lynn24

I see a 3* PRICELINE EXPRESS deal in Chelsea for $130. Rating of 7.0/10 and guaranteed amenities include: Business Center, Restaurant, Free Internet, Free Breakfast... Is this likely one of the Holiday Inns?

Hi again! Just to update, I've been trying the bidding strategy for 4* and 3.5* with no success and I've noticed that lately the prices have jumped up a bit. I've held back on bidding at 3*, but based on PRICELINE EXPRESS deals they seem to likely have hotels in my price range at the 3* level. I usually bid on 3.5* and 4* hotels and was wondering before proceeding to bid on 3*, are any hotels/areas to avoid in particular? Is the quality of hotel experience similar to 3.5* or does it drop considerably? Thanks in advance.

Sorry if my comment made my request confusing... I hadn't considered how it would affect my bidding but you bring up an extremely valid point. For simplicity's sake, I am going to say I would like to omit the 'secondary' zones entirely from my bid attempt and do the 'primary' zones starting with 4* at $120 max bid, then 3.5*, then 3*. (I have time until the trip date, so I will add the additional zones much later on if I'm truly having no luck with the 'primary' ones!) Thanks in advance and I will use the links!

Primary preference for these zones: Chelsea Area Downtown - Financial District Empire State Building Area Greenwich Village Hell's Kitchen Lower East Side Midtown East Midtown West SoHo - Tribeca Union Square - East Village Secondary preference for these zones (for hotel fees ranging from $68.50 - $82.00, which will push the total cost of the room past my ideal budget): Central Park South Madison Square Garden - Convention Area Times Square - Theatre District Thank you in advance!

I'll proceed with attemting to bid on Priceline, most 4* hotels are generally pretty good with providing non-smoking rooms and most of my Priceline searches have been very upfront with hotel fees. If you could suggest a strategy that would be awesome! :) Thank you in advance.

I just booked my transportation so the dates of 8/12 - 8/15 are firm! Forgot to mention, but non-smoking is a hard requirement (I know most 4* are generally good about this, not sure how 3* rank) and free WiFi is a huge bonus. Not sure how much control I'd have over this, but I've noticed that many zones in NYC now have hotel fees as well (didn't seem the case when I bidded for a room in NYC over a year ago?). I'm hoping that at least some of these additional hotel fees can be "absorbed" by the bid price (e.g., for a bid closer to my upper limit of $120, I'd hope for minimal additional fees) Any other advice/wisdom/knowledge about NYC in addition to a bidding strategy would be greatly appreciated. As always, I use the Priceline.com link for searches and bids! :)

Hello BetterBidding! My overall plans are currently flexible, but at the moment I am looking to book a 3* or 4* hotel in NYC, checking in Wednesday August 12/15 and checking out Saturday August 15/15. I'd ideally like a 4* hotel for $120 or less (I see PRICELINE EXPRESS deals between $130-150)... Doesn't seem like there's many 3* options in the PRICELINE EXPRESS, but if it helps I'm happy to go with a 3* hotel if I'm able to save on costs/get more bids in (I see one 3* in PRICELINE EXPRESS in TImes Square for exactly $131). Free WiFi is a huge bonus, but not a requirement. I'd also prefer to stay within Manhattan, but am open to staying in the outskirts if it results in huge savings provided that it is easily accessible to Manhattan. However, I'm not familiar with the surrounding areas that well and which zones are easily accessible by public transit (e.g., Brooklyn, Jersey City? Info in this regard would be awesome...!). I am and will continue to use the Priceline.com links for my searches and bidding. Thank you in advance! :)

I just double-checked and the confirmation email doesn't specify the zone, but I think I did have that zone checked off when I was bidding. Thanks for the correction.

I saw a 3* hotel in this zone on Priceline Express going for $53USD/$68 CAD so I decided to try bidding. I can't remember my bidding strategy, but I ended up getting this hotel for $54CAD ($42USD) which isn't already on the betterbidding.com list. The hotel seems ok and the base price is more than fair, but I was a little surprised at the resort fee of $15 USD tacked onto my bid for this hotel. The resort fee was much lower when I started bidding, so I need to pay attention in between bids as the resort fee definitely jumped! Not that I'm whining, but just a note for others to double-check the resort fees before bidding as it can vary greatly (in my case, it ranged from $9.50CAD to $19CAD... Or $7.50USD to $15USD!) All in all, still a fair price and as usual, the PRICELINE.com link was used.

The back story is that I've spent the past two weeks on/off bidding on a 4* hotel in the Festival and Financial District zones for sub $84USD (Priceline Express listing) with no success. Today, I saw a 3.5* in the Financial District listed for $60USD, so I tried my luck with Priceline bidding. I won: $52USD/night at Le Meridien Versailles (Saturday December 27, 2014 to Tuesday December 30, 2014) I used the following strategy (BIDS ARE LISTED IN $CDN): 50CDN - Initial bid, added re-bid zone, 55CDN - added re-bid zone, 58CDN - added re-bid zone, 60CDN ($52USD) accepted! It's not the 4* hotel that I was hoping for, but I bidded on and stayed at the same hotel last December for considerably more, so I'm quite pleased with this win. :) As usual, I used the Better Bidding PRICELINE links for my searches and bid attempts. Thanks for keeping this awesome site running!

Thanks thereuare! I followed your suggestion exactly and I won on the very last bid of your bidding strategy... $95 CDN for 1 night. I got the Hilton New York Fashion District, which if your Hotwire hunch is correct (we'll never know for sure) it means I got it for $11 less than the $106 CDN / $96 USD listed on Hotwire. Thanks again for your help! I used the PRICELINE link for every single search as well as the final win. :)

Thanks for the reply! All those zones sound great. It's only one night, so size of the room isn't a big deal. Price is the most important factor and free WiFi is just a bonus. I'm just stopping over in New York with a friend to enjoy the city in between destinations. If it changes anything, we are flying out of LGA Monday evening? (I'm not sure if that would change the bidding strategy at all)

Hi BetterBidding! I'm looking to book one night in NYC on Sunday June 1, but I'm finding the zones to be a little overwhelming and not sure how to go approach the bidding. I'm hoping to book something under $120 (I'd love to go sub-$100, but I understand it may not be realistic), preferrably with decent ratings/reviews, convenient location and Free WiFi access at the hotel is a big bonus (I noticed some of the Express Deals don't guarentee Free Wifi). If you could help suggest a strategy for bidding, that would be great... Thank you! (I use the BetterBidding links for PRICELINE.com)

I was hoping to get a 4* hotel for less than $100CDN, but I wasn't having much luck. I saw that 3* hotels in this zone were going for $73CDN in PRICELINE EXPRESS, so I started bidding at $40 and went up in $5 increments. The price on the Four Points website is $116USD/night, so $65CDN (44% off) I think is very reasonable. Last time I won a room on Priceline, it was also 10% lower than the PRICELINE EXPRESS pricing.

I just wanted to follow up and report that that after many days of on/off price tracking and PRICELINE bidding, I ended up booking through Priceline tonight and bumped down to 3.5* to look at some less expensive options. I was hoping to get a 4* hotel, but for the price I paid, I'm satisfied with what I ended up with. $72/night at Le Meridien Versailles (Thursday December 12, 2013 to Saturday December 14, 2013) I checked the Express Deals before bidding and noted that the 3.5* hotel was listed at $80, which seems to follow the trend of Name Your Price hotels being offered at 10% lower tha PRICELINE EXPRESS Deals. Not a bad deal considering the same itinerary is listed as $149 through the hotel website. Of course, I've used the Better Bidding PRICELINE link for every search and bid attempt. Thanks for all your help.

I understand, was wondering if there were any known trends, but even that is hard to predict! Is that hotel listing likely to be the Hyatt? Just wanted a second opinion. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm looking to book something in Montreal and for now am limiting it to 4* in Old Montreal/Convention Centre. I'm trying to aim for less than $90 (preferrably I would like to get it down to $80). Right now, there is a 4* on Hotwire for $91 with the following amenities: - Pet friendly - Fitness Center - Pool(s) - Restaurant(s) - Internet access - Accessible for the blind - Accessible path of travel - In-room accessibility - Accessible bathroom - Handicapped parking - Roll-in shower Right now I am thinking it is the Hyatt Regency since it is the only 4* on the hotel list that is both 'pet friendly' and 'travel accessible' (I'm assuming that is what 'accessible path of travel' means?) I noticed this hotel is only 3.5* on the Priceline list... Is there a probable chance that my hotel price may drop from now until my trip, which is more than a month from now? Thanks. PS. I always use the Hotwire/PRICELINE links for searches and bookings!

I just wanted to update and say that I wasn't able to secure a booking in my price range before everything went up in price. I ended up making alternate arrangements. Thanks again for all the help and advice. I definitely used the PRICELINE link to do my searches and bidding.

Both are fine! :)

I'd prefer a less expensive 3.5* for this trip... Thanks so far for your help!

A 4* would be a nice bonus, but I guess the goal is least expensive 3.5* or better. I'm not too familiar with the Vancouver zones, but as long as the hotels are clean, safe and within reasonable distance of public transit, I'm open to bidding on them... Especially if it results in huge savings! Thanks for the help so far!

Oops! I forgot about it since it was so long ago... done! :)

Trip was cancelled.

Hi BetterBidding friends! I'm looking for some help/advice about bidding for a hotel in Vancouver, BC for Mon Aug 26th to Tues Aug 27th (1 night) for 1 person. I've been eyeing prices on Hotwire (and of course, I used the HOTWIRE / PRICELINE links for this!) and I saw a 4* room for $100/night in Downtown Vancouver, so I'm hoping to score a 3.5* or 4* hotel for less than $100. Aside from Downtown Vancouver, what other zones are safe bets for clean, safe, non-smoking hotels with convenient access to subway? Hoping to keep the total cost to a minimum and am open to looking at other zones. If I could get a suggested bidding strategy, that would be awesome too! Also, should I start bidding now or wait until the date is closer? Thanks in advance! PS. I used and will continue to use the HOTWIRE / PRICELINE links! You guys are awesome! :)

GOOD NEWS AT THE BOTTOM OF MY REPORT! :) ===== Shortly after my 4* bids, I started some 3.5* bids last night... no luck: 3.5* Copley Square - Back Bay bid $100, rejected bid $105, rejected bid $110, rejected bid $115, rejected bid $120, rejected bid $125, rejected 3.5* Harbor Front- Aquarium bid $100, rejected bid $105, rejected bid $110, rejected bid $115, rejected bid $120, rejected bid $125, rejected 3.5* Quincy Market - Financial District bid $100, rejected bid $105, rejected bid $110, rejected bid $115, rejected bid $120, rejected bid $125, rejected Took a break for the night. When I woke up, I started bidding again: 3.5* Copley Square - Back Bay, aquarium bid $120, ACCEPTED! I got upgraded to: 4* The Westin Copley Place I was really surprised to have my offer accepted on the first shot this morning. I wish I started bidding a bit lower today, but considering I had my highest bid of $182 rejected last night, I'm VERY happy to have my offer of $120 accepted just now and I was upgraded to a 4*! I actually used a $36 Priceline credit ($9/night credit) too, so the actual amount per night that I bidded and had charged to my card was $111! The icing on the cake was my one other time using Priceline, I also got Westin and I loved the hotel! Thank you BetterBidding for your help and support! And just for the record, I used the PRICELINE link religiously throughout the bidding! ;) Conclusion: 4* The Westin Copley Place for $111/120! (not sure how you list it if someone uses Priceline Credit) (And I'm very happy that I kept nearly within half my budget!)