Sota327

Can you share more about your bid history, i.e., was $80 your first bid, or did you start lower (and if so at what amount) and work up? Thanks.

Has anyone else noticed that in your Priceline profile you can no longer see you complete list of "trip history" and "upcoming trips." I recently booked 4 hotel reversations through "name your own price" during a 8 day period. At any given time, I could not see all four reservations in either the "upcoming trips" (I could always just see one) or in the "trip history." While on the road saturday, I had a short window of time to get online and access my priceline account (but without a printer) and I was hoping to jot down my confirmation number, hotel name, address and phone number for my stay on Monday night, but I couldn't find that reservation. I had deleted my emails and couldn't fine the "priceline request" number so I had no idea where the hotel was located, its phone number, or my confirmation numbers -- which I had become accustomed to having avialable in my trip history in my priceline profile. I e-mailed priceline and was told in their response that my inability to see all trips was because I did not login to my account when I booked the reservations that didn't show in my histories. This is wrong. I always log in to my account, this is how they bill me and I'm able to take advantage of my stored credit card and other information in my account. I would defeat the purpose of having an "account" if I didn't login when making purchases. In any event, I just spend 15 mintues on the phone with priceline to escalate the issue because it is clearly on their end. I remember in the past that I would be able to see reservations that I booked a year or more ago (which I like because when I make another trip to a previously booked destination, I can see what was previously a successful bid). I just don't get the sense that the guy on the phone really undestood the issue, he kept wanting to tell me that there was no way they could add the trips back to my profile. I tried to explain that this was a bigger issue than for just my trips, but makes their website, overall, less user friendly. Is anyone else having this problem? It is simply infurating. Maybe this is an isolated incident for me.

Why did you merge my other postings about counteroffers to this winning bid report? Did I do something wrong? I thought as separate posts the counteroffer postings would attract more attention to those bidding wanting to bid stip, which I eventually gave up on in favor of the cheaper convention center area. Having merged the counteroffer posts here makes them less likely to be seen, I think.

I gave up on 3.5* and 4* stip hotels, the counteroffers I was getting ($120 for 3.5* and $154 for 4* -- see my other posts regarding these) were just too high (I continued to increase a little after getting the counteroffer, but couldn't reach the sweet spot winning bid below stated coutneroffers), but ultimately we just didn't want to pay that much, so I opted for convention center location and will use the monorail. So, I bid as follows: 3.5* Convention Center, bid $40, rejected 3.5* Convention Center + zone 1, bid $50, rejected 3.5* Convention Center + zone 1, + zone 3, bid $60, win. Here are the details: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $60.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $60.00 Taxes & Fees: $15.10 Total Charged to Card: $75.10 Simply put, the room was not for me and I was working with a strict budget, which dictated bidding strategy. this is a perfectly acceptable hotel at the right price and it looks like all rooms are suites with a sofabed and separate living area, so it will easily accompdate a party of 3, with no request that the hotel give us two beds. P.S. If you are reading this post it means you are likely a Priceline bidder, so please make sure you are doing your part and reporting your winning bids on this forum. Thanks. Used PRICELINE link on this board for all wins and purchases.

Thanks, this was my second post about counteroffers, in the first I explained that I had been working up from $50. So, same with the 3.5* bid, I was working my way up (with free rebid zones) from a much lower starting bid. In this case, I added another zone and increased to $95 and was rejected. Just don't want to pay more.

Las Vegas Strip, 3.5* counteroffer from Priceline @ 120 For anyone still looking for a Vegas hotel this weeking, this information may help: Bidding again this morning and received the following: "Try Again Right Now We searched hundreds of options to find your hotel room, however we can't accept your offer of $90 per room, per night. Your credit card has not been charged for Request Number xxxxx. If you are willing to raise your price by $30 to $120 per room, per night, you can try the same request again right now." I bid $90 (3.5* in North Strip and South Vicinity), counter at $120, splitting the different suggests I should get a win at $105. I've already bid up to $105 for a 4* with no luck. Now I'm just trying to decide if I should wait it out until this evening for more inventory at a lower price. Rooms are still available and I have to think that at some point there will be more inventory released, but I could be wrong. I have a back-up plan off strip, so I'm just trying to get on strip for a reasonable price. As an update, I went up to $95 with no luck. Now I'm just trying to decide if I want to keep going up.

Las Vegas Strip, 4* counteroffer from Priceline For anyone still looking for a Vegas strip hotel for this weekend: While bidding last night I got a $154 counteroffer from priceline for a 4* strip hotel (I was bidding South Vacinity and North Strip using various free rebid strategies). I was bidding up from $50, with $10 bonus money, and when I got to $110 ($120 with the bonus), I got a counter at $154, . I would gues I could have wone it at about $145 or so, but $115 was my max budget ($125 with the bonus), which I bid and was declined. I stopped bidding, will try again today and if no luck book either the the LVH (former Hilton, looks like you can get it for about $100) or the Royal House (new and not many reviews, but acceptable for the one night), which is offered at $60 on Orbitz.

Key West is kind of difficult for bidding, not many rebid zones (just Marathon) and not many reported wins on this board, so it is difficult to know where to start. Any of the reported wins at 3*, 3.5*, 4* and Resort all have about the same rack rate and I would have been happy with any of them. I was unwilling to go below 3* because I didn't want to get the Lexington. I have been bidding for about a month, usually maxing out at $105 or $110, starting with Resort and just increasing my bidding and dropping my star rating. Today I bid with bonus cash as follows: Key West, Resort, bid $90 (+$10 bonus so bid in effect is $100) rejected Key West + Marathon, Resort bid $95 (+$10 bonus so bid in effect is $105) rejected Key West + Marathon, 4* bid $100 (+$10 bonus so bid in effect is $110)rejected Key West + Marathon, 3.5* bid $105 (+$10 bonus so bid in effect is $115)win and upgraded to 4* Here are the details: Bonus Cash: Per Room, Per Night $10.00 Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $105.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $105.00 Taxes & Fees: $23.29 Total Charged to Card: $128.29 Used PRICELINE link on this forum for all searches and bids. Would I have liked to get this for $10-20 less, especially for a mid-week one-night stay? Absolutely! But, I'm perfectly happy with this because to book the Lexington Hotel ouright is $109/ni, plus taxes. To have booked this hotel directly through the resort was $199/ni, plus taxes out the door something like $223. P.S. If you are reading this post it means you are likely a Priceline bidder, so please make sure you are doing your part and reporting your winning bids on this forum. Thanks.

I'll add my two cents . . . I think you got a good deal. You are well under your $250/ni max and it looks like you were able to use the free rebids to secure a price below the Priceline counteroffer. If you are using free rebid zones to gradually increase your price, you have to assume you didn't overpay (at least as of the date on which you make your purchase).

What it means is that if you increase your offer to $180, PRICELINE guarantees you a room in one of the zones you are bidding and at the star rating you bid without having to change anything else about your bid (normally, to bid again you have to change either your dates, zones or hotel star level and cannot just change the price, with a counteroffer, PRICELINE is giving you a chance to change your price, but it has to be the price they counteroffer, without chaning any other details). If you max is $250/ni, I would say $180 is a good deal. But, what a counteroffer also means is that you are getting close in terms of your bid price to securing a win. But, in my expierence, I can ususally get the room for less than the PRICELINE counteroffer price if I continue to increase my price using the free rebid zones. If you are unfamiliar with rebidding, you should do more research on this website. there is a section on rebidding. And, when I get counteroffers from Priceline, I ususally figure that I can secure a win if I split the difference between my bid and the Priceline counteroffer. In your case, you bid $120, PRICELINE countered at $180 (a $60 difference/2 = $30), so I would bet you could get the room for about $150. That is just my guess, though. If you haven't used any free rebid zones, I would start adding zones and working your way up. I hope this helps and doesn't confuse.

Have been bidding for several weeks, maxing my bid at $55 for a 3.5*, $50 for 3* and $45 for 2.5* (I just don't think I need to pay more than that for an airport hotel). Today I bid as follows: $40, rejected add rebid zone 1, bid $45 rejected add rebid zone 3, bid $50 rejected add rebid zone 9, bid $55 accepted. Here are the details: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $55.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $55.00 Taxes & Fees: $14.88 Total Charged to Card: $69.88 Used PRICELINE link on this website for all bidding and purchases. P.S. If you are reading this posting it means you are likely a Priceline bidder, so please make sure you are doing your part and reporting your winning bids on this forum.

Have been bidding for last couple weeks trying for under $60 before taxes, just need hotel with shuttle for last night of NYC adventure for my au pair and her mom before flying out of JFK at 6:30 a.m.. I was getting a little impatient and tired of daily bidding, so decided tonights max bid was $75. Bid as follows (with a little bid more sophisticated bidding practice to optimize low staring bid with more rebids options): JFK bid $50 JFK + zone 4 bid $53 (closed browser, restart) JFK + zone 2 bid $55 JFK + zone 2 + zone 4 bid $58 (closed browser, restart) JFK + zone 1 bid $60 JFK + zone 1 + zone 4 bid $65 (closed browser, restart) JFK + zone 2 + zone 4 bid $70 -- counteroffer from Priceline at $84, declined JFK + zone 2 + zone 4 + zone 1 (final rebid chance) bid $75 = deal Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $75.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes & Fees: $24.20 (taxes and fees so high NYC) Total Charged to Card: $99.20 Used PRICELINE link on this website for all searches and bids.

Started bidding for a cross country exploration trip for my au pair (from Switzerland) and her mother who is coming to the United States for two weeks. They will be traveling to NYC, Los Angeles, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Florida. This is just for the first night in Florida after a red eye from Las Vegas. While I was hoping to get them the Diplomat, they are pleased with a nice beach resort location to relax for the day/night. I started bidding at the end of April and have been bidding almost daily, usually maxing out around $65-70. Today, I started at $50 and went up by $5 for each rebid zone. I won with the last rebid zone at $75. Here are the details: Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resort Hotel 4000 S Ocean Dr, Hollywood, FL 33019 | 954-454-4334 Check-In: Mon, Jun 4, 2012 / After 04:00 PM Check-Out: Tue, Jun 5, 2012 / 11:00 AM Rooms: 1 room Summary of Charges Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $75.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $75.00 Taxes & Fees: $16.55 Total Charged to Card: $91.55 I used the PRICELINE link on this form to start each and every search and bid, including bids that resulted in today's win.

For those of you who have been accustomed to bidding based on zone numbers as opposed to zone names, beware that the zones for Central Los Angeles appear to have recently changed. I've been bidding (unsuccessfully so far) for an upcoming stay and I have a cheat sheet that I use to keep track of my bids and on which I write down my rebid zones simply by number, make a graph and come back each day to record that day's bids. I used to have USC as zone #10 (and a rebid for both 4* and 3.5* properties). When I went to bid today, I realized that USC is now Zone 11. Zone 10 is now Santa Monica/Marina Del Ray (and includes both 3.5 and 4* properties, so not a free rebid zone for Hollywood, for example). Had I not double checked the zones/#s and just bid blidngly off my cheat sheet, I would have mis-bid. Just a word to the wise to double check zones as the numbers and properties within each zone can change at any time.

I aopologize for making extra work for you. In any event, we couldn't find accomodations within the price we wanted to spend (and priceline was not really an option as we are 3 adults and would need to book 2 rooms if we wanted to guarantee A/I for all of us without an extra charge), so we are not traveling this weekend.

4* All Inclusive Playa Del Carment, $303/ni, with these amenities (the suite is what is throwing me): 4-star All-inclusive hotel in Playa del Carmen - Playacar This All-inclusive hotel features the following amenities: Resort Resorts offer a complete destination experience. Facilities generally include a spa or fitness center, one or more swimming pools, and superior dining options. Depending on location, recreational activities may include water sports, golf, tennis or skiing. Coastal resorts usually boast ocean views or beachfront access. Note: A resort fee may be charged. Suite A guestroom designed for an extended stay and/or that is more spacious than the average hotel room. Suites typically offer residential-style furnishings, as well as separate living and sleeping areas; some also offer kitchenettes. Beachfront Property Property is located on the beach. Food and Beverages Included Rate includes all meals, snacks, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Premium-brand beverages may be offered for an additional charge. A la Carte Dining Options Property offers at least one restaurant where guests order off a menu, instead of choosing from a buffet. An additional charge may apply and hours of operation vary. Water Sports/Ocean Activities Included Rates include the use of water-sports and ocean-activity gear; an extra charge may apply for motorized water equipment or scuba diving. Activities vary by location. Evening Entertainment Included Rates include evening entertainment, such as theme nights, shows and music. Daily Activities Included Rates include daily activities organized by the staff, such as sports, games, classes, excursions or activities of local interest. Children's Activity Program Property offers supervised programs, events or activities for younger guests; an additional charge may apply. Fitness Center Guests have access to exercise equipment; an additional charge may apply. Pool(s) Property offers at least one pool area; hours and dates of operation may be seasonal. Restaurant(s) Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary. Business Center Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply. High-Speed Internet Access Guestrooms are equipped with high-speed Internet access; an extra charge may apply. Spa Services Guests have access to a spa facility or spa services; an extra charge typically applies. All-Inclusive All meals and beverages are typically included in the up-front price. Many all-inclusive resorts also include all taxes and gratuities in the price. 4.0/5.0 on Tripadvisor. Thanks in advance. I am using HOTWIRE link on this site to search.

Did you win this as a 5* or is this a type? I thought it was previously reported as at 4* win. I don't see that the Priceline list for Florida has been updated.

Sorry, forgot to mention that I used PRICELINE link on this forum to search and bid.

Goal was 4* Minneapolis (downtown) for less than $60 (before taxes & fees). There are lots of free rebid zones (zones without 4* properties -- 16 I think), so I started low at $44 (counter-offer of $60, which I declined) and started added free rebid zones, increasing each bid by $1-2 and finally won at $53. This is a pretty new hotel in a very historic building in downtown Minneapolis, and I've heard good things, so I am pleased with the result. Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $53.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 Room Subtotal: $53.00 Taxes & Fees: $14.46 Total Charged to Card: $67.46 Priceline says I saved 51%, which sounds about right.

I've stayed at this hotel many times for business and have always paid at least $400/night. While the bidder may not have used the best strategy, I think he/she secured an excellent hotel for travel with parents. All of the rooms at this hotel are suites which include a separate living area with a pull-out couch which will easily accomodate the student and his/her parents without being at the mercy of the hotel receptionist to get you a room with 2 beds (sometimes rare in NYC hotels). So, I think it is a great acoomodation at that rate and I would love to be able to get this hotel on priceline for $155. As for location, it is right in the heart of time square and the subway is right outside the hotel door!

Started bidding for 3.5* in IAH Zone at $30. There are 16 free rebid zones so I felt I could start pretty low and saw previously wins for $37 in this zone/star level. After first $30 bid I was offered free rebid to increase price to $45. Declined and started free rebids adding $1.00 to each bid up to $40 when offer was accepted for Houston Marriott North. Perfectly acceptable for layover before trip to Cancun tomorrow morning. Just need a place with a free shuttle (I confirmed all 3.5* hotels on the list on this forum had a free shuttle) and place to sleep. And, with so many free rebid zones I know that I didn't pay more than I needed to. Here is summary: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $40.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $40.00 Taxes & Fees: $13.94 Total Charged to Card: $53.94 Used PRICELINE link on this forum to search and bid.

Booked this on 2/23/12: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $67.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $67.00 Taxes & Fees: $17.63 Total Charged to Card: $84.63 Started bidding 4* LAX at 45 (through PRICELINE link on this website), used 4 rebid zones up to $54 with no luck. Closed browser and started new search (through PRICELINE link on this website) bidding 3.5* LAX at $45, using 4 rebid zones up to $55 with no luck. Closed browser and started new search (through PRICELINE link on this website) bidding 3* LAX at $50 (was offered free rebid if I increased to $75, I declined, but then had an idea about how much it would take to get a win so goal became something less than $70) used 3 free rebid zones up to $60 with no luck My husband logged and searched (through PRICELINE link on this website) bidding 3.5* LAX at $62 (was offered free rebid if he increased to $75, he declined), first rebid zone at $64, second rebid zone at $65, third rebid zone at $67 was successful. Used PRICELINE link on this website for all searches/purchases.

I will definitely ask about a "boxed breakfast." I've stayed at many hotels and have never heard of, or been offered, a boxed breakfast. Here's hoping!

I've been bidding for the last week or so trying to get EWR hotel, maxing at $55 for 3.5 star, $50 for 3 star and $48 for 2.5 star. Started this morning with my Priceline account and bid as follows: EWR Zone 3.5 Star, bid $52, no luck. Added Newark zone and bid $55 with no luck. Closed browser, used PRICELINE link of this board and selected EWR and Orange zones, bid $57 with no luck. Added Newark zone (3 zones total, EWR, Newark & Orange) and bid $60 with no luck. Closed browser, used PRICELINE link on this board and bid $55 for 3 Star in EWR. No luck and no rebids. Added 2.5 start and bid $50 with no luck. I am decreasing my bid amounts because I think I should pay less for 3 star and 2.5 stars (respectively) than I pay for a 3.5 star. Tonight my husband tried and started with EWR Zone at $62, no luck. Added Newark Zone and bid at $64 with no luck. Closed browser, used PRICELINE link on this board and selected EWR and Orange zones, bid $66 with no luck. Added Newark zone (3 zones total, EWR, Newark & Orange) and bid $68 with no luck. Closed browser, used PRICELINE link on this board and bid 60 for 3 Star in EWR. Offered option to increase to $76 for free rebid. Declined offer, added 2.5 star and bid $64 and won Country Inn & Suites (actually the hotel I wanted, but if I start with 2.5 stars in EWR zone, I have no rebids, so I followed the method outlined above trying to make sure that I didn't overpay for any given star rating). Given that this is not a 3 star (as would have been guaranteed at $76 free rebid) I'm not sure if I could have gotten it for less. But, it was the hotel that I wanted, so I don't really care. It seems a bit high based on winning bid history I've seen on this forum, but this is the first time I've bid Priceline for EWR. But, I know I tried $55 for a 2.5 star without success this morning, so $64 is OK with me. I am sad that my AM flight leaves so early that I don't get to enjoy free breakfast! Here is priceline summary: Offer Price: avg. per room, per night $64.00 Rooms: 1 Nights: 1 + Add nights for the same rate! Room Subtotal: $64.00 Taxes & Fees: $17.65 Total Charged to Card: $81.65 And, in case it wasn't clear, I always use PRICELINE link on this forum to start searches & bids.

I just realized that when bidding on Priceline for a rental car, under Step 4, where you enter the driver's info, there is an "Optional" section wherein you can indicate the number of car seats you need (for which you will be charged at the rental counter). If you select a car seat, it shows up the "summary" page where you click "buy my rental car." Now, I haven't read any fine print on Priceline about car seats, but this suggests to me that the company who accepts your winning bid would have available the seats you indicate you need.