going to bid on a car for a friend & put in their name for the person picking up the car; however, am I going to get myself in any kind of trouble since I would be putting it on my credit card?? They will re-imburse me, but I worry that maybe there will be trouble for them when picking up the car?? Has any one done this before? I have bid on Hotels many times for my friends & of course there is NO problem with that! Just don't know about the car. Thank-you for all of your wonderful advise in advance :) Willow Branch

Oops, forgot to tell you the date for the rental car in Cleveland.....Thursday, October 5. Sorry!! Things have been a little crazy in my life! Willow Branch

WOW! What a savings! I tried conventional booking this car (only need it for 6 hours) & was coming up with ridiculous prices ($48.00 - $56.00). Hotwire showed $28.00 for a compact. I bid $20.00 for an Economy--was rejected! THEN, another screen came up & told me that if I raised my price, that I would not have to change anything (this was a one time offer)--I had never seen anything like this before. So, I bid $21.00 & again was rejected! Now, I had to change something in order to re-bid, so for fun, I asked for a midsize car & put in a bid for $23.00--Got it! Still a rip-off becuz I only need it for a few hours. BUT, definitely a WONDERFUL savings when compared to all the other rental companies. Thank-you!

Hey, I have a question that I have not seen addressed (or at least I did NOT understand it if it was)....it has to do with the "add a night".......I made a reservation for 3 nights and now our plans have changed because the kids want to come along. I don't want to extend our reservation, but I do wish to add an extra room for these 3 nights. Is this possible? Thank you in advance for your answer!! Willow Branch

Kinda a last minute trip, so was in a hurry & did not have time to play around with bids, so I simply bid $55.00 & received the Hyatt Regency Aracade. This hotel was showing $189.00 on Thursday night & $139.00 for Friday night, so not bad. Again, if I had had more time, maybe I could have gotten this cheaper! Willow Branch

I tried to get a 3*, but got up to $58.00 & really didn't want to go any higher in the Dulles Airport area. This was really fun to bid because I had a total of 8 re-bids. I then went for a 2 1/2*, but got up to $50.00 & decided I didn't want to go higher. Then, I tried $44.00 for a 2* & got it first try. (Makes me wonder how much lower I could have gone & still gotten this.) The one thing that bothers me is that on their site they state that the lobby & breakfast area are undergoing renovations beginning in July. Hopefully by October, they will be finished & the dust will be gone :) Thanks for this board. As always, I bid through SavingsBarn.

Just thought that I would let you know what happened so as to have closure to this topic.....the hotel now says that it was not communicated properly with us & that they cannot give a credit for our missed night. So, that is the way it stands. Again, thanks for the responses as once again, I learned something!

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question!! I learned something new; I am just thankful that I did call them to let them know of my partial change in plans (I certainly did not know that I HAD to do that! I must have missed that somewhere. Anyway, I'll let you know what happens. Thanks again!

I'm sorry dahammer...I had intended to post the 3 night stay, but when this came up, this took priority. SORRY. The Fort Lauderdale hotel was not done on Priceline, so I didn't know you wanted the info...again, I'm sorry!!

I started at $90.00 but was unsuccessful, so continued on with my bidding. With my bid of $122.00, I received the message "that if I added $22.00, I could simply rebid without having to change anything. Since I had one rebid, I decided to just add $13.00 to my bid. It accepted my bid of $135.00. Normal rates were $179.00 for Thursday, & $229.00 for Friday & Saturday nights, so I did save a few dollars by going with this method.

Well, after bidding up to $115.00 for Airport Zone for a 2 1/2, I decided that Priceline just did not have any hotels. So, the cheapest thing that I could find was on Valuetrips.com--I found a AmeriSuites in Fort Lauderdale for $99.00 that had a shuttle. I did not post this before because since I did not use Priceline to get this Hotel, I just thought that it was not important to post--Sorry!! I really do LOVE YOU GUYS here at Better Bidding!!!!!!!!!!

We just had an interesting experience & wondered if anyone else may have encountered this......We booked a Priceline hotel for 3 nights; unfortunately, we were not able to make it for the 1st night, but still wanted to use it for the 2nd & 3rd night. We called the hotel to let them know what was going on as we definitely still wanted the rooms for the 2nd & 3rd night, but were unable to make it for the 1st night. When we checked into the hotel, they had no record that we had called stating that we would not be there for the 1st night, so they considered us as "no shows" and CANCELLED our reservation!! I have never heard of this before. What do they care if we show up one night later--we paid for the 3 nights thru Priceline! After many minutes of going back & forth, they agreed to let us stay for the remainder of the 2 nights & that they would find a room for us. After much discussion, they also offered us a credit for that 1st night as they were sorry for what had happened. Now, my question to you is this, the Hotel wants to credit Priceline & the Hotel tells me that Priceline will credit me. Is this true? I find this difficult to believe that Priceline will actually credit me! I asked the Hotel about this, & they told me that if they tell Priceline that we did not use the room, then Priceline will not charge them & they will credit me. What do you think? If you think it is doubtful that I will see the money from Priceline, then I will try harder to just get a free room from the Hotel for future use (which would be fine with me!). Thanks for any & all advise!!

The problem is that I have been spoiled & am use to getting airport properties for $35.00 - $45.00 (during this same time of year--our spring break every year). Anyway, I have bid up to $68.00 so far on the 2* Airport & $70.00 on 2 1/2* for the downtown (The Amerisuites :) ) Hotels are pricey--The Days Inn Airport is $199.00--that's ONLY A DAYS INN!!!!!!!! The Ramada Inn is $121.00. The date that I need is for Thurs. March 30. I was even so desparate that I have been trying to book a Howard Johson, Days Inn, Amerihost etc. using the "Best rate, if not, it's free"; you book using their website & then if you find it on some other website, you get the room free. But, this has not worked for me either. Alas, what we don't do to try & save some $. Too bad I HATE camping!!!!

We need a room for just a few hours as we are coming in late & will be leaving early the next morning. So, I want a 2 or 2 /2*. As I looked through the past months of what people are getting, I see NO 2 or 2 l/2 * properties won on Priceline. My question is this: do people not have an interest in getting these properties, OR, does Priceline not have any of these rooms in this area???? I am curious because I am bidding & wonder if maybe it is just a waste of time & that I should book conventionaly? Thanks for any suggestions.

I just need a cheap hotel near the Fort Lauderdale airport as we are coming in late & do not want to pick up our rental car until the next morning. I do not see any 1* hotels on the hotel list, but I assume that there are those 1* properties on Priceline, just have not been posted on the sight yet (am I correct??) If there are 1*, can I assume since they are in the Airport area that they will all have shuttle service ? I have not seen this addressed on this sight. THANKS!!

Started at $40.00 & slowly went up. At $48.00, I was countered to "add $17.00 right now...". I tried to add $3.00, but was rejected. At the $4.00 increase ($52.00), I secured it. THANKS $52.00 X 2 (nights) $21.44 TAXES & FEES ______________ $125.44

I have been trying to get a 3* airport property; things seem to be high in this area (usually, I am able to get an airport property for $34.00 - $40.00). Since there are many free rebids using the permutation method (I had about 8 of them), I just started out low. When I bid $56.00, I got the "if you add $17.00 right now..." counter offer. THEN, I knew I was close. I bid $58.00; that was rejected. I bid $59.00 & FINALLY got it. Who would have thought that a counter offer of $17.00 only needed $3.00?? THANKS for this web-site! $59.00 14.85 Taxes & Fees 73.85 TOTAL

I needed a room for tomorrow night in the downtown area, and only had one free-rebid, so I made a stab at $65.00 & was rejected, so quickly did $75.00. If I had had more time, I probably would not have made such a large jump. Oh well, still happy with $75.00 for this hotel. Seemed like maybe something was going on for the week-end. Thanks.

Was running out of time, so tried $48.00 for a 3* and got the Holiday Inn Select. I did not see that Holiday Inn Select was a hotel in the Auburn Hills area, so you might want to add this to your list of Hotels. Since I just had Taylor for a rebid, I felt like I did not have too many options since I needed the room for tonight---Jan. 27. Thanks for this board!

WOW, this one was fun to bid on! I wanted to stay in the Irvine-Costa area or the Newport-Huntington area; I had no preference between these two areas. Also, I wanted a 3*, so that gave me Laguna, Anaheim & Seal to use for my free rebids. So, using the math permutations, I quickly listed my combinations on a sheet of paper--I had 18 of them ( I probably could have had more if I had worked at it harder, but I figured that 18 re-bids would be MORE THAN SUFFICIENT!! :) ) I started with Irvine for $40.00 With the bid for $40.00 came a counter offer of (if I would just add $12.00, I would receive it...). My usual strategy would be to half this counter & just add $6.00 & I probably would get it. BUT, since I had so many rebids for this area, I wanted to get this at the Rock Bottom!! So, I continued bidding with the following: Irvine + Newport $41.00 Irvine + Laguna $42.00 Irvine + Seal $43.00 Got it for the $43.00 Taxes & fees $12.00 TOTAL $55.20 I have learned everything about bidding through just reading all of the posts from people--the math permutations is just a WONDERFUL idea & WORKS!!!! I am known as the Priceline.com QUEEN to all of my friends! THANK-YOU for this board!!!