thenewbie

Read the linked thread.

Welcome! First off, what is the most you are willing to spend? On Hotwire, what appears to be the Grand Hyatt is $184 for your dates. Would this be your price to beat? Second, what areas are you looking to stay in? UM-CPS/MTE/MTW ? You eventually figured out what areas are your free rebid areas. Once you let us know your maximum bid and what areas you want, we will give you a better bidding plan.

Rates are not cheap for your dates. Rack rates for the 4* level are over $250, and Hotwire is showing a 4.5* in Quincy Market for $216. What is your budget? Judging from previous attempts, you likley won't have success unless you are willing to spend more than $160 per night. A couple of alternatives: EasyClickTravel travel has the 3* Holiday Inn Select Gov't Center for $140 and the 4* Royal Sonesta (in Cambridge) for $178.

The Boston Commons Parking Garage recently updated its website: Rates

You may want to check travel-center.com. Here are the rates for your dates. I don't know anything about this website, nor do I know their policies, so please research their policies on your own prior to booking.*Edit*: Whoops, I thought this post was a recent post, not from Feb. Oh well, I'll leave it for others to see...

Used phones won't be a great deal, as you would still need to get service for them. You will probably want to purchase a pre-paid cellphone with airtime from Wal-Mart or Target when you arrive. Walmart should have a T-Mobile Nokia 6010 pre-paid phone for about $40. I believe it also includes 30-60 minutes of airtime. T-Mo rates You can add additional airtime by purchasing an airtime card, available at many stores.

We don't see the 2* level often, as rates for the 3-4* level aren't that much more than the rates for the 2*.---------- Well at the 4* and 3* levels in Boston, you have 2 rebid areas. If you don't know how to find them, read this thread: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained. If you have any questions, please ask before bidding. This order is for a Copley preference with a higher starting bid. If you wanted to try DT first at a lower price, you can give it a shot first. And the 4* level in Copley has hotels other than the Sheraton, but with low rates, they hopefully should be a better deal than your Holiday Inn-Express. Select 4* Copley... Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $70, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* Downtown and re-bid zone2... Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $80. Select 4* Downtown... Bid $46, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $51, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* Downtown and re-bid zone2... Bid $56, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $61. Select 4* Cambridge... Bid $46, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $51, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* Downtown and re-bid zone2... Bid $56, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $61. Select 4* Downtown and Cambridge... Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $70, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously. Select 4* Downtown and re-bid zone2... Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1... Bid $80. If you are unsuccessful, let us know and we'll work from there at the 3* level.

Welcome! Doing a quick hotwire search, prices appear to be similar for arriving on 4/12 as compared to 4/13. How willing would you be to stay in MTE? It is cheaper than MTW for your dates (about $45 less on hotwire), and it is fairly easy to get from MTE to any tourist areas in MTW. Here is a short description of what is in each area. We'll be able to further assist you once you let us know what your budget is and if you would be willing to stay in MTE.

Well there may be a few options within your budget: Copley The Sheraton has direct rates for $179, and it looks like the Sheraton is on Hotwire for $103. Therefore, I'm guessing that you could possibly win it on Priceline somewhere between $75-85. I'm not familiar with the hotel's parking policies, but the hotel is located in the Prudential Center, which is a large shopping area with their own parking garage (no in/out access). There is a T stop for the Prudential Center, and 2 other stops nearby. Cambridge The Hyatt in Cambridge has direct rates of $149, and it appears to be on hotwire for about $66 (3.5* Cambridge). You likely can beat this rate on Priceline if you desire. However, the location of this hotel isn't ideal for accessing the T. It is near the Southwestern corner of MIT, and the nearest T stop is across the Charles River near BU (BU West/BU Central stops). There is also a T stop on the other side of MIT (Kendall/MIT), which I believe the hotel offers a shuttle to. Let us know if you'd rather try for a lower price in any area (Copley/DT/Cambridge) or whether you want to try a particular area first, possibly for more than another area (i.e. 4* Copley for $80 rather than 3* Cambridge for $50-60.)

You are correct, it has changed:

Welcome! You may want to read these threads to get an idea about how Priceline works: I've never used priceline or hotwire Don't bid higher for a specific hotel So, on Priceline you are bidding on a star level and cannot bid (or do anything) to win a specific hotel. With this being said, how much are you looking to spend? (Check hotwire & Orbitz to see prices)

I'm just throwing this out there, but Hotwire has a 4* MTE (Restaurant, Fitness Center, Tennis, Business Ctr) for $130 for April 6-9, which looks like it may be the Inter-Continental The Barclay. If you try with different browsers (IE / Firefox) it may show you different rates - hopefully lower.

I'll try to make this clearer...The above bidding would be if you were willing to split your stay (Saturday - Sunday // Sunday - Tuesday). Since your stay includes an expensive Saturday night, you may want to consider Splitting your bid as I mentioned in the last post (and neglected to mention in the original response - I need a vacation myself). With 1 expensive night and 2 cheap nights, you most likely won't be able to win if you bid with an "average" price. As priceline looks to see if your bid exceeds the lowest price for each date in their system for a property, an expensive Saturday night will cause bids that would normally be accepted for the Sun - Tues portion to be rejected when bidding for all 3 nights. Therefore, if you are willing to split your stay, you likely should be able to obtain the Venetian under $140 for Sunday & Monday nights. Then you could either book Saturday night directly, attempt to win the Venetian on Priceline for Saturday night at a higher rate, or you could stay in another property if price was your main concern. If you end up booking directly for Saturday, your cost would be approximately: $429 + ~$130 + ~$130 If you try bidding seperately for Saturday, I would guess that you might obtain the Saturday night in the upper $300s

No, I mean $169 for April 30 - May 2. See the "upgrade your experience" promo: Link You may need to split your bids in order to maximize savings.

Venetian's website is offering a special rate of $169/night for your dates, so you should be able to beat your target rate. It looks like you have 5 rebid areas for the 5* vegas strip (remember not to select any w/ resort). Judging by recent bids, you may have success with the following (you could start with $99 if you desire): Don't forget to use the PRICELINE link :) 5* Strip - $105, if unsuccessful close browser Strip + R1 - $110, if unsuccessful close browser Strip + R2 - $115, if unsuccessful close browser Strip + R3 - $120, if unsuccessful close browser Strip + R4 - $125, if unsuccessful close browser Strip + R5 - $130 Let us know how this works.

We'd need to know what dates you are looking for on HW and what it is showing (star level/all listed amenities/price)

Although it's too late now, and you are saving $67 off rack rates, had you asked for assistance, we would have been able to tell you that this hotel is available through Easyclicktravel for $139.32+ taxes for your dates. :)

Welcome to the boards! Although I don't have time for a full post, here are a couple of quick tips. You were able to find one correct rebid area, however, you are missing the other area for the 4* level. Take a look through all of the zones (by choosing them one at a time) to see what other area is a rebid area. On Priceline you aren't able to specify what type of bedding you will receive. In NYC, rooms can be small and may only contain one bed (i.e. queen). You can call the hotel to request a specific room, but it is only a request Would you be willing to stay in MTE or UM-CPS? It may help improve your odds at securing a hotel within your maximum. We could provide you a strategy that would try MTW first, then if unsuccessful, would move to these alternate locations. Just let us know your other rebid area, if you'd be willing to split a bed, and whether you would accept any other areas.

Hotwire had what looked to be this property for $122, so I started bidding MTE at $99 and won The Barclay on the first bid. Their website is showing rates at $269, while hotwire was showing retail of $209. Not a bad price for an overnight trip to NYC. :) Bid $99 Tax $23.68 Total $122.68

The guaranteed best rates section of the e-book doesn't offer the best deals. The direct to hotels section is where the 50% off rates are, so hopefully there may be one there within your budget. Otherwise, you have the right idea for rebidding. If you wanted to get an additional rebid, you could try: DT DT+1, close window DT+2 DT+2+1

So you're not flexible on your areas? Boston is a fairly easy city to get around in, so expanding your areas may help as rates are high for your dates. If you're willing to expand your location, Hotwire is showing a 4* (Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Spa, High-speed Internet Access, Business Center) in Cambridge for $110 per night, which can likely be won for less on Priceline. Otherwise you have the right idea for rebidding. If you have an Entertainment Book, you could check to see if any of the hotels have the 50% off rack rate price for your dates.

Alright, since you haven't replied in the other thread as requested, I'll throw this out there now so you can reply to it whenever you get around to it...For Boston, we'll need to know the following: What dates are you looking for? How much are you willing to spend per night? For most Boston hotels, parking is not included in the priceline rate. What is your priority, free/cheap parking or location? Which locations are you looking for? (The 'tourist' areas are Downtown & Copley) Please reply with answers to the above questions so that we can help you. Without this information, we will not be able to properly assist you.

As long as you use your father's name for the Reservation Name, you'll be all set. Just make sure that he will be interested in going on the trip, as there aren't any refunds. :)

Here is some transportation and parking information for your future trip to Boston. These are just a few of the multiple options, so don't restrict your planning to this information :). This information can change at any time, so please verify it through the appropriate website. Transportation: Driving into the city and parking isn