TheBugster

Happy with this! Started around $90 and went up in $5 increments till we got the Hyatt Century Plaza - very happy with the price!

The rest of my road trip from San Diego all the way to San Fran, across to Yosemite/Death Valley and finally in Vegas is now booked!! Mainly all on Priceline so that has made it very affordable

The equivilent on Hotwire (4.5* not 4 like this so not sure of the difference was showing up as $209):-

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $140.00

Subtotal: $420.00

Taxes & Fees: $71.58

Total Charges*: $491.58

Used the PRICELINE link of course :)

Cheers

ps. Sorry....Put the wrong To Date in the topic - can someone change it? should be to the 4th of August? (make too many mistakes with US dates!!)

Yes, PRICELINE will usually be cheaper, but you are risking which hotel it is against HOTWIRE where you can make an educated guess

I won the Wynn the other day - HOTWIRE was $100 a night and PL came in at $96 - a saving anyhow

Just make sure you select North not the North Condo - as you'll probably get the Trump Towers!!

Sorry meant to say PRICELINE link used!!

I knew the Wynn on Hotwire was coming in at $100 per night.

So I started at about $70, and from $80 or so I went up in $2 increments.

I got a bit scared when I got to $94 and hadn't won anything, but in the end got to $96 and won!!

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $96.00

Subtotal: $384.00

Taxes & Fees: $60.48

Total Charges*: $444.48

Cheers

Thanks for that Trevor - here is what I did win in the end! - very happy

4* San Diego (Downtown-Harbor Island) Andaz San Diego

$138 ... 7/29/11-7/31/11

Thanks for the reply/tips

I've tried most of what you've suggested..first said I have bid far more than I wanted to and would they refund me somehow, and also asked if I can bid for the Thurs/Fri seperately (as you say, I think the Thurs is a lot cheaper than the Friday!) - their email replies don't make too much sense - I'm not sure they understand what I am writing to be honest! I may call up and try my luck. But as you say, they weren't obligated to do anything for me...

If we are definitely going to be staying there on the Thurs/Fri - I have worked out a maximum I should bid to before I should write off the $139 and stay somewhere else.

They seem pretty intent (fair enough) on the same person, card, star, correct area and same dates must be won to get the refund back. I'm not sure what would have happened if we were only staying 1, or more than 2 nights!! I have also asked about if there is a deadline for when I have to win....and it seems not; rather I don't think they have read the emails properly but they didn't say there was!

Up to $200 now!! D'oh!! Used all my re-bid zones for the day now so will need to decide what to do.

Maybe there are no rooms available at the hotels in the zones-or would it say?

Glad I got a new hotel on to the list for free (kind of)!

Well, if I hadn't have screwed up and got the Marriott in Solvang, I'd have probably have said around the $180-200 mark and possible looked away from Priceline. I will probably have to up that slightly now as I've got $139 to recoup, otherwise I'll lose that!

I'll need to do some maths and add $139 to an Expedia rate for example to ensure that won't be less expensive than bidding through Priceline (minus the $25 change fee of course!)

Just with everything I have won so far, this is going WAY more expensive than San Diego, Anaheim, Monterey, San Fran etc - I suppose those are just particularly good prices! I think comparing it to standard hotels in England where I have stayed recently (for weddings etc which is approx $250 inc tax per night) - I would look to make that a maximum!!

I still have LA and Vegas to book too for other dates during the trip

Thanks for your help

Used PRICELINE link as usual!

V happy with this - $269 according to their website!! Started at 70 went to 80 and immediately got asked to add $20 on! Went up a few dollars at a time and got to 88.

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night:

$88.00

Subtotal:

$88.00

Taxes & Fees:

$18.57

Total Charges*:

$106.57

What I actually won, but accident, was the Marriott in the Solvang/Santa Ynez region for $120 from the 4-6 August (probably too high for that region!)

Luckily PL cancelled the request for me, but I am now $139 inc tax down as they would only refund 1 night stay - so in order to get the other $139 refunded, I need to win a 3* hotel, in SB, with the same dates!

I'm not too sure how high to bid now!

Hi guys,

I'm having real problems with Santa Barbara for the above dates of Aug 4-6. I'm probably having issues as it doesn't appear to be too competitive compared to the likes of SD and San Fran.

I'm up to $184 now for the 2 nights....I would look elsewhere, but unfortunately I somehow (NO IDEA HOW) but during the hundreds of re-bids I have done, I clicked on Solvang and so got the Marriot there for $120!! Priceline did cancel this, but only 1 night refund so far. I'll only get the full refund if I get the 2 nights in Santa Barbara minus a $25 fee.

So at the moment I am kinda stuck - luckily I have ages to go so can go up in $2 increments....but I may have to decide soon whether to swallow the cost of $139 and book somewhere directly as it's getting pricey!

I've looked at the history of wins and I am quite a bit above (I realise it is summer and could be v busy then).

I just hope Priceline haven't flagged my account so I have to pay extra? (I'm assuming this is definitely not the case but you never know!!) - has anyone else got experience of having cancelled a hotel room because the wrong area was selected and winning the correct area at a decent rate?

Sure nobody can really help me - but maybe I just need to wait a little and somehow the rate could go down?

Many thanks

Thanks - just need to sort the rest of my roadtrip out now!

- LA (not sure where to stay - yet for again 3 nights)

- Santa Barbara for 2 nights - this is proving difficult for the 4-6 August for a 3* only!! Up to $184 per night which isn't looking promising at the moment!

- Monterey for 1 night

Used the PRICELINE link of course

Finally got this hotel after going up to $125 on USE - so thought I'd switch to USW as it didn't make too much difference. Saw the rate was fairly low on Expedia/their own site so thought this would be the one I'd get.

Finally got a counter offer at $98 to add $25 to offer at $123 - but went up in $2 increments and finally got to $116 which I thought would grab it! A good saving of about

Glad it wasn't the hotel by the airport - v happy it's downtown!!

After 48 bids of a mixture of 4 and 5* hotels starting from $60 - I finally got bored and wanted to win something! Probably paying more than most, I am still saving about $40 per day than what is on the website - so a saving of around

We'll get a car on the morning before we head off - no point having it before/paying for parking.

So we land Day 1, spend the whole of next day in San Diego and leave early on Day 3. So possibly staying by the airport could be a good thing as I guess the majority of rental places will be by the airport!

Would love 5* but think 4 will be the way going forward..I have ages to go so will try my luck - and with all those re-bid zones I can have some fun!!

Cheers

Thanks for the reply - I guessed at most of that but good to hear from you as you see everything that goes on here on the board!

Yes, I got a bit impatient with Anaheim - with 4* hotels I got up quite high....and this stay was really a get to the hotel as early as possible, leave bags with hotel, get to Disney asap bed late then off to LA the next day! So I went for a 3.5*, and got Red Lion at a good rate (I hope) - location is great and will do us fine!

San Diego is another story. As you rightly say, there is only 1 5* hotel. As we have so much time, I'd rather try for that at a decent price than get the airport for a 4* near the airport. Having said that, the 4* hotels look absolutely fine for us - and if I got the Sheraton Marina at a really good rate, it would be fine....I think I tried $60-70 on 4* but didn't get anywhere yet. Just need to see whether or not it is worth trying multiple bids for the one and only 5* hotel...it is so easy for re-bids in San Diego!!

Hotwire: In the Gaslamp Quarter you are looking at $195 for 5* and $178 for 4*.....that seems a little high but what do I know!! I know the wife would just want me to go for the 5* especially as we would have just been on a long flight. If it's $195 for 5* on Hotwire.....I am probably nowhere near with $100 on Priceline (I could go up a little I guess...but would rather 4* but risky with the airport hotel - the only good thing about that is that I guess picking up a car would be from the Airport mainly....any ideas? I haven't booked the car yet...!!)

Thanks for the help

Using PRICELINE link

Started at $60, but got told I could try again at $75 - for the sake of $15 I thought I'd just go for it as at that time of year I think it's going to be quite expensive/busy! The website has the price at $159 so pretty happy! Only need a bed for the night really

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $75.00

Subtotal: $75.00

Taxes & Fees: $17.96

Total Charges*: $92.96

Hi guys,

Wondering if you can offer any advice. I understand the whole bidding process and all the tips/methods available.

What I'm interested in is advice on bidding about 5 months in advance...does it make any difference to the price/is there less chance of winning bids so far in advance? We are doing a road trip, starting in San Diego. With so much time I thought I'd give the 5* hotels a go and in San Diego Downtown, there are so many re-bid opportunities as there are tons of zones and only 1 has a 5* hotel. Ideally we'd save the cash and get a 4* but I don't really want the hotel out of the city centre (by the airport) - I've got so far to about $100 and don't mind going quite a bit more. I'm wondering being at the end of July/beginning of August, is it likely bids won't be accepted till nearer the time due to the high season?

I've given Disney-Anaheim a go as well (next stop!) at 4* and got to about $80 so far and still no luck.

Just wondering what people's thoughts are and the best way to approach this may be. Dates for San Diego are 29-31 July and Anaheim would be 31-1.

Many thanks

ps. For about 20 bids I have done on San Diego so far, I've used the PRICELINE link each time!!

Thanks for the replies guys - good info

Will you still be interested in bids from the past 2 years or so? Always clicked the link of course...not sure why I didn't post them!! Will do from now on :)

Hi guys,

With the help of this board, I've used Priceline extensively in California and the deep South on road trips usually out of season, which I guess has made life pretty easy from a bidding point of view.

I am looking into doing another road trip in California from San Fran down to San Diego etc - but this time probably in the middle of summer (first few weeks of August) as the wife is a teacher and that is the only time we can go. I want to priceline it as we go along again which has worked really well in the past, but I'm worried bidding of rooms may be quite difficult/high as it will be a busy period.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of the West Coast in the middle of August and can give any tips.

Many thanks