Thanks for the welcome. I am very familiar with travel insurance and its limitations; so again, purchasing far in advance is not considered a problem for us. I did do some preliminary bidding today USING YOUR LINK TO PRICELINE and will continue tomorrow. We are arriving in Boston on Oct 20 and will check out on the 23rd (3 nites). Looking for a 4 star in either the Financial District or the Waterfront. I successively added in two other districts with no 4 star hotels. I ended up with a "no success" last bid of $100. I will try again tomorrow and test the waters once more. Budget is at $150 per nite. I have refundable reservations held as a backup, but I know we can do better. Any suggestions would be appreciated.