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Although we have no reported wins on the hotel list for 4 star category on Priceline in Napa, CA, a search today of three different dates (Aug, Sept, Oct) indicates Priceline no longer offers 4 stars in this zone. This change provides an additional free rebid when bidding 4 star in the Santa Rosa zone.

I recently noticed Expedia offers a $49 per person cancel "for any reason" policy on their vacation packages (hotel + air, hotel + car, hotel + air + car). The fee appears to be $49 no matter what the total price of the package. I was just wondering if anyone has ever taken advantage of this, and what was your experience. Do they really mean "for any reason"? Or are there hidden restrictions and clauses? If I were buying a fairly extensive package (like 7 days at Disneyworld, for example) a number of months in advance, I think $49 is a very reasonable charge for such a policy. If I were to purchase the plane tickets separately, chances are they would be non-refundable and I would be out of luck in the event my plans changed later on. But it sounds like this policy would protect you against that kind of loss. Comments?

I have run across two different types of counteroffers w/Priceline. Which of the two did you receive? 1. "We searched hundreds of options to find your hotel room, however we were not able to find a hotel that would accept your price for $60 per room, per night. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number XXX-XXX-XXX-XX. During our search we found a hotel room available for $123 per room, per night. If you are willing to accept this new price, you can get your hotel room right now. or 2. We searched hundreds of options to find your hotel room, however we were not able to find a hotel that would accept your price for $60 per room, per night. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number XXX-XXX-XXX-XX. If you are willing to raise your price by $63, you can try the same request again right now. If you received counteroffer #1, it's been my experience that Priceline won't accept anything other than $123. On the other hand, if you received counteroffer #2, then Priceline will generally accept less than their counteroffer. Once again, continued good luck!

I'd do one of two things: 1. Accept the $123 counteroffer for Sept 4-7, then try Priceline's add-a-night feature for the nights of the 8th and/or 9th. Priceline will either reply back with their price for Sept 8 & 9 or tell you they have no inventory at all. 2. Try bidding 4* Napa up to your bid limit of $150. Continued good luck with this!

This could be part of your problem .... http://www.napavalley.com/special_interest...events/sep.html September 9 -- Wine and Crafts Faire Fair, Wine Education: The Napa Wine & Crafts Faire is extremely unique in the world of craft shows. It is the largest one-day outdoor event in Napa, attracting up to 25,000 every year. Attendees can enjoy wine and 200 crafters located on First Street in Downtown Napa.

Although not identified here, HOTWIRE's vacation package displays the Napa Marriott as a 3.5 star with amenities of Fitness, Restaurant, Pool, Spa & Laundry. When you go to their hotel-only product, a hotel with identical star level and amenities as above displays for night nights of Sept 4-7 (Monday-Thursday). However, when you include the 8th or 9th in your search, the hotel doesn't come up. So I'm beginning to think either something is going on in the area that weekend or Hotwire (and possibly Priceline) haven't been given access to inventory yet.

Since your stay encompasses both midweek and weekend nights, it's possible Fri/Sat the 8-9th are keeping you from being successful with a lower priced bid for your entire stay. I would try bidding $60 for Sept 4-7. If successful, use Priceline's add-a-night feature for the nights of the 8th & 9th. Priceline will respond with the amount they want for the 8th and the 9th and you can decide whether or not to take it. Although you might pay a premium for the nights of the 8th and 9th, it still might be lower in the long run than staying 5-6 nights in a more expensive B&B. Good luck!

Napa-Sonoma (Santa Rosa-Petaluma-Rohnert Park). Per Hotwire package search Aug 14-16, the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in Santa Rosa has been downgraded 4.5 stars to 4 stars. Amenities remain the same when compared to those on the hotel list.

Hotwire Oakland-East Bay changes (Concord-Walnut Creek-Lafayette zone). Per a search of Hotwire's vacation package Aug 11-13, the following changes in the Concord-Walnut Creek-Lafayette zone: Crowne Plaza Concord - Downgraded 3.5 stars to 3 stars. Amenities are: Fitness, Restaurant, Pool, Business. Embassy Suites Walnut Creek - Still 3 stars. Amenities are: Fitness, Restaurant, Pool, Business. Note: The suite, complimentary breakfast and kitchenette amenties no longer display (despite the hotel still has these features). Although not yet reported, the Holiday Inn Concord is also 3 stars with Fitness, Restaurant, Pool & Business. It's apparant Hotwire wanted to increase opacity when they altered the amenity displays for the Embassy Suites since all three properties are now identical. The "customer favorite" status of Embassy Suites is now the only likely distinction between the three. As a matter of personal opinion, changes like this make me leery of using Hotwire since Embassy Suites is far superior and more inclusive than Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, yet they have chosen to rate them as identical. This makes for too much variance within the 3 star category to trust what you're going to get (or not get).

Thanks for the link. I wouldn't have found it otherwise! In my research on this subject (I've done more since my original post) I have found the system to work about 80% of the time. I've been comparing it with Hotwire properties we already know the identity of, hoping at some time in my travels it will come in handy to unmask one we don't know, but are suspect of. I don't use Expedia or any other 3rd party site in my research, but rather the hotel's own website. As moderator of this site, I don't blame you for your position and warning. The last thing you need is a newbie to the opaque travel world trying it out and falling flat on their face! To the contrary, I'm willing to roll the dice here and there and will be the first to admit if it ever comes back to bite me. Stay tuned!

Was $55 your first bid?

HOTWIRE has inventory in all three of their downtown zones (USW, USE and Embarcadero) ranging from $193 (4.5 stars USW - probably the Clift) all the way to $391 for the Le Meridien (4.5 stars - Embarcadero).

San Francisco is historically difficult to get accepted bids on Priceline during the months of September & October. These are two of the heaviest convention months in the City. Getting a 5 night bid accepted is probably going to take some patience. Below are the following conventions scheduled in SF during your dates. This info taken from SF Visitors & Convention Bureau website. http://www.sfcvb.org/convention/calendar.asp 09.10.06 - 09.13.06 American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting Sunday, 9/10/2006 through Wednesday, 9/13/2006 Attendance: 20000 Peak Rooms: 6000 09.10.06 - 09.15.06 International Society for Neuropathology 2006 International Congress of Neuropathology Sunday, 9/10/2006 through Friday, 9/15/2006 Attendance: 2000 Peak Rooms: 2000 09.11.06 - 09.13.06 Centerforce 2006 Centerforce Summit Conference Monday, 9/11/2006 through Wednesday, 9/13/2006 Attendance: 220 Peak Rooms: 95 09.13.06 - 09.14.06 California Minority Counsel Program 2006 Annual Conference (1.5 days meeting) Wednesday, 9/13/2006 through Thursday, 9/14/2006 Attendance: 600 Peak Rooms: 65 09.15.06 - 09.17.06 California Dental Association Annual Fall Scientific Sessions Friday, 9/15/2006 through Sunday, 9/17/2006 Attendance: 16000 Peak Rooms: 1800 What are the rack rates for SF hotels during your dates? If they are in the $300-400 range, then that will explain why you're not having luck thusfar.

Very interesting, because in my search I was 20 for 20! By that I mean I checked the web rates of hotels we actually know the identies of and in each case they matched the retail price Hotwire was displaying. Not surprising....after all, they don't want to give away all the secrets that easily!

Forgive me if this has been posted already (I did a search, but found nothing). A few days ago while attempting to differentiate between two hotels displaying identical star level and amenities offered, I stumbled across what I believe to be an asset in this situation. After selecting the property, the next page displayed both the Hotwire purchase price along with the retail price. No doubt a sales tool to give you an idea what you're saving by buying from Hotwire vs buying retail. After seeing the retail price displayed, I went to the website of the two different hotels, and lo and behold the retail price of one of them matched Hotwire's retail price to the dollar. Thinking this could very well be coincidental, I embarked on a search of a variety of hotels in a variety of different cities. So far, I've searched about 20 different hotels, and in each case, the price Hotwire displays as the retail price has matched that found on the hotel's own website. Although in the first example I was trying to differentiate between two hotels displaying identical amenities and star level ratings, this method can be put to the test when trying to identify any property on Hotwire. No doubt there are exceptions to the rule, however I believe this is yet another handy tool for identifying hotels on Hotwire.

Thanks for posting your winning bid. If case you're not already aware, Priceline will almost always accept less than their counteroffer amount. In most cases about half the counteroffer, or $51/$52 in your case. In order to "beat" the counteroffer, you would have to add a free rebid zone and place another bid. Hope that's helpful to you in your future bidding.

The Argonaut doesn't have a pool, but the Sheraton does.

December can't get here soon enough!

One night pre-cruise hotel. Bids of $50, $55, $56, $58 & $59 rejected. $60 accepted. Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel Check-In Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2006 Check-Out Date: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 Tampa Airport (TPA) & Westshore 7700 Courtney Campbell Causeway Tampa, Florida 33607 Check-In Date: Tue, Dec 5, 2006 Check-Out Date: Wed, Dec 6, 2006 Check-Out Time: 12:00 PM Your Offer Price: $60.00 Number of Rooms: 1 Number of Nights: 1 Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes & Service Fees: $15.11 Total Charges: $75.11 Bid via Savings Barn link to PRICELINE.

I discovered a couple of years ago that when you enter your starting city (in this case SFO, OAK, SJC or MRY) it does not have to be a city that has an airport. With this strategy, you have practically unlimited chances to rebid. For example, enter any of the following cities as your starting location:Burlingame San Mateo Berkeley Hayward Palo Alto ... and so on and so forth. Entering any Bay Area city will bring up SFO as a departure airport for you to select. Again, unlimited rebit opportunities rather than having to save MRY in your hip pocket as a "last resort". I just tried a ridiculously low bid of $250 to see what kind of counteroffer Priceline would come back with. The lowest counteroffer for your travel dates is $569. Given the fact flights with Hawaiian Air are selling for $554 today for your travel dates, it's pretty much pointless to bid this itinerary with Priceline.Perhaps you've already purchased your tickets, but hope this info is helpful to you in the future. Have a great trip!

San Francisco Hotwire changes, per vacation package search for 6/27-6/29. Nob Hill: Intercontinental Mark Hopkins - 4* (up from 3.5*) - No amenity changes. Union Square East: Crowne Plaza - 3* (down from 3.5*) - No amenity changes. Embarcadero: Hilton SF Financial District - 4* (up from 3.5*) - No amenity changes.

Although I've never stayed at the Toll House, I have dined there twice. As Thereuare stated above, Priceline's retail section (where you're seeing the Toll House rated as 2.5 stars) is not necessarily indicative of their opaque "name your own price" system. In my opinion, the Toll House meets the requirements of being rated 3-stars by Priceline in their opaque system. Again, only my opinion. Personally speaking, I'd feel more comfortable bidding 3 stars in Los Gatos as opposed to 2.5 stars.

I stayed at the Hotel Los Gatos earlier this year, however not via a Hotwire or Priceline purchase, but rather Travelocity"]Travelocity. Thereuare is correct in that this is a small town (although very upscale) and we don't see much Hotwire/Priceline activity. If you're seeing a 4-star w/boutique icon for Los Gatos appear on Hotwire, there's about a 99.9% chance it's the Hotel Los Gatos. Aside from a few motels, the only other hotel in Los Gatos is the Toll House, which is also nice. However, I doubt it would merit a 4 star rating from either Hotwire or Priceline. Most likely the Toll House would come in at 3 stars on Priceline and 3 or 3.5 on Hotwire. Good luck with either Hotwire or Priceline on this.

I'd agree scenario #1 over #2. In the case of #2 in this particular scenario, OAK taxes/fees were higher on weekend vs midweek whereas SFO was the opposite. I would think both markets would be somewhat similar with regard to supply & demand midweek vs weekend.

Or how about total taxes/fees of only $10.07!!