carpediem888

Was diverted to Dallas due to Hurricane Harvey and used the PRICELINE EXPRESS feature to book a room immediately. While a seemingly high-quality hotel, this property has seen better days. It is rated a 3.5 star but it really is not since it had tatty carpets, a malfunctioning A/C in the room, blistered sheetrock above my shower, and a non-functioning wall unit hair dryer (discovered after my morning shower). I called down to the front desk and they sent someone up with a new hair dryer in a box. So, they were responsive. I informed the front desk upon checkout 8 hours after I checked in of all of these flaws - and the clerk wrote it all down to his credit. Still, Priceline could vet this property more rigorously. I had to stay a second day in Dallas delayed by weather - but I used Priceline for a different hotel: I did NOT want to stay here again. :) Offer Price:$72.94/night Number of rooms:1 Room Number of nights:1 Night Room Subtotal:$72.94 Taxes & Fees:$16.30 Total Charged:$89.24 Amenities listed on PRICELINE EXPRESS: Airport Shuttle (Free) Business Center Free Internet In Room Free parking Indoor Pool Non-smoking Rooms Pets Allowed Restaurant Swimming Pool

After bidding unsuccessfully for weeks in the inner zones (Pearl, PSU, Lloyd Center), I expanded to Beaverton and Lake Oswego-Tigard. Still unsuccessful. Today, I added the Hillsboro zone and got this far-flung property near Hillsboro Airport. Who knew there was another airport out there? :) The Portland stop is my last on an Oregon road trip so this hotel will be fine as I turn inland from the coast. And, Portland isn't that big when compared to my own sprawling city. Bidding history: 3 star Hillsboro $99 rejected Countered by Priceline at $129 - I rejected this Add: Beaverton $109: failed Add: Lake Oswego-Tigard and bid $114 - accepted Offer Price:$114.00/night Number of rooms:1 Room Number of nights:2 Nights Room Subtotal:$228.00 Taxes & Fees:$48.14

Oops. Even a veteran Better Bidding user can get caught up in the moment and post the wrong set of amenities. Ha ha! The deal is still available - and here is what shows BEFORE buying. (I realize that this is what will help future users.) Pets Allowed Free Parking Business Center Restaurant Free Internet Free Breakfast Indoor or Outdoor Pool Fitness Center No Smoking Rooms/Facilities

Thought I had narrowed it down to the La Quinta Inn & Suites given its list of amenities and guest rating - but was surprised at the reveal that it was this hotel. On a road trip, so I'm not expecting Eugene to be a world-class hotel city so keeping an open mind. Definitely booked through Better Bidding website and used the PRICELINE EXPRESS 5% BB discount - thanks for this! Amenities list: Business Center Complimentary breakfast Complimentary continental breakfast Fitness Center Free High Speed Internet Free Internet Free parking Indoor Pool Non-smoking Rooms Pets Allowed Pool Restaurant Swimming Pool

I have been bidding for weeks - and have been targeting the Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena (which is now in the LA Central) set of zones. I had drawn a bead on Glendale with an aim to get the Hilton Glendale but my bids between $83-$85 kept getting countered at $105. No thanks to that. Burbank had two 4-star hotels: this one and the Amarano from past wins - and I did not want the Amarano with its $35+/night parking fee. Won the Burbank Airport Marriott today and happy since I've stayed there twice before. Nicely kept property, good service, and convenient to exploring the Valley and Pasadena. I'm even okay with their $21/night parking fee. Many thanks for this great website! Offer price:$85.00/night Number of rooms:1 room Number of nights:3 nights Room subtotal:$255.00 Taxes & fees:$48.54 Total charged today:$303.54 Listed Amenities from Win Page: Free Internet (in Public Area) Pet Friendly Outdoor Pool Shuttle Non-Smoking Gym Restaurant Handicap Accessible Business Center

Last minute decision to head to the Hill Country for some hiking this weekend. Opted to go the Priceline Express route. Trip Advisor and Priceline reviews are in the comfortable 8+ range so we'll see how it turns out. Amenities copied below: Free Breakfast Free Internet (in Room) Free Parking Indoor Pool Non-Smoking Gym Handicap Accessible Business Center

Just wanted to add my two cents: a big "thank you" to AinA for posting a detailed history of her bidding process. Very useful! And, I want to also send a "thank you" to Thereuare for running a great website!

PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal: Used the Better Bidding link to PRICELINE - and landed this well-regarded property (4.5 rating on Trip Advisor) for an overnight in Knoxville. Many thanks for this great website! Price per night = $65. Taxes/fees = $17.58 Total = $82.58 Free Breakfast Free Internet (in Room) Free Parking Outdoor Pool Spa Non-Smoking Gym Business Center

Used the Better Bidding link to HOTWIRE - and used the $15 promo coupon (expired tonight). Very glad to have scored this hotel since it has really high ratings on Trip Advisor for a vacation in nature. Free parking Free breakfast Free Internet Pet friendly Fitness center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business center Self-service laundry Internet access Accessibility Accessible for visually impaired Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Accessible parking Roll-in shower

Oops, my apology for forgetting to include the mentioned amenties by Priceline on the screen before purchase. - Pets allowed - Free parking - Free internet - Free breakfast

Having made nearly 60 bids over the last month (largely 3.5 and 3-stars in this area and the South Bay: I'm not too picky), I finally threw in the towel and booked a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal. I was *this* close to winning my bid earlier this evening when they countered my $81 bid at $103. No thanks. Plus, I was already living on the edge with my visit just 3 days away. Yes, I had a fully cancelable reservation booked but still wanted to put this to bed. ;) I knew this hotel would be the one when I saw the listing since I had won it before. It is a decent place to hang one's hat for an extended weekend visit to a friend: nothing fancy. The free breakfast is pretty much a granola bar and a carton of milk but, luckily, I don't care since I'm going out for breakfast. Free parking is always a good thing. Daily housekeeping is not offered but I guess I get to pocket my budgeted tip money. Room Price: $74/night # of nights: 4 Subtotal: $296.00 Taxes and fees: $53.64 Total: $349.64

After a few weeks of unsuccessful Name Your Own Price bidding, I went with a PRICELINE EXPRESS deal since it was pretty compelling. Did plenty of research on the 3-star hotels that were candidates for this deal - I'm optimistic that this hotel will be a good base for the visit. I used the PRICELINE link from this great website to help support Better Bidding, too. Room price: $66.00/night Number of rooms: 1 room Number of nights: 3 nights Room subtotal: $198.00 Taxes & fees: $45.09 Total charged: $243.09 Amenities: Free Internet (in Room) Free Parking Pet Friendly Pool Shuttle Non-Smoking Gym Handicap Accessible Business Center

I've been bidding unsuccessfully for about 4 weeks for a family visit. Used the rebid strategy that Better Bidding provided (a great technique, by the way). Started with 3.5 stars and moved down to 3 star levels after exhausting some zones. Started in the $80s range until about two weeks ago then moved up to the $90s. In the last 2 weeks, I've been consistently offered a counteroffer to up my bid to $116 but I always rejected it. After seeing the 7% off coupon today, I put in a slightly higher bid since the 7% would roll it back. Success on the first try - probably could have shaved a few dollars off but I'm okay. Never stayed at the Sheraton but like Bellevue a lot.

After weeks of bidding (usually once a day, until Priceline gave me 2-hour rebid options) on PRICELINE, I finally threw in the towel and went with this Hotwire deal a few minutes ago. The irony is that I matched the star level and area but Priceline wouldn't bite at my $86 bid (matching Hotwire's price). This may be proof that each of them operate independently of each other. Definitely used the Better Bidding HOTWIRE link - support these guys! Details on bid: Rate per night $86.00 Nights 3 Rooms ( 2 adults ) 1 Subtotal $258.00 Tax recovery charges + fees $70.32 Hotwire total $328.32 Amenities (copied from My Trips section): Free parking Indoor pool(s) Fitness center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business center Internet access

After many weeks of bidding on Priceline and watching Hotwire, I figured that this was a fair deal at this juncture. I did some research after reading the Better Bidding hotel lists and figured that this would be the hidden hotel. Glad to have snagged it since they seem to have finished a renovation per their reviews on Trip Advisor. (I like to do a LOT of research. Ha ha!) As always, this is a great website! Details on bid: Rate per night $63.00 Nights 2 Rooms ( 2 adults ) 1 Subtotal $126.00 Tax recovery charges + fees $27.93 Hotwire total $153.93 Amenties (copied from confirmation page): Free parking Free breakfast Free Internet Pet friendly Indoor pool(s) Airport shuttle Smoke-free rooms Fitness center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business center Self-service laundry Internet access Accessibility Accessible for hearing impaired Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Accessible bathroom Accessible parking Roll-in shower

I had been bidding unsuccessfully in the Burbank area (not the Pasadena-Glendale zone) for the last few days. Here's a recap for those interested: November 21 Bid: $59 failed 3.5 stars November 23 Bid: $55 failed 3.5 stars November 24 Bid: $59 failed 3 stars (lowered to try to win Holiday Inn Burbank Media Center with its free parking) November 25 Bid: $61 failed 3 stars November 27 Bid: $59 failed 3 stars November 28 Bid: $64 failed 3 stars November 29 Bid: $66 failed 3 stars - offered a re-bid if I added $12 to make it a $78 bid. Rejected that bid. Added "Mission Hills - Sylmar" zone since it only had 2 stars and below and increased bid to $69, which was accepted. I've stayed at the LA Marriott Burbank Airport hotel before via a Better Bidding win and it is a very nice property. The onsite parking fee is the deterrent but I'll live. Offer Price: avg. per room, per night US$ 69.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: US$ 276.00 Taxes & Fees: US$ 48.04 Total Charged to Card: US$ 324.04

Oops. Sorry about not including the amenities showing at time of the Express Deal - amenity icons showing: Free breakfast Free internet Free parking Pets allowed

This was a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal through Priceline after failing on a number of NYOP bids in the same area (details at bottom). Price: $64.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 4 Room Subtotal: $256.00 Taxes & Fees: $38.20 Total Charged to Card: $294.20 Before going through with it, I had spent about 30 minutes looking over all of the possible options of the 2-star properties since there is another one that I did NOT want to get. Luckily, its guest rating was below a "7" and the Priceline listing said that this property would be "7 or better". Whew. *** Failed bids in Burbank Glendale zone was as follows - always at 3.5 star zone (since I was looking for Burbank Airport Marriott): 01.22 $69 Received counteroffer to raise bid to $81. Refused it. 01.23 $69 Received counteroffer to raise bid to $90. Refused it. 01.24 $67 Received counteroffer to raise bid to $81. Refused it. 01.25 $68 Received counteroffer to raise bid to $89. Refused it - and went with lower star Express Deal.

Used the PRICELINE link to try a NYOP (Name Your Own Price) bid on a rental car. End up failing at $12/day. But, the site immediately offered me a regular fully cancelable reservation with Avis. It was comparable to the NYOP bids so I booked it. Ran the search one day later and it turned up a new "regular" booking with Budget - and was about 33% cheaper. So, I booked this one then canceled the original "regular" Avis reservation. Weekly rate: $69.45 Taxes/fees: $26.48 Total for the week: $95.93 for the full week (comes out to $13.70 each day including taxes) Lesson: Sometimes, Priceline will offer the best deal even when not going through NYOP. :)

Tried bidding on PRICELINE (through the Better Bidding link, of course!) but failed. Looked over PRICELINE EXPRESS Deals and, after some study, it seemed that this property was offered at $68. Compared on HOTWIRE and figured that I'd roll the dice to save $14 a night. Best Western Seven Seas Midscale 411 Hotel Circle South, San Diego, CA, 92108 Check-in Sat, Oct 5, 2013 3:00 PM Check-out Mon, Oct 7, 2013 12:00 PM Amenities See description Free Parking Airport Shuttle Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Golf Nearby Accessible path of travel In-room accessibility Wheelchair accessible Accessible bathroom Handicapped parking Roll-in shower Rate per night: $54.00 Nights: 2 Rooms: 1 Tax recovery charges & fees: $24.55 Subtotal: $132.55 Trip total: $132.55

Tried PRICELINE bids first at $10 and $11 per day, which failed. With taxes, it got very close to this HOTWIRE deal price. Since my two Priceline bids failed, I just went with the "no hassle" of HOTWIRE so I could focus on hotel searches. :) Los Angeles Intl., LAX Los Angeles, California 5440 West Century Boulevard Pick up details Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 1:00PM Drop off details Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 2:30PM Miles Includes unlimited mileage Cargo 1 large, 2 small suitcases Features Automatic Transmission, Power Steering, Air Conditioning, Air Bags, AM/FM Stereo Seating 2 adults, 2 children Models Nissan Versa or similar† Car daily rate - Hotwire hot Rate: $13.95 Rental days: 7 Taxes and fees: $41.08 Trip total: $138.73

Secured this on second bid today: first bid was at $60 for 3.5 star hotel in San Pedro zone (failed). Added Long Beach zone and reduced bid to $59 for 3.5 star hotel and got it within seconds. Overnight parking at this property is $18 while the San Pedro hotels offer free parking. I'll go on a hunt for cheaper parking in the area. :) Offer Price: $59 avg. per room, per night Rooms: 1 Nights: 2 Room Subtotal: $118.00 Taxes & Fees: $25.74 Total Charged to Card: $143.74 Definitely used the Better Bidding PRICELINE links for bids! Excellent site!

Since we're encouraged to post even failed bids, here's a pile of data for my fellow data junkies. :) The 5% off is thanks to the Priceline SUMMER coupon. Definitely used the PRICELINE links via Better Bidding (an excellent site)! I ended up throwing in the towel and used a Marriott free night certificate for my one-night stay in the Tukwila area. Very happy with this option since they are only 10 minutes from Sea-Tac, have an airport shuttle, and are a short walking distance to a big mall. Bid Date Bid 5% Off Stars Total Zone(s) 07.18.2013 $56.00 $53.20 3.5 $69.81 Pike Place $61.00 $57.95 3 74.64 Pike Place $70.00 $66.50 4 $84.74 PP, Space $69.00 $65.55 3.5 $83.61 PP, Space $71.00 $67.45 3.5 $85.85 PP, Space, Lake $76.00 $72.20 3.5 $91.42 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle 07.23.2013 $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.43 Pike Place $75.00 $71.25 4 $90.32 PP, Space $68.00 $64.60 3.5 $82.51 PP, Space $70.00 $66.50 3.5 $84.74 PP, Space, Lake $72.00 $68.40 3.5 $86.97 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle $66.00 $62.70 3 $80.28 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle, Des Moines 07.24.2013 $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.37 Pike Place $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.37 PP, Space $68.00 $64.60 3.5 $82.45 PP, Space $70.00 $66.50 3.5 $84.69 PP, Space, Lake $71.00 $67.45 3.5 $85.80 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle $74.00 $70.30 3.5 $89.14 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle, Des Moines $68.00 $64.60 3 $82.45 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle, Des Moines 07.26.2013 $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.33 Pike Place $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.33 PP, Space $76.00 $72.20 4 $91.33 PP, Space, Lake $70.00 $66.50 3.5 $84.65 PP, Space, Lake $71.00 $67.45 3.5 $85.76 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle $75.00 $71.25 3.5 $90.21 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle, Des Moines $69.00 $65.55 3 $83.53 PP, Space, Lake, Newcastle, Des Moines 07.27.2013 $76.00 $72.20 3.5 $91.31 Pike Place $78.00 $74.10 3.5 $93.54 PP, Space $81.00 $76.95 3.5 $96.87 PP, Space, Lake $69.00 $65.55 3 $83.51 PP, Space, Lake $49.00 $46.55 3 $61.26 PP, Space, Lake, SEA $53.00 $50.35 3 $65.70 PP, Space, Lake, SEA, Newcastle $57.00 $54.15 3 $70.16 PP, Space, Lake, SEA, Newcastle, Des Moines 07.28.2013 $76.00 $72.20 3.5 $91.29 Pike Place $78.00 $74.10 3.5 $93.54 PP, Space $81.00 $76.95 3.5 $96.87 PP, Space, Lake $71.00 $67.45 3 $85.74 PP, Space, Lake $59.00 $56.05 3 $72.38 PP, Space, Lake, SEA $63.00 $59.85 3 $76.83 PP, Space, Lake, SEA, Newcastle $67.00 $63.65 3 $81.29 PP, Space, Lake, SEA, Newcastle, Des Moines

Ditto on being surprised on the high prices in the Seattle area. I'll start my own thread once I finish the bidding for the early part of August. But, so far, I've not been able to win despite adding re-bid zones and star levels. I've been bidding every day since last week. I've even gone so far as to check the local chamber of commerce sites for conventions as well as the Port of Seattle for cruise sailings. Still cannot explain it except that its summer.

Decided on a lark to check out some sights in Fort Worth but didn't like any of the hotel areas in Fort Worth. Opted to stay in the "mid-cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. Lifelong Texan but never visited the Metroplex. Going to check out the Amon Carter museum, Fort Worth water gardens, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing - all in Fort Worth. Room cost = $60. With all taxes and fees: $73.35 Amenities listed: Free Parking Free Breakfast Fitness Center Pool(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access Used the Better Bidding HOTWIRE link - this is an excellent site!