thenewbie

Before your next attempt at bidding, please ask for bidding help. You could have overbid by approximately $30 (if not more) with your previous method. Your bidding strategy did not allow for winning UM, MTE or MTS under $160. Since you used all of your areas, you will need to wait 72 hours before trying again.

Thanks for posting your winning airfare. It's helpful for other users to see what the current rates are for comparison. Now on to your question:

Dates? Hotwire Amenities?

Since your first request, airfare prices nearly doubled over the past two weeks. I'm not sure where you're seeing $600, as that is still ~$100 more than the lowest airfare. If you keep waiting, airfare will likely go up further. Northwest Airlines (see a pattern? :) ) July 16 - 26 $516.82 July 18 - 26 $503.31 In your 1st post & title you say PHX > ATL, yet your follow-up says ATL > PHX. Which is it??

First, Please post your hotwire flight information as a seperate thread in this category. Then, I'll answer your question.

See Other post

Trying to help identify another hotel and possibly help other BetterBidders looking for similar dates. :) Looks like rates for this popular weekend (7/29-7/31) are starting to soften on hotwire. I have a back-up at the Eastgate, but Hotwire is now showing a hotel I haven't seen identified, and I'm having a hard time figuring which one it could be. MTE 4* : Fitness Center, Spa Services, Business Center. $153 Not quite sure what hotel would have spa services but would lack a restaurant?!? Any ideas? Maybe the Dylan Hotel?

Not sure if wonderwes is going to reply, but it looks like they may be going this route:

When did you use that bidding strategy?

First, did you post your Priceline win that you aren't satisfied with?? If you read the Terms of the Hotel Insurance, you cannot just 'cancel' the reservation and get your money back. You can go to the FAQ/Help section of Priceline to see all of the covered reasons. These are abbreviated, check their website for the full list. unforeseeable Injury, Sickness or death Your principal residence is made uninhabitable by fire or flood automobile accident, substantiated by a police report, while en route to departure hijacked, quarantined, required to serve on a jury, or subpoenaed Also, "working the system" to get insurance to pay for something that isn't covered is not "unethical" but rather insurance fraud.

It'll be difficult to get Airtran, as Airtran doesn't participate in Priceline's Name your own price section. You could try to bid less than Airtran's airfare to try to win one of the following airlines: America West, American, Aloha, Delta, Delta Song, Hawaiian, Midwest Airlines, United, US Airways Remember that your bid does not include taxes, while the Airtran rate does. So it all depends on how high you are willing to pay for random flight times. If you're flexible in airports, Southwest has a direct flights from LAX to BNA (Nashville) for $236 + taxes ($272.90).

I don't think they booked it, but rather just clicked the 'Continue' button to see the total and are wondering what hotel it could be. If I'm wrong... what hotel did you win?

Lowest I'm seeing for this route is Hotwire's $454 clearance fare. With your dates, Priceline is telling me I might be successful at up to 40% off of Continental's $556 w/ taxes and fees. If it didn't take $300, you may want to try higher, as that is about 34% off the Continental rate. Have you looked into other airports (if you're flexible)? If you're willing to drive a few hours, a round trip from Houston (IAH) - YUL is $338 on NWA. I don't think waiting until the end of the week will help, as prices will likely only go higher for the flight to Canada.

Welcome! Finding a room in NYC that sleeps 4 can be a problem at many hotels. A Saturday check-in could also complicate finding a reasonable hotel price. However, the Beekman Tower has a 1 Bedroom Suite available for $162.68 + taxes. There is one bed in the bedroom plus a pull-out couch, so it can accomodate 4 people (you need to search for 2 people however :) ) The Beekman also has a kitchen, so you can keep some food or beverages in the fridge for your stay. The Reviews are good and it's close to your budget.

Direct rates are close to your hotwire rate. Continental has $1025, US Air has $1089, and Delta has $1094. If you book on Hotwire or Priceline, you're giving up the frequent flyer miles that normally come with flights. Booking directly sometimes offers bonus miles (1,000 for Continental & Delta online), so depending on how often you fly, booking directly may have its benefits. This trip would give you approx. 5,400 miles including the 1,000 bonus for Continental.com purchases.

America West seems to have the lowest airfare at $416 rt + taxes. This is only $6 more than their 'lowest' priced flights w/ a red-eye. After taxes, it's around $457. If you want to try for cheaper airfare on priceline or have other questions, feel free to ask :)

If you gave us more specific travel dates, we can check airfare prices. If you're unsure what dates are the cheapest, play around with the flexible stays search on Orbitz. The cheapest fare around may be Southwest's lowest rate: BWI - OAK $224 rt w/ taxes. Plug in random dates, then select the "Southwest Shortcut to Low Fares" in the pricing screen for the available dates.

You should have success at the 5* level for 7/31 - 8/2. Both nights are at their special rate, so it should be accepted at $99 on Priceline. This just leaves 7/30 up in the air.

Copied from your other thread: I would think many NYC hotels have minimum stay requirements for the New Year's holiday. Since you got a good rate for the remaining nights, hopefully you're willing to pay a little more for New Year's Eve. Quikbook has a couple hotels for less: Grand Union Hotel $180, Envoy Club $199, The Blakely $259.

What areas did you bid on in NYC? (MTE / MTW / UM-CPS) How much are you willing to spend? The rates on Hotwire are much higher than $131. Affina Dumont has studio suites for $235.29 + tax. Here are Reviews

There are few hotels in that area that could meet those amenities. All depends on what Hotwire considers a 2.5*. Here are a few possibilities with a pool and free breakfast: HoJo Express - Vernon Quality Inn - Vernon Wellesley Inn - East Hartford

When bidding on Priceline, you've agreed to their terms & conditions. In the T&C, it clearly states: Since you agreed to the T&C and the Airport zone has 3* properties, Priceline can upgrade your 2.5* bid to a 3*. As for being 7 miles away from your group: You selected the areas you were willing to stay in. If you didn't want to be so far away, you should have only selected the area that your group is staying in (downtown?) and other areas with lesser quality hotels only.

We can certainly give it a shot on Priceline. Before you start bidding on Priceline, are you familiar with Free rebidding ? At the 4* level, there are two free rebid areas. See if you can identify which ones they are. We would also need to know if you are flexible on what areas you are willing to stay in? (MTE / MTW / UM-CPS) Off to celebrate the 4th...

Yes, check this thread out from the General Priceline Tips: BIDDING TIPS FOR CANADIANS

Welcome! Looking at hotwire, the following hotel appears to be a better deal: In Midtown East, the Eastgate Tower has 1 Bedroom Suites available for $196.33 per night. Reviews are good, and you get more space than other NYC hotels. This should be cancellable until 72 hrs before the trip, so this may be a good "back-up" reservation if you're still looking to try Priceline or Hotwire. EasyClickTravel.com also has the Courtyard Midtown East for $183.82 per night, about $50 less per night than booking directly. You may be able to beat these rates on Priceline, but rooms will probably be on the smaller side than the Eastgate's rooms. If you need more assistance, just let us know, and please let us know what you end up doing for your trip. :)