tikinyg

MTW: Bid $110.00 rejected Added UES: Bid $115.00 rejected Added UWS: Bid $120.00 accepted Your Bid $120.00 Length of stay: 2 nights Check-in: 8/19/05 Check-out: 8/21/05 Taxes/Fees: $48.71 Total Price: $288.71 FYI: Lowest Price for any class of hotel w/ a private bath in NYC on these dates using Hotels.com and other sites was over $150.00 per night. Price for a 4* hotel was well over $200.00/night. FYI: Lowest Price on Hilton.com for these nights was $249.00/night. Once again, this site saved me a significant amount of money. Thanks!

After trying for many, many weeks at $25, upped bid to $26 and was accepted. Bid $26 for an SUV at OGG and was rejected. Bids placed 8/15/05 Pickup 9/21 Dropoff 9/25 Bid: $26 Total Price: $141.44 Alamo standard convertible Had cancellable reservation with Alamo for $255 so saved over $100.00

Shernuf, Unfortunately I did not have any brilliant bidding strategy. I mostly trugged on with dogged persistence. I started bidding what way to soon hoping to catch an early discount. I then bid every week when the 7-day period expired. I made the cheapest, cancellable backup reservations I could (Alamo for me) so that I was protected in the event my bidding came up with nothing. I bid the same $25 for a convertible every time. I probably bid over a period of 10 weeks before getting the successful HNL bid. Have to wait another day to retry OGG and LIH. I determined the bid amount by monitering this site and another less-preffered site. I looked back at post as far back as 2003, especially focusing on those at the same time of year as I was targeting. I then added a few dollars to the cheapest successful bid I had seen ($22) since there are no free rebids on cars unless you change class. Plus, I figured $3 or $4 more over what may be the lowest possible attainable was worth the price to increase my chances of a successful bid that was less than half of the advertised rate at which I had made my cancellable reservation [This was also to account for potential inflation over the years I was monitering]. I also ingored Priceline's comments/suggestion that $25.00 was a really good price but I should consider bidding higher because the going rate (or the expected discount) resulted in a much higher bid figure. I received this message even on my winning bid, so I feel more confident ignoring its prodding on my OGG and LIH bids. As for LIH and OGG, I am bidding the same $25 as the limited information I could find suggested a price range similar to HNL (although I think I saw a successful $20 bid a year or so ago in OGG). In OGG I am considering an SUV as well as convertible so I am bidding both of those classes. If I am still unsuccessful when August arrives, I plan to increase my bid to $30 for each location and then increase it by $3-5 each week up to departure [my cancellable reservations at each location is around $55/day]. Good Luck.

After many unsuccessful weeks of bidding, finally won at $25/day. Convertible Alamo 9-12-05 to 9-17-05 Successful! [now waiting out a week for retries at OGG (Maui) and LIH (Kauai)]

That was my understanding as well Lonestar. There is a timeshare there owned by Marriott as well, but I don't think that would be listed on Priceline. I cannot turn up any other hotels in that area approaching a resort level. The main reason for my concern is that the basic premise of priceline hinges on hotels being opaque so I did not think a hotel would list itself in an area where it was the only one in that category. I could not find any winning bids on this site for a resort in Ihilani (JW Marriott or otherwise). Does that coincide with your memory? Thank you

What resorts are in the Ihilani zone other than the JW Marriott? From general research, the Marriot appears to be the only resort in that area. Therefore, if I bid for Ihilani and resort and get a winning bid, I am guaranteed the JW, right? Seems too good to be true.

I am very happy, especially with the Hyatt. Now I just have to figure out how to get a deal at the Kauai Hyatt (seems to be underbid on priceline). This site was a very big help (sorry for the brain freeze and not going through savings barn. Barring another unfortunate brain freeze, my next priceline bids will be through that site). BTW: The bid was placed at 1:45 p.m. EST on March 21, 2005.

Bid $145 Ka'anapali - Rejected (Priceline suggested $177) Free rebid $147 - Rejected Free rebid $150 - Rejected Free Rebid $155 - Accepted Total Price $710.21

Thanks for the tips. Anything around $150 in Maui would be a huge plus, so that is great to know. Right now everything is $250+. The package deal strategy is also pricing the hotels around $230 so I think it is too early. In Kaui, are looking at the Hyatt. Definitely want to stay there. Based on discussions here, and looking at the package strategy, I think the Hyatt will be underbid by the other hotels on priceline so would miss that one. Hyatt also has the lowest price guarantee on their website, so I don't think I can beat it in a traditional route. That is why I am booking direct with them. Thanks again. I will keep checking with the package strategy until the prices on Maui come down.

Planning a Honeymoon for Hawaii. Will be staying 5 nights in Oahu (3 at Waikiki and 2 at Pipeline) and 4 nights in Kaui. I have hotels I defintely want to stay in on these nights so will probably go with the cheapest traditional route. We are also planning on staying 4 nights in Maui (Sept. 17 - Sept 21). Would like to stay in a resort but have no preferences among the resorts. When is a good time to start bidding? What would be a winning bid to expect? Am I correct in assuming that all rooms will be the lowest grade? (that is fine, just curious). First time to boards and first time to priceline. Any help is grately appreciated. Thanks!