hohogap

I've had good luck bidding early for dates that may be busy for rental cars. Last year I won a $45/day SUV out of Denver on Priceline for 5 days bidding in October 2011 for a trip over Spring Break in late February 2012. The best online retail deal never got below $100/day for the same rental. If you have time, I suggest getting some bids in now to see what you might snag.

Be sure to check the Hotwire hotels that may be classified as a 4* in your zone on the BB web site. My experience is that HW is much more "generous" in their 4* ratings than Priceline and I've been a bit disappointed over the years on some of my HW wins (which is why I generally am more comfortable using PL). Good luck!

Did you book through Priceline or Hotwire?

Not sure if it is domestic for the 2 hour connection promo, but flights to San Juan on "name your own price" that depart during any day are scheduled by PL to arrive before 12:30 AM the following day.

What was the price offered by HOTWIRE?

If you're willing to go anytime during the day, Priceline's "name your own price" is an option. With taxes and fees your price target may not be achievable. How long are you planning on staying? US Airways appears to have the lowest direct booking rate at $260, departing 7/14 returning 7/17. Good luck and be sure to place any Priceline bids through the links at the top of the BB Board!

Decided to skip the uncertainty of the HW hotel and bid over the last 2 weeks on Priceline for 4* hotels in the Soho-Mayfair area (which I realize to be the priciest area). Got up to $155/night with no bites, so used the Support tab on the BB site to access the Hilton web site and booked the Hilton Green Park with points and miles. 25,000 points and 53 pounds/nights works out best for this solo trip as I have the HHonors points to spare. As always, all searches, bids and wins are booked through the BB Board. Thanks again for your help on this quick pre-Olympic jaunt.

Thanks. That would be a great deal. I'll definitely let you you know what I select and, as always, all searches, bids and wins are done through the BB Board links!

Don't see the following list of amenities on the BB site for HW hotels listed so far. Smoke Free Rooms Fitness Center Restaurant(s) Business Center Laundry Facilities (self-service) High-Speed Internet Access Accessible path of travel Accessible bathroom Roll-in shower Any help in identifying this property is greatly appreciated.

The moderators will be able to help you with your bidding strategy, but I wanted to let you know that PL ONLY guarantees bedding for 2 persons. That can be one or two beds, but no guarantee on either when booking. You can try and request 2 beds directly with the hotel after booking, but it is up to the whim of the hotel and best not to plan on getting 2 beds. Hotwire, on the other hand, will allow booking for 3 people and may be an option. My bookings in AMS through PL over the years have always been with my wife, or solo, so I didn't worry about the bedding. Good luck, and thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the BB Board for your searches, bidding and wins for your trips!

Car rental prices jump around and have been crazy high at different times. Trying to get a 1 day rental at Chicago O'Hare and my National Exec VIP wanted over $100/day for a mid-size! Thought I'd try a PL bid (sorry I listed this in the HW section) and went for $35 for the 1 day. Response was that $55 had a "fair" chance to succeed so please raise the bid, which I did not. Won the $35/day at Hertz, great deal! Here's the scoop and, as always, all bids, searches AND WINS are completed through the BB Board! Your Offer Price: $35.00 (per day) Total Rental Days: 1 SubTotal: $35.00 Taxes and Fees: $27.01 Total Rental Car Charges: $62.01 You saved 53%!*

Your strategy is the best way to go about it, in my experience. PL especially can be difficult to confirm precise bedding, depending on the hotel and occupancy levels of course. I'd be interested to see if anyone else has had any better strategy than trying to call the hotel directly and being persistent. PL doesn't guarantee bedding options (just a bedding for 2 persons) so persistence and congenialty have always been my watch words when trying to confirm specific bedding options.

Working for me when I use the BB Board's PRICELINE link at the top right of the page.

That's great to hear. We've probably stayed at a 20 different hotels over the years from the Quarter to CBD to Convention & Arts district but never have stayed at this hotel. I'm glad it's so close to Canal, it makes walking back to the hotel that much easier! Thanks again for all of your help on the site.

I'm looking forward to it and really appreciate all of the assistance I receive from the site.

Started bidding at $50/night, received a counter-offer of $59/night. Rebid using free zone at $51/night and my bid was accepted. Lowest online direct booking rate was $139/night, so an excellent win for this property. Had a backup at the Hilton Airport at $141/night, so very good savings. Details of win are as follows: Marriott Atlanta Airport Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $51.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $51.00 Taxes & Fees: $15.38 Total Charged to Card: $66.38 And, as always, all searches, bids and wins are made through the BB Board web site!

I've been checking out New Orleans hotels for a bit to try and find a great deal to celebrate my wife's birthday this August. I have not stayed at this hotel before and would appreciate any comments on it. Looks fine and dandy, lowest price I could confirm online was $169.00/night so a savings of $109/night is right up my alley! Total charges are as follows: Offer Price: per room, per night $60.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 3 Room Subtotal: $180.00 Taxes & Fees: $37.05 Total Charged to Card: $217.05 And, as always, all bids, searches and wins are made through the BB Board PRICELINE links!

Trying to identify this HW 4* hotel Downtown New Orleans. I've viewed the HW hotel lists and ammenities, but the "free" internet ammenity throws me off. Any suggestions? Here's the listed ammenities on the HW web site. Free Internet Fitness Center Pool(s) Restaurant(s) Business Center High-Speed Internet Access AND, as always, all searches, bids and wins are done through the BB web site links! Thanks for any help on this one.

We've stayed at this hotel a couple of times through PL and were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed it so much, so I hope for the best for your trip (we were last there a couple years ago). Bus stops right on the corner and provides good access, although it's a few blocks to the train/tube connection. Nice local pub nearby, so I hope you enjoy your trip, you cannot beat that price!

Couldn't confirm the middle 3 days of the trip to Sonoma (April 8-10) on HW or PL at a hotel we were shooting for, so hooked up directly with Hilton (as always, using the BB link on the Support Page) and booked the Hilton Sonoma County, Round Barn Road, for $101/night. Wanted to close this thread with that information, after we got April 7th at the Flamingo. Given free breakfast and free in-room Wi-Fi at the Hilton as a GOLD HH member, a fair price considering it is exactly where we wanted to stay.

What was the per night winning bid?

I just tried accessing the www.lastminutetravel.com web site on IE from my office computer and it works fine, although the LMT web site appears to be going almost retail in its listings. I'm monitoring hotel stays in Santa Rosa, CA for the April 7-10th timeframe, and when I clicked through today on LMT it had nearly all retail properties, just a couple listings that were opaque where you could "look behind the curtain." Wish I could help more, but since my office computer often has difficulties accessing certain travel web sites, I can tell you it worked fine for me today.

Decided to hit a SFO airport hotel for the last night of our 5-day trip to Napa/Sonoma instead of taking a risk of driving back through the city in the morning. Very nice 4* hotel for the price. Had a backup booked through Hilton at a DoubleTree that was less quality of a hotel and $45 more per night! With taxes and PL fees, a total winning bid of $115.25. And, as always, all of my searches, bids AND WINS are made through the BB site!

Will do and I'll be sure to update our selection of hotels for the rest of the trip. Thanks!

Nice price for this hotel for a Saturday in early April. We are staying in the area for 3 more days and had hoped to get the Hilton Santa Rosa Round Tree Barn hotel (retail price only $111). Will keep looking and hope to track down a bit better hotel for our liking closer to our travel dates. As always, ALL searches and bids are completed through the BB Board. Thanks!