TarHawk

Began the bidding at $67 with the following zones at 4*: Cleveland Park Georgetown North DuPont Circle/Woodley Park White House/Downtown I rejected an offer of $88 to make an automatic rebid. Instead, I raised the bid to $77, still at 4*, and changed to the following zones: Alexandria Park West Cleveland Park DuPont Circle/Woodley Park White House/Downtown That undercuts the PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal listed at $88 in DuPont Circle/Woodley Park. I had hoped for the Omni Shoreham, but at this price I am not complaining at all. :D

Really pleased with this one, which I hit on the first bid. To figure out my opening bid, I looked at the Express Deal offering at this star level, which was $59, then shot for just under 80 percent of that. The idea was, if $59 was 40 percent off the standard price of the Express Deal room, and 60 percent is the max I could expect to save, then I should calculate an opening bid just less than 20 percent off the Express Deal price. Amenities on the bidding page were just this: 2.5 stars, at least a 7 rating by Priceline users. That seemed to match the Country Inn and Suites by Carlson Beaufort West, which seemed OK to me at $48. Turned out I got the Hampton, which got a 9 average from Priceline users. :)

It'll do just fine for a low-budget road trip. >>Can you please add the amenities shown before your purchase. Certainly. Here are the amenities listed on the confirmation page: 24-hour front desk Accessible facilities Cable television Complimentary breakfast Complimentary continental breakfast Continental breakfast Free high speed internet connection Free parking High speed internet access High speed wireless Non-smoking rooms (generic) On-Site parking Outdoor parking Outdoor pool Parking Pets allowed Pool Telephone Wheel chair access Wireless internet connection in public areas And here are the amenities listed on the opaque "Express Deals" page for this hotel: This Hotel has: Free Breakfast | Free Internet | Indoor or Outdoor Pool | Free Parking | Pets Allowed

Woo-hoo! Recession vacationing at its finest! :lol: So, I was piecing together a long weekend on the cheap in Charleston, where I booked two hotel rooms on Priceline already for Saturday and Sunday nights. This room is for on the way out, via North Georgia. After exhausting all the bidding levels with free rebids in the Cartersville area, I thought, hey, why not try the PRICELINE Instant Deals?" I knew using this option for the first time would require me to adjust my expectations. After all, experience and the best minds on travel bidding sites tell me that the best deals are to be had on three-star rooms. But since I just need a place to spend one night after a day of driving and visiting the Etowah Indian Mounds, I thought I would take a chance. With that in mind, I glanced through Priceline's named hotels price list and picked out the worst in the batch. Looked like Priceline users were least satisfied with Americas Best Inns Cartersville. It is not an understatement to say that user reviews on this property are mixed, at best. Perhaps the more critical ones are just fussy travelers, or maybe they have an unusually high rack rate due to a big event in the area. But nobody mentioned bedbugs, prostitution, porn production or drug dealing in connection with this property, so I determined that if I drew that one, I wouldn't feel ripped off by paying $28 plus $10.76 in fees/taxes; I gather most of that amount is Priceline's fee rather than taxes, since Cartersville only lists a 6 percent hotel/motel occupancy tax. So I went ahead and took the unnamed one-star "at up to 40 percent off." Just going by difference in price between $28 and the listed price of $44.99, I did indeed get 36 percent off -- nearly the maximum I could expect. Bake in Priceline's fee, which could be anywhere from $5 to $8 on this room, and the basis for figuring the discount would be from $33 to $36, a discount of $6 to $9, or 13% to 20%. That beats Motel 6, and that's OK with me.

Ran through five rounds of free rebids before coming up with the Homestead Charleston - Airport - North Charleston. I had hoped for something closer to downtown, but this will do for a long weekend trip on a budget.

Got shut out in 3, 2 and 1-star zones in the Muscle Shoals/Florence, Alabama, area last night, but that helped me isolate a reasonable price point. I got my room for $50 on the first bid this time. I've been impressed with Microtel wherever I've stayed in them, so I'm pretty happy about this. It's $19 less than the listed Priceline retail rate.

After looking at available 3.5-star rooms in this region, I figured I'd either get the Residence Inn or Drury Inn and Suites. I based my bid on 40 percent of the average price cited by Priceline for this zone at this level, which turned out to be $51. Got it on the first bid.

Was determined to get a room for no more than $37 regardless of rating or bidding zone. Went through 3.5 star bids in all zones and dropped to 3, 2 and finally 1 star, which was finally accepted. Very nice for an economy chain room, and certainly head and shoulders above the Super 8 in Green 4iver; Utah, where we stayed earlier this week. but a nonsmoking king room was going for $84 on the website for Super 8, so not bad for a place to sleep on the way home from an awesome vacation. Bed was turned down and there were mints on the pillow. Lovely touches! I would stay here again.

Opening bid at $50 rejected; increased in $5 increments to $60 for two double queen rooms on third floor with view of Sangre de Cristo Mountains through the trees. Pretty happy with this rate. $60 at three stars in Santa Fe seems to be the sweet spot this summer -- at least until Santa Fe Opera opens in July and the city revs up for Indian Market and Spanish Market.

After being turned down as high as $98 for a three-star hotel in Kanab and Centerville, Utah, bidding zones, I set my sights lower. First bid: $50, rejected. Second bid of $60 accepted. Nice, spacious room with mini-friedge, microwave, coffeemaker, king bed, couch, office swivle chairs and table, ironing board and a coffee maker. It's nothing fancy, and we could have stayed in a one-star for $49, it turns out, based on the price posted outside a nearby motel with vacancies, but this was just what we needed for a family road trip through the great national parks of southern Utah.

Started bidding at $45 and used rebids to get three more free bids before increasing the bid to $55. Rejected a counteroffer of $63 at $50, switched out of the more expensive Santa Fe Plaza zone to the cheaper Cerillos Road zone and got my rooms at $55. Given a retail list of $109, I feel pretty good about this deal. :)

Used rebid zones starting at $88. Happy with this result, which is just around the corner from the overpriced hotel hosting the convention I'm going to attend. :D

I was expecting to overpay for a 3-star hotel since it's such a busy convention season in Chicago. I went through 24 bids using rebid zones starting with North Michigan Ave - River North before I finally got one to take at $124. Lucky for me, Priceline upgraded me to 4 stars. I'm pretty thrilled to get this hotel at this price. It's high compared to other seasons, but low compared to the conference hotel -- which as it turns out is right across the street at the Marriott and is charging a convention rate of $175. Nice! :)

I'm traveling to a convention that's being held at the Westin on the Waterfront, but both it and the overflow hotel, the Renaissance, were booked solid. I started at $90 4* Waterfront, added increments of $3 to $5 as I added Quincy, Harbor Front, Copley Square, and Fenway. I used the Better Bidding link to PRICELINE and here's how it panned out: $90 4* Waterfront $95 4* Waterfront, Quincy Market $100 4* Waterfront, Quincy Market, Harbor Front $105 3.5* Waterfront, Quincy Market, Harbor Front $105 3.5* Waterfront, Quincy Market, Harbor Front, Copley Square $115 3.5* Waterfront, Quincy Market, Harbor Front, Copley Square, Fenway $125 3* Waterfront, Quincy Market, Harbor Front, Copley Square, Fenway No, it's not the smoking hot deal I would have hoped for, but it still undercuts retail by $40 a night. With so many college commencements going on that weekend, I guess I can't complain too much. The deal I got two summers ago for $75 a night at the John Hancock Convention Center Hotel was more than likely a fluke.

A grad school friend is getting married in Rancho Palos Verdes but I couldn't afford the $330 a night "special rate" at Terranea. For PRICELINE savings, I could afford to drive a few miles. So I tried these bids but was turned down: 3.5* San Pedro $51 but was offered immediate bid if I increased it $15 to $66. No thanks; that was $1 more than the Hotwire price for a 3.5* in that zone. But it let me know I was really close. 3.5* San Pedro and Torrance $50 turned down. 3.5* and 3* San Pedro and Torrance $48. At that number the site flashed the "Your bid has a very small chance" warning, which I ignored. Turned down. Adding 2* to those bids was not an appealing option so I changed regions altogether. 3.5* Redondo-Manhattan Beach $52 accepted on the first try: Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach. Priceline has the same hotel listed for those dates at $104 and up; other sites have it at $118 and up. I feel really great about this deal! I used the betterbidding PRICELINE link to make my bids. :)

I decided to extend my stay one night since the airfare would have jumped about $70 to leave at a reasonable time Friday (that is, after 7 a.m.). However, I noticed that the fee for that extra night was $15, five bucks more than the fees per night for the first five nights. I'm fine with that since I'm happy with the price given the location (it's close to the N.E. Med Center and Chinatown T-stops and right in the heart of the Theatre District), but thought I'd alert folks to that. So staying an extra night turned out to be $70, which is about what I saved on airfare by leaving Saturday instead of Friday.

Well, this time I put my Better Bidding lessons and Priceline experience to good use, and I'm pretty happy with this winning bid. Bid history: 4* Copley Square/Theatre District, $60 rejected 4* Copley Square/Theatre District, $60, added Faneuil Hall, rejected 3.5* Same as above, $55, rejected 3* Same as above, $50, rejected 3*, added Waterfront, $55, accepted :) I'm pretty happy with this one. Now to go scoop up a cheap Delta airfare and I'm all set! Thanks to everybody for your advice and for sharing intel; it helped me a lot! I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link to make this deal.

Hello, everybody: I'm a grad student arranging travel to research my dissertation. I am on a tight budget, so cost-cutting is a real priority. This means not renting a car and (I hope) not taking taxis. My next destination is UC-Berkeley, and I plan to fly from here (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) to Oakland rather than San Francisco since it's closer to Berkeley. Could anybody give me some advice on bidding in Oakland that will get me within a half-mile of a BART station? Thanks for your help! TarHawk

4* $45 rejected Central Birmingham 3* $40 rejected Central Birmingham, Birmingham International 3* $42 rejected Central Birmingham, Birmingham International, Irondale 3* $46 rejected Central Birmingham, Birmingham International, Irondale, Inverness 3* $48 accepted Central Birmingham, Birmingham International, Irondale, Inverness, changed checkout from 10/11 to 10/10 (but then when my bid was accepted, I was offered to extend at the same price). $48.00 per night $10.08 taxes and fees per night $58.08 per night total per night $174.24 total for three nights I

3.5* $55 Copley Square Theatre District rejected 3* *$60 Copley Square Theatre District rejected 3* $65 Copley Square Theatre District and Quincy Market/Financial rejected 2.5* $70 Copley Square Theatre District and Quincy Market/Financial rejected 2* $75 Copley Square Theatre District and Quincy Market/Financial accepted Hi everybody. This is my first hotel booking on Priceline and my first post on Better Bidding. I've got a lot to learn, but I am pretty happy with this first effort. It's not a fancy hotel, but the location is just a block from the Back Bay T stop and it's got free WiFi. Unfortunately, I didn't see this hotel in the pinned list, so I was a little surprised when this came up. Normal rate is $150/night. Not bad for convention season in the heart of convention territory.