BEAV

I've used Hotwire's double-the-difference program several times in situations where I needed two rooms on a given night. It's been a simple process each and every time. Submit your application to Hotwire noting Priceline as the website you found your lower rate. They will reply with a fax number for you to send your Priceline confirmation sheet with date and price info. I've done this several times and have always been successful. Below is a link to a previous Hotwire double-the-difference claim using Priceline as the lower-priced source: Hotwire Double the Difference Guarantee

Purchased this for a friend visiting NYC who wanted to escape the high seasonal prices in Times Square area. The difference in rates Times Square vs Downtown on these dates will more than pay for a few cabs back-and-forth. Millennium Hilton 55 Church St. New York Amenities: Restaurant Pool Fitness Business Center Hi-Speed Internet Purchased via the HOTWIRE link here at BetterBidding.com.

New hotel for the Hotwire California list. This was a last minute purchase for a friend. Many hotels in the area were at or near capacity, and Priceline bids for both 2.5 and 3 star up to $60 were all rejected. So rather than wasting any more time w/Priceline, I headed to Hotwire. 2.5 was the highest rating offered this date in this zone. I haven't heard the greatest things about the Extended Stay America brand, but didn't realize they have a deluxe version, of which this property belongs to. Based on my ignorance, I never considered the fact this purchase would wind up at an ESA brand due to the many amenities Hotwire was displaying. I only knew the basic-ESA brand to be just that ... basic! Extended Stay America Deluxe Pleasanton - Chabot Dr. 4555 Chabot Drive Pleasanton, CA 94588 Check-in: Oct 2 2007 Check-out: Oct 3 2007 $72.00 Amenities: Complimentary Breakfast Fitness Center Pool Business Center Laundry Hi-Speed Internet ($4.95 charge per stay). Purchase made via the BetterBidding link to HOTWIRE.

Welcome to BetterBidding! There are two ways to help identify this hotel. First off, if you're not familiar with the Hotwire Hotel List on this website, here is the link. Hotwire Hotel List Look to see if any of the hotels in the Disney South zone are a match to the star level and amenities you listed. If you're unable to identify the the hotel that way, then go to Hotwire.com and click on "packages". Enter any city as your origin and select "Orange County" as your destination. Enter any set of dates (must be a two-night minimum). The Hotwire package section identifies all the hotels, along with their star level and amenities. See if you find a match. Good luck and let us know if we can be of any more help.

Bid for relatives. Initial bid of $60 produced counter offer to add $22 ($82). 2nd bid of $65 rejected. 3rd bid of $68 accepted. Hotel Phillips Kc Downtown/Crown Center 106 West 12th Street Kansas City, Missouri 64105 Check-In Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2007 Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $68.00 Subtotal: $136.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $31.66 Total Charges*: $167.66 Bid placed via link to PRICELINE from SavingsBarn.com

Thank you for yet another excellent tool. Definitely a time-saving feature.

I failed to mention in my initial post that I had been bidding this date, unsuccessfully, for the past two or three weeks. Previous bids up to $120 had been rejected. So this is an excellent example how some properties don't give Priceline access to inventory until much closer to the date of travel. Patience is the key!

Needed three rooms for out-of-town guests. 1st bid of $71 produced counteroffer to add $22. 2nd bid of $76 rejected. 3rd bid of $79 accepted. Renaissance Club Sport 2805 Jones Road Walnut Creek, California 94597 Check-In Date: Sat, Sep 22, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sun, Sep 23, 2007 Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $79.00 Subtotal: $237.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $37.14 Total Charges*: $274.14 Bid placed via link to PRICELINE from SavingsBarn.com

At the time you were successful winning the first two nights, did you first try all four nights but were rejected? If that is the case, the offer to extend your stay at $110 most likely will be rejected, otherwise you would have been successful all four nights at $110. I would suggest waiting awhile to try the extended offer, which is actually valid up until 11:00am on your currently scheduled date of check-out. With regard to the extended stay option, I am not sure whether you can exercise the option, and if rejected, try it again at a later time. In other words, is it a one-time offer? Hopefully someone else can answer that question. Keep in mind booking outside of the extended stay option means the possibilty of having to change hotels for your last two nights. I stayed at this hotel earlier this year on a non-Priceline/Hotwire booking. The room are nice, beds comforable, and, if lucky, you can get some great views of the City. We were fortunate to get a corner room with windows on two sides. The only negative to the hotel are the homeless and panhandlers in the vicinity. It's a great location, however, for downtown SF and Union Square.

This was an excellent example of a hotel not releasing inventory to Priceline until much closer (less than a week) to the check-in date. I had been bidding this zone off and on for the past six weeks, up to $120, without success. Today's bid of $95 produced counteroffer to add $22. Added free rebid zone, bid $99, and accepted. Doubletree JFK Airport 135-30 140th Street Jamaica, New York 11436 Check-in: Friday, Sept 7 Check-out: Saturday, Sept 8 Offer Price: $99.00 Taxes/Fees: $24.70 Total: $123.70 Bid placed via link to SavingsBarn.com

Since the owner of TOBB no longer "works" her own site, it's nice to see the reports of people being banned have come to a screeching halt. Although I never post there anymore, it's nice to see others posting freely sharing information without the fear of their posts being edited or removed. This freedom is something we've always enjoyed at Better Bidding, hence my participation here. Since you made the comment you don't know how she finds the time/energy to police other sites, are you under the impression she's still active at TOBB? If so, that is not the case at all as she hasn't been publically active on her own site for about 10 months now.

Since your target was the 3* Hilton in the Fisherman's Wharf zone, did you add San Mateo because you were thinking it was a "safe" zone to add? Since San Mateo offers both 3 and 4 star hotels, it wasn't a free rebid zone for 3 star bidding in Fisherman's Wharf. As to your comment about past Priceline rates at the San Mateo Marriott, if your $75 bid was your first bid that included the San Mateo zone, then's it's possible the Marriott could have been "won" at a lesser amount. Lastly, I've had decent luck w/Priceline when accidentally bidding the wrong zone. Often times they will allow you to rebid again. I can't guarantee, but you've got nothing to lose by calling Priceline and trying to rebid, this time taking caution not to include zones that don't qualify as free rebid zones. Good luck!

Thanks for the follow-up. Sorry you have to switch hotels, but it looks like you did everything right by splitting your bid.

Have you heard of Priceline's "add a night" feature? If not, you can add additional night(s) to an existing reservation as long as they are consecutive dates (as is the case of your situation). The nice feature is that Priceline will keep you at the same hotel, provided the hotel has given Priceline inventory for the newly requested night(s) and at the same price of your winning bid. It beats switching hotels!

San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf zone Hotwire changes: Hotwire vacation package search 8/23-8/25: 3.5* Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf (downgrade from 4 stars) Fitness Restaurant Pool Business Center Hi-Speed Internet Hotwire vacation package search 9/4-9/6: 4* Argonaut Boutique Fitness Restaurant Business Center Hi-Speed Internet This is a positive development in that Sheraton & Argonaut were often difficult to distinguish one from the other. Argonaut now carrying the boutique icon once again, and Sheraton now a different star level.

Welcome to the world of Priceline/Hotwire addiction, where you don't necessarily need a legitimate reason to book another trip. :)

Since you're new around here (welcome, by the way), I should point out the Hotwire vacation package is often an excellent tool for identifying hotels. This is in addition to the Hotwire hotel list here on this website, which I hope you've discovered. Again, good luck.

A Hotwire vacation package search for SFO for Aug 22-24 for the Palomar Hotel lists amenities of: Restaurant Business Center (new addition) Fitness Hi-Speed Internet. This change makes amenities the same for both Palomar & Grand Hyatt.

A search of Hotwire's vacation package for your dates indicates this would be a match for both the Grand Hyatt and the Palomar. However, in reading the customer favorite comments, I would give the edge to the Palomar. I'm seeing the comment of this hotel being 1 block from Market Street (which acurately describes the Palomar). The Grand Hyatt is further from Market than one block. So the Palomar is my hunch. Good luck...

What are the published rates at the 4 star hotels in USE during this time period? That will help in determining a bid strategy. Hotels constantly review and adjust the inventory they allocate Priceline based on their ever-changing occupancy levels. It's very possible the hotel the other poster won for $113 for the same time period is no longer allocating inventory to Priceline if their occupancy levels have increased, or is now even sold out. Hang in there!

Well, they're doing something right. Their stock has gone from $30 to $76 a share in one year's time. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pric...A3DE6775E027%7D

First off, welcome to Better Bidding! When you say PL shows the Sheraton, Marriott & Hyatt as the only 4 star hotels in the SFO airport, what you are looking at is Priceline's retail section, not their opaque name-your-own-price bid product. If you're planning to use the bidding product of Priceline, there is no way to avoid a specific hotel. You take what you get! But.....the Marriott you're seeing in Priceline's retail section is not in the SFO Airport zone, but rather the San Mateo zone. Don't confuse this property with the 3 star Marriott in the SFO Airport zone, which is in the city of Burlingame. Yes, there are two Marriotts the SFO airport area. If you're looking to avoid the Sheraton, then you'd be better to book the San Mateo zone, which lies a few miles south of the Airport zone. Lastly, the rack rates are not at all expensive, so I would begin bidding around $50 and work up from there. Staying on a Friday or Saturday night usually works in your favor as these are primarily business hotels, and that's why the rack rate is so much lower than Sunday-Thursday. Good luck!

Like nikk, I've been able to cancel on a couple of occasions due to flight delays and/or cancellations which caused me not to reach my destination until the following day, rendering my Priceline hotel useless for that first night. I've been fortunate I've never had to speak with more than one representative per call. In fact, it was very easy. I simply explained the airline delay situation, telling them it was physically impossible to check into the hotel that night. All I had to do was supply the airline and flight number. This situation is another case where the representatives read from a script. They tell you that "upon verification" of the flight delay, they will process your refund. However, in both of my situations, I had an email within seconds of hanging up the phone confirming my refund. In other words, it didn't appear they called the airline to verify the delay or cancellation before confirming a refund. I've been very pleased how easy the process was. I should also point out refunds under these circumstances are not charged Priceline's normal $25 cancel penalty. I received 100% refund in both cases. As to the OP's situation, I think this is going to be tough. If the problem with the teenage son involves law enforcement, it might not hurt to submit some sort of documentation to Priceline if they appear to be at least half-way willing to work with you. Good luck ... you've got nothing to lose by asking.

So does this mean you really did sacrifice the poor cat? Congrats on yet another Omni score! I'll tell Tadich Grill to stock up those sand dabs 'cause slruud is comin' to town again... :)

Same bid strategy for both 9/8 and 9/14: $60 and $65 rejected. Accepted at $67. Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Halifax 1919 Upper Water Street Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3J5 Check-in Date: Sat, Sep 8, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sun, Sep 9, 2007 Check-In Date: Fri, Sep 14, 2007 Check-Out Date: Sat, Sept 15, 2007 Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: US$67.00 Taxes & Service Fees: US$18.46 Total Charges: US$85.46 Both bids placed through links to Priceline from Savingsbarn.com