nvherron

I just got the Venetian thru Priceline for $175 the same weekend you're going. But no guarantees that's the 5-star you will get, though. Good luck.

Bid $135 - 5* Strip - Rejected, Counteroffer at $185 Bid $145 - 5* Strip + Free Rebid - Rejected, Counteroffer at $185 Bid $155 - 5* Strip + Another Free Rebid - Rejected, Counteroffer at $180 Bid $165 - 5* Strip + Another Free Rebid - Rejected, Counteroffer at $185 Bid $175 - Accepted at the Venetian Used Savings Barn link.

Bid History: $35 3-star, I-80 Bus Corridor/Arden...Rejected $37 3-star, I-80 Bus Corridor/Arden + Folsom (Free Rebid)...Rejected $39 3-star, I-80 Bus Corridor/Arden + Roseville (Free Rebid)...Offered $11 Counteroffer (I rejected that) $41 3-star, I-80 Bus Corridor/Arden + South Natomas (Free Rebid)...Rejected $43 3-star, I-80 Bus Corridor/Arden + University Area (Free Rebid)...Accepted :) Although I'm not a huge fan of this Radisson, it will more than suffice for the price. Thanks BB!

The hotel was totally renovated in 2004. I stayed there in Spring 2005 and it was much much better than previous stays. Definitely better than the Courtyard. But the Courtyard has a better location. In the future, you may want to consider bidding 4*. My friend got the Hyatt Vineyard Creek about 5 weeks ago for $65. That's probably the best value to be had in all of Santa Rosa. Happy Travels!

They did make some money. Break Down as follows: Hilton Folio: Guest Room $50.00 Room Tax $4.75 Calif Tourism Tax $0.02 District Improvement Fee $1.00 TOTAL: $55.77 My Priceline Bid: Winning Bid $45.00 Taxes & Fees: $12.74 TOTAL: $57.74 So Priceline paid $5.77 in taxes and fees on my purchase, but I paid $12.74 in my winning bid, so even though they paid $5 more for my room then I bid, they still appear to be ahead by just under two bucks. So I guess two bucks profit was good enough for them on my bid. I'm not complaining, though!

I have a new one for you all. I just stayed at the Hilton Santa Clara on Saturday night. I won the room for $45, which I have done 3 times in the past at this hotel. I consider it a very good deal. :o At check-in, I gave them my Hilton HHonors card, which I always do. Sometimes I get a comment back saying I cannot get HHonors credits for "this" stay. But the guy took it and said no problem. I occasionally get lucky on Priceline stays and get credit, so I always try. Or sometimes I get credit for incidentals, so I give it every single time. Other times, it's good for an upgrade. Anyway, the stay went like normal, but at check out time yesterday they gave me two folios...one for my incidentals, and the other was for my room. They are not supposed to give you the room folio on a PL stay...in fact I've only had this happen to me once before. The other time it happened, the PL rate was $2 less than what I bid. So I felt pretty good about my bidding. But this time, the Priceline rate was $50! It was $5 more than my bid. :) It said on the folio, directbill to Priceline.com. However, it had my HHonors information to give me credit (so I'm happy about that). I can't come up with any ideas as to why, other than maybe the hotel messed up and PL is going to be overbilled for my stay, or PL made an error with my bid and is honoring my rate. Has anyone else had this happen before where Priceline paid more than you bid? :)

Probably not, but you may have saved a few more bucks. I don't know this for fact, but I would guess Priceline books the cheapest available 4-star and pockets the difference. For instance, if you offer $65 and the Hilton is selling to Priceline for $55 and the Hyatt for $53, they will give you the Hyatt every single time until they've used up all their rooms. And they pocket the extra $2. I don't know it for fact, it's just a theory...but they'd be stupid not to. To back up my theory on it, I see that historically on this board and TOBB that which hotel that you win seems to happen in waves. I believe that you will see Hyatt come up over and over again in Santa Clara for a given night, until PL runs out of their allotment and then you'd see the Hilton come up. And it could happen vice versa, too. I think they give you the hotel that gives them the greatest profit...period. And who can fault them for that? In your case, the Hyatt and Hilton are perfectly acceptable properties in Santa Clara, so $65 is a fair price for either one. But in this stay at the Hilton Santa Clara, I got the folio for PL at check out and my rate was lower than PL's rate. This is a first for me, but I plan to post it another location. Thanks for the post.

Oops! :) I just went back to read through some of my old posts and never saw this reply. It is a 2.5 Star property. I do not know why I put 3 star. Please disregard my initial posting as a 3*. Sorry for the delay, hope this ends up getting read!

Bid up to $75 on 4-star San Jose using free re-bids, and was unsuccessful. Started 4-star in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale zone at $45, and got the Hilton Santa Clara the first time. This hotel comes up consistently at $45 on the weekends in this zone, so I knew not to start higher. I've never been successful less than $45, so I didn't try it this time. Kind of in a hurry to go to bed. Who knows, maybe I over paid. :) This hotel really isn't a 4-star in my book, but it's a very good 3-star. And you certainly cannot complain at $45! Maybe the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara will come up one day in the 4-star segment. Thanks BetterBidding.com

Bid #1 - Selected 4* Concord/Lafayette at $59 - Rejected, but Counter Offered for $17 more Bid #2 - Selected 4* Concord/Lafayette, and added Pleasanton/Livermore for a free re-bid at $61 - Accepted They offered $17 more on the counter offer, but won it for only two more bucks! :)

I love it! Maybe even a hyperlink of that winning date to take you to that post. I sure hope this is a manageable concept, and sure would set this site apart from TOBB.

In this case they are probably both wrong, and Priceline even greater so than Hotwire. I just have found that Priceline is more accurate than Hotwire in my experiences. Or should I say more aligned to my expectations? :) That being said, I would never rate Priceline's star rating system as good, just better in comparison. And that's why BetterBidding.com is such a great site. It helps us to quantify the risks by giving us a glimpse into the market. The hotel lists are an excellent source of information to that end. To know of what I would consider to be a 2-star hotel in a 3-star zone is very useful information for me. It can help you make better bidding strategies and reduce the surprises. I have refused to bid some zones due to inferior hotels in the list. A good example of this is the recent addition of the Holiday Inn being added to the 3-Star SFO Airport Zone. Which one does not belong?...Westin, Hyatt, Doubletree, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn....Hmmm. The ironic thing of this situation is that Crowne Plaza is Holiday Inn's Upscale brand. How can they possibly co-habitate the same star rating? :) There is such a clear difference in quality and amenities between these 2 properties. One good thing about Hotwire's system is the 1/2 star ratings. This would be a good place to break up some of these hotels...between 3 and 3-1/2 stars. Clearly the biggest problems in ratings is at the 3-star level. However, all things being said, the star system is so subjective. It's different from person to person and region to region. I have clear expectations of what a 3-star is...but I have friends who would consider a nice 3-star to be 5-stars, because they often stay in roadside motels. And vice versa, if you often stay at the Four Seasons, you wouldn't really consider a 4-Star Hilton to be anything close to 4-stars. So the debate will rage on! :o

Looks like a great deal to me for a weekend. Today, hyatt.com's best rate is $239...and that is a full pre-pay, no cancellation rate. Good job. I just stayed there for $69, but for a week day. The walk-in rate they were quoting on my Friday check out was $285! I'd handily take your deal for a weekend. Note, that the Hyatt charges a $10/night per room "Resort Fee." In the fee you get two complimentary bottles of water (quite large) every day, and a $5 food credit in their restaurants. So it's not a complete waste of money, but still I'd prefer not to pay it. It's funny how many people at check-out that were packing up their cars, you'd watch them come out with half a dozen bottles of water from their rooms. I guess it's pretty standard to have the mentality, "I paid $100 for this water, so I'm taking it all with me!" :)

We pretty much do that already, anyway...don't we? UFjoe...you do it more than many...and you're good at it. I've learned a thing or two from you myself. I don't think having official Moderator status helps much. Although it could be cool to get nifty moderator pins for our shirts! :)

A friend called me and wanted to stay in a Boise 4-star, and just wanted the cheapest rate that could be had...so I was up to the challenge! I knew that the only 4-star in Boise was the Grove, and there were 4 free re-bid neighborhoods. This left quite a few opportunities for re-bidding. The best rates available online was $139. Bid #1...$75, 4 Star, Boise only...Rejected Bid #2...$80, 4-Star, Boise + Boise Airport...Rejected Bid #3...$85, 4-Star, Boise + Meridian...Rejected...Counter-Offer of $22 More (for $107 total...no thanks!) Bid #4...$90, 4-Star, Boise + Nampa...Rejected Bid #5...$95, 4-Star, Boise + West Boise...Accepted It just goes to show you how stupid accepting counter-offers is. In this case you would have paid $12 more per night on a 3-night stay. And that is just pure profit for Priceline. There is no added benefit to you for it. The hotel doesn't come out any better, or treat you any better for it. They have no idea how much you overpaid. It's a waste. It so much fun bidding with someone else's money. It's not so personal then. However, in hindsight...there were so many re-bid options. I should have done $1 or $2 increments after the counter-offer to reduce the amount to the lowest amount to be accepted. I most often do this when bidding for myself. It could have went for $91 or $92! Oh well! However the gal I was bidding for was willing to pay even the $139 amount, so she was happy...she just didn't want to overpay. Can't blame her for that. Thanks BetterBidding.com. Oh the thrill of the chase! :) Personally I would have done 2.5 Star or 3 Star and saved another $40 to $50/night. But 4-star was important to her.

My biggest complaint about Hotwire is their ratings. I have consistently been unhappy with their ratings...in fact, I don't think I have ever bought something from Hotwire that I would have considered a correct rating. 0% to Priceline's 60% accuracy in ratings in my experiences. 60% isn't excellent either, but much better than zero! I won't even consider buying a hotel lower than 4-1/2 stars from Hotwire, because of their rating problems. I just simply subtract 1 whole star rating from Hotwire before I consider the property. And when I do that, it seems they are not really all that competitive. Don't get me wrong, I still check them out. But in this light, I end up booking Priceline mostly for hotels. In fact I am booking Priceline about 15:1 over Hotwire for hotels. However, all that being said, I have found Hotwire beats out Priceline in rental cars very frequently. In fact, I have been booking Hotwire over Priceline for cars about 2:1. I'm just looking out for the best deal every time. It's not wise to become dogmatic in the way you book travel. You'll find yourself in a hopeless pattern and miss out on new things. This is just where I am at now. I'll be all over Hotwire for hotels if something starts to change.

Bidding Strategy... 4-Star Santa Clara $39 - Rejected 4-Star Santa Clara & San Jose $45 - Rejected (Counter-Offer for $11 more) 4-Star Santa Clara & Palo Alto $46 - Accepted I realize that I wasn't using free re-bids, and that was fine by me. Any of these 3 cities were acceptable for this itinerary. I was going to use free re-bids in $1 increments, as necessary, from here to keep my winning bid as low as possible after I got the counter-offer. Besides, I knew there was no way in the world that the Westin in Palo Alto was going to come in that low. And if it did, then great!!! That would have been preferred any way. The only thing confusing to me is that another poster got this same hotel for the same night for only $45?!?! :) I wasn't surprised that I couldn't win with same exact bid, but was surprised to get it for only $1 more. Seems weird that a hotel would raise it's Priceline rate by only $1. Makes me think this has something to do with Priceline's bidding strategies. Oh well. I'll gladly pay $1 more. Most excellent deal.

Bidding Strategy... 3 Star - Monterey $65 - Rejected 3 Star - Monterey & Carmel - $69 - Accepted Glad I got the Hyatt...was concerned about getting the Hilton. Not up to Hilton standards in my book. Yay! MOnterey Aquarium, here we come!

Bidding Strategy... 3-Star SFO Airport ... $35 - Rejected 3-Star SFO Airport & S.SFO ... $40 - Rejected :) 3-Star SFO Airport & San Mateo ... $45 - Accepted :) This is my 2nd choice at SFO behind the Westin. Very happy, because I have seen the Doubletree coming up a lot lately. I stayed at the DT at SFO last week, and I wasn't impressed. Glad to have gotten the Hyatt!

As someone who trains people for a living, I believe you have to make a mistake (or witness someone else's tragic mistake) before you learn to Double Check Your Work... Two Summers ago, I signed on to bid 2.5 Star in Elko, Nevada (knowing only the Hilton Garden Inn would come up based on previous experiences). However, I elected to do this from work. My boss came into my office, so I minimized my IE screen. When he left, I opened a new window (for some stupid reason) and went into Priceline again and started a new bid. He then came back in again... MINIMIZE... After he left, I went back to the First Window I had opened...I had not selected dates on this window (the dates were correct in the other window) and proceeded on to bid. Lo and behold...I won the Hilton Garden Inn for $35. WOOHOO! Well, woohoo for about 5 seconds until I noticed that my reservation was for TONIGHT! :) I wanted to arrive 30 days later than today! ARGH! I called Priceline in a panic. They said they could see the other session I had open too, and could see how I could have made the error. And they agreed to cancel the original reservation for a $25 fee. They said that it was a 'One-Time Only' deal and I would not be able to cancel another reservation ever again...at least with that account :o I had to re-bid for the actual dates, and I ended up winning, but at $55. So the room ended up really costing me $80, but hilton.com had it at $95. So I saved a couple of dollars. This was a major lesson learned. I review everything so meticulously now. It could be very expensive and/or inconvenient to be so careless. But I don't think I learned the entire lesson I deserved, since I'm typing this from work right now :) Wait...here comes the BOSS! :) <minimize>

I live in the Reno area, and at first I was shocked at this price. $82, even though 4/22 is a Friday night, it's not peak season, yet! Then I went to hilton.com and saw they had no availability at all. Then I went to caesars.com (the Owner of the Reno Hilton), and they had rooms at $129. Sounds like you did good to me, then. Although I have no idea what's going on here next weekend. In fact, we're going away to Idaho. But the Reno Hilton being rated 4 stars is a complete joke. It's a 3-star, at best. And it's due for a renovation to boot! This hotel is for sale, though. Caesars is trying to get rid of all their Hilton branded properties. In fact, they have already discarded the Las Vegas Hilton and the Atlantic City Hilton. This is the only one left. Hopefully the new owners will do a complete renovation. Have fun here in Northern Nevada!

I've gone up to $45 with nothing accepted, and I've already got a room through choicehotels.com at $54, so I'm done...too bad. :) I would have definitely preferred to get the Red Lion over a Quality Inn. But I'd hate to bid more, and then end up with the Quality Inn anyway. :) There's no bidding history for this town, so I can't take the risk.

Do you know how many times I've booked far in advance, get a great rate, then show up and the hotel be sold out? :) I bet if they knew when I booked that they would be sold out, there was no way in the world I would have gotten my rate. My best example is The Westin Horton Plaza in San Diego. I booked 4 months in advance at $65/night on Priceline. Two weeks out, I checked their website, their rate was up to $259!!! I checked again 24 hours before check in and they had no rooms available! At check-in it was a complete mad house...people everywhere. The hotel was completely sold out. The whole city was this way due to a Comic Book Convention. Geeks everywhere! :) Had I not booked in advance, I would have paid a lot more money, for likely a much lesser hotel. But, I have scored some great deals at the last minute, too. And in places in between. It helps a lot to know the market...but make no assumptions across the board. Happy travels!

Just a note... The Adam's Mark Jacksonville changed flags last night to the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. $10M Renovation is starting right away. YAY! I wonder what it's like to check into the Adam's Mark on Thursday night and check out of the Hyatt Regency on Friday? I bet most guests had no idea. Kinda funny...

Bid 2-Star in Elko, Nevada. My rediculously low $25 bid was rejected. I've got time, though... I'm on my way through to Idaho and need a night to stay anywhere along I-80 in Rural Nevada. Priceline only has Winnemucca and Elko as biddable cities along this route, so I'm trying them both. I already have a confirmed reservation at the Quality Inn for $54 that's fully cancellable. I'm going to keep trying to beat my deal, though on Priceline. I'll keep upping my bid every 72 hours until I get something to bite...<developing> :)