Atraveller

Won this on my first bid....so I guess I bid too high. Total cost $193.18 US. Never stayed here before, so we shall see.

I have an early AM flight out of Detroit Airport on Tuesday, February 25th, and having been bidding for weeks for a 3.5* or 4* with no luck. I started at $47 and went up to $61, as I thought that was the range of wins in the past. But it didn't work out. PRICELINE EXPRESS offered a 3.5* at $98, or a 4* at $122. HOTWIRE has been offering the same rates. I then separated the bidding and started with a 4* at $71, then $76, then $81, then $86, then $91. At that point I received a counter-offer of $122. I then bid $98, $102 and $105 with no success. But I did receive another counter-offer for $122. I now wonder if success would have been $106/$107. I then went back to 3.5*, and started with $57, then $71, then $75, then $78. I received a counter-offer for $102. Then I tried $84, then $88 receiving the same $102 counter-offer. I had one last bid available, so bid $90 and was successful. This isn't a surprise as this is 50% of the difference between $78 and $102. I did check other websites as linked on your website, but I couldn't find anything less expensive for 3.5* or 4* other than PRICELINE. I am happy with the rate and the hotel. The only (small) nagging doubt I have is whether I should have waited until the weekend to get a lower rate. But I am running out of time. On the PRICELINE website you can find winning recent hotel bids. They showed $134 for a 4* (bid today) and $60 for a 3.5* from more than a week ago. Of course, I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for all of my transactions and research. Thanks for an awesome site!

I thought it was too early to bid my dates in January last week. But I received a $7 coupon offer (good for 24 hours) from Priceline, so I decided to start a bid. I started bidding for a 4* in DTS at $68, and $73. But after consultation with my spouse, I decided we could live with 3.5*. So I started again at $63. What a surprise that I won with my first bid! We have stayed at the Admiral before, and the hotel is down by the lake, which isn't the most convenient. But the price is excellent. Total cost for the 2 rooms is $153.74 US. As always, used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link!

We decided not to proceed at this time (especially since it is no longer there). Thanks for your assistance.

I am being respectful and courteous as I can. But I don't understand. I had already "guessed" that it would have been the Hyatt, Intercontinental or Sheraton by carfully studying your Hotwire hotel list and comparing amenities item by item. Somehow I thought you would have more insight. Why don't you refer people to the Hotwire Hotel list when they ask for help identifying a series of amenities? It would save you time and energy. And if people post a win, ask them to post the amenities, so that you can update your list if nessary? Respectfully yours,

Amenities: Fitness Centre, restaurant, Business centre, High-speed internet, accessible for the deaf, accessible path of travel, inroom accessibility, wheelchair accessible, accessible bathroom, handicapped parking, and roll-in shower. Please identify as best you can. Thanks.

I understand the principle you are making. But the CAN $ is virtually par with the US $. So the my second paragraph should read the "One is priced at $114 and and the other at $117". On closer examination (after the currency change)the second rate does not have wheelchair accessible and roll-in shower. I suppose that means it is a different hotel. In your experience, can you suggest which hotel is being quoted? Thanks as always.

I am going to Toronto, ON on Saturday, January 19th for one night. My wife wants to stay at a 4 * in Downtown West. There are two properties identified both with identical amenities, namely Fitness Centre, restaurant, Business centre, High-speed internet, accessible for the deaf, accessible path of travel, inroom accessibility, wheelchair accessible, accessible bathroom, handicapped parking, and roll-in shower. One is priced at $115.13 and the other at $117.15. Do you think they are the same hotel? Could it be the Hyatt Regency on King? The Intercontinental is accessible to the blind also, according to your descriptions in the Hotwire Hotel list. Rest assured, I will be using the Better Bidding PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links if we book. Thanks.

I started at $75, and was counter-offered at $94. I went up to $78 and received the same counter-offer. I tried $80, again with the same counter-offer. I was successful at $83 US, total $102.14 US. I would have been happier with a hotel closer to the downtown core, but at this price, I am very pleased. I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link, of course.

Yesterday I bid for a 4* in either Toronto - Downtown South or Downtown North. I started at $70 and went up to $84 with no success and no counteroffers. Today I decided to try for a 3* in Downtown South at $65, and received a counteroffer at $81. I then added Toronto East and bid $70 and received the 3.5* Novotel Toronto Centre. Total cost $87.14 US. I am pleased with this hotel, as it is in a great location for our activity on Saturday. Of course I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link, as well as BiddingHelper.com and the Priceline Maps. Everything you have is invaluable for us consumers looking for the best possible deal. Keep up the good work!

I have been bidding for the past couple of weeks for two nights at a 4* in Downtown South with no success. (I know it is early.) I have been going up to $84. Tonight I went up to $85 and included Downtown North and won the Sutton Place. Total cost for two nights is $202.08 US. Sutton Place's lowest rate is $126 Cdn on their website. I used the new BiddingHelper.com tool and saw that HOTWIRE was offering a $96 Cdn rate in Downtown East and a $95 Cdn rate in Downtown West. Hotels.com rates were well over $100 per night. So I think this is a very useful tool. You should be aware that Sutton Place's days are numbered. Currently this hotel is part apartment, part hotel. They have announced they are converting to condos. Conversion should begin before the end of the year. So their days as a hotel on PRICELINE are numbered. This may also mean they will become more aggressive for bids in Downtown North as they end their days as a hotel. I have stayed here before. The hotel is well-located and the rooms are fine, but the parking charges are high (but you are "uptown"). And just to confirm, I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link. As always thanks for your great site.

I thought I used to able to see a Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins for Toronto under the old version of Better Bidding. But when I enter Ontario in the new format, I get an error code. Is the calendar of wins for Toronto no longer available? Thanks!

My bid was for $77 plus the $5, i.e. $82

I had taken a flyer at this date last month when I received an offer from Priceline with a $5 per night coupon. Alas no luck (and I had bid higher), but it was way in advance. I had been monitoring bids with the Priceline feature for bids under $85 for awhile, as I have known that I needed to be in Toronto on this date. Yesterday I received another Priceline offer with the $5 coupon. I started with $75 with a 3.5*, was rejected and rebid $77 and was successful with the Westin Harbour Castle. The location is fine and so is the hotel, as I have stayed there before. Total cost was $95.92 US (this is higher than a normal $77 bid because of the bonus money which still attracts taxes and fees, I believe) Of course I used the BB PRICELINE link.

I am looking for a hotel in Downtown Toronto for one night, Tuesday, November 22, 2011. I tried Hotwire and it quoted me a price of $79 US ($97.17 with taxes and service fees) with the following amenities: Fitness, Restaurant, Business Centre, High speed internet and Spa Which hotel is this, so you think? Reading in the Hotwire tips I went to Expedia which has similar hotel ratings to Hotwire. The following hotels were 4* east of Bay St (i.e. Downtown East): Westin Harbour Castle, King Edward, Cosmopolitan, and Pantages. The Westin has a pool. Would Hotwire automatically disclose that? The other three hotels only seem to have the listed amenities, but neither the Cosmopolitan nor Pantages are on your Hotwire list in Downtown East. Do you think the $79 hotel is the King Edward? I received a $5 bonus offer for hotels from Priceline today. I tried 3.5* and above from $75 to $82 (add the $5 bonus)without success, and no counteroffers. That's when I decide to try Hotwire. I have known about this trip for awhile, so I have been tracking successful 4* bids on weekdays in Downtown South. Most of them are for $85, but there was one at $78, $80, $81 and $82. I know I am bidding way in advance, but I suspect that $79 ($97.17 all in) may be a pretty good deal. Or do you think I should wait until early November? As always, I used the better bidding links for both Priceline and Hotwire biddding. Many thanks for your advice!

I started at $72 for 3.5* in Downtown South and received a counteroffer for $85, rebid at $75 and again received $85 counteroffer, and then bid $78 and won at the Renaissance for a total cost of $96.33 US. Very pleased with the result, as it is in the area I wanted to be in. Surprised to get the Renaissance, as the Blue Jays are playing that afternoon in the Dome, so certain to get a room with a few of the train tracks!

How often should one check Hotwire car rental rates? Should I check each time I submit a new Priceline bid? I have been bidding for a car rental in HNL in October, with no success yet, but I do have lots of time. But I sense that the few times I have checked Hotwire for my dates (since I began my Priceline bidding), the rates on Hotwire haven't changed. And yet on this Board I see others obtain great deals through Hotwire. Are the Hotwire rates an indication of how high I may have to go for a successful Priceline bid, keeping in mind Pricelines fees are higher? Or is there no relationship between wins on Priceline and offers on Hotwire? Thanks for your advice.

I have been bidding on and off for the past few months for a 4* hotel at the airport to catch an early AM flight. I was hoping for the Sheraton Gateway, but it wasn't that important. I realize I was bidding way in advance, but I wanted to see how long it would take. I signed up for the tracking under $75 and saw lots of successful 4* bids at the airport over the past two months, most of them for $70, and several at $65. (There is no mention of the winning hotel) Only a few were for $67 or $68. The lowest successful bid was one for $64. In the past week I started to receive a counter offer of $81. Then a couple of days ago, I received a counteroffer of $80. Stubbornly (up until today) I bid $65, then $68, then $70. The past couple of sessions I added $72. Then today I added $75, and was successful at the Westin. I probably shouldn't have gone up to $75 already, as I was anticipating a $65 or $70 win. But the Westin is a great hotel and it is only for one night. Total cost for the one night is $92.92 US. I used the PRICELINE link at the top and appreciate all the support this website provides.

My wife and I have tickets for the Shaw Festival on the Sunday PM and I have been bidding for a 3 * hotel since June 14. From my research, the only 3 * hotels were the White Oaks Conference Centre (which isn't in Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) at all - but by the QEW) and the Shaw Club Hotel (right across from the Festival Theatre). Curiously, NOTL isn't in the same bidding area as Niagara Falls or St. Catherines. It has its' own bidding area with Lincoln and Grimsby. I know I could get a cheaper 3* in Niagara Falls, but I didn't want to drive that far after the theatre, as we need an early start on Monday AM. I started at $67 and went as high as $86. I received counteroffers at $75, $76, $78, $80, $83 and $86. Curiously I didn't always get a counteroffer. It seemed to matter if I started the bid all over again, rather than do a rebid directly from their rejected offer screen. Surprisingly the first counteroffer would be for $20 more, but any subsequent counteroffers were for $25 more. I was perplexed why $86 never was accepted, given I went more than half way. Last Saturday, I went in to bid again, and I couldn't even find the White Oaks or the Shaw Club on the PRICELINE "regular" hotel listing. So now I was worried both hotels had withdrawn from PRICELINE. I couldn't find any wins in NOTL on the Better Bidding website. "Plan B" was always to get a Bed and Breakfast in NOTL. When I finally did the research on what was available, and what my wife would accept, I realized I would have to pay $120 CAN (plus tax) to get the minimum level of acceptable accommodation. So today I upped the ante and bid all the way to $91 and was accepted! Total cost $110.43 US. They also gave me the opportunity to extend my stay at the same rate. So I tried to extend for the Saturday night. But they didn't accept it, which is fine. The lowest rate on the website for the White Oaks was $139 CAN, plus tax and for the Shaw Club $275 CAN, plus tax. However with less that a month to my arrival, the minimum rate for the White Oaks jumped to $239 CAN, plus tax. There are a few reviews for the Shaw Club on PRICELINE, most of which comment on (some of) the rooms being small (and only a double). Perhaps I can get lucky and get an upgrade to a King, but I can live with a double for one night at this price. As always, I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link. I am deeply grateful for all of the knowledge I have gained from this website, but equally grateful to all of the people who contribute their successful (and unsuccessful) bids.

I have read quite a number of the postings on this Board, but I haven't seen the answer to this question. Hotels put in an array of prices for their rooms. But how do they indicate a time frame? Do they input an array for every date of the month/year? That sounds like an awful lot of work. Or do they only submit an array for the dates they have rooms available? Or is everything done by modelling programs nowadays? Most people seem to bid within a month of arrival. However occasionally you will see successful bids three months, six months or nine months in the future. Sometimes those bids will be of similar amounts to current successful bids. Some hotels only seem to accept bids at least a month away. However you also read of bids unsuccessful for stays more than a month away also. Then you caution them they are bidding too early. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

I tried before Christmas for a 3* or 3.5* in Downtown South (I don't believe that a 3.5* has shown up in DTS for a long time since the Hyatt Regency "graduated" to a 4*), so I felt safe that I would get a 4*. 3* only has 2 choices, Downtown South and Toronto East. 3.5* has 7 additional choices to Downtown South. I started with $56 and $59 for a 3*. Then I started at $62 for a 3.5* and went up to $71, with no success nor counteroffers. A couple of days later, I tried again $61 and then $64 for a 3*, no success, but I got a counteroffer at $76. So I was getting close. I then tried $66 for a 3.5*, and went up to $75, with no success and no counteroffers. Today, I tried $66 and received a counteroffer of $86. Raising my bid slightly, I was successful with $69 on the Radisson Plaza Hotel Admiral Waterfront. I knew this was one of the eligible hotels, but it is slightly out of the way. It's on Queen's Quay, right on the waterfront, and it's a fair hike to the action on Queen/King St. Or the Spadina street car is right there if it is too cold. But the price is right!! I was bidding for two rooms for one night, so the total is $165.25 US. Cheapest rate on the Radisson's website is $149 CAN per room per night. As always I used Better Bidding PRICELINE link, and am deeply appreciative of your service. Best wishes to all of the moderators for 2011!

I started bidding yesterday at $66 for three star and above in either of Downtown South or North, and went up to $75. No success. Then this afternoon I started at $69 and was successful at $77 with the Holiday Inn Midtown (opposite the Bata Shoe Museum and just down the street from the Royal Ontario Museum). Regular room rates with advance purchase are $137. The only drawback is the cost of parking ($22 per 24 hours). There is a Green P lot behind the hotel, but it is small. It only charges $16 per 24 hours. I'm happy with the deal and the location is OK. Thanks Better Bidding for a great service!

This is my first time posting to this Board and I appreciated some of the finer technical details about Priceline buried in this Board for a more educated use of Priceline. I started yesterday with a 4* in Downtown South. I went from $63 all the way to $78 with no success. There wasn't any history of successful bids in late November/early December yet. So this AM I went to a 3