Chameleon

Hi thereuare, Just got back from my first "Betterbiding/Priceline" hotel stay and all went smoothly. I know that you presonally did not find the final deal I got was that amazing but at least I got to learn the ropes thorugh your help and support. Please let me know if I can be of help or support to you or your organisation in the future. Chameleon

Hi Thereuare, Just to close to information loop on this thread, I've ended up booking the three nights of the 15th to 18th of August at the Beekman through EasyClickTravel @168 US$/night. You help and advice was very useful (it was your forum which got me onto the Beekman and EasyClickTravel - which actually shows how impartial you are). Please let me know if I can be of any help to the forum. Chameleon

Hi thereuare, Please correct me if I have mis-understood, but, I think you are suggesting that: 1) if I decide my budget can rise, then I should re-bid up after 72 hours and up to my new ceiling. 2) there is no particular benefit in expecting last minutes discounts. 3) the Beekman is good value for money at 168 US$. I appreciate you are busy so I am OK with just some Yes and No answers. As ever, I will work through Savingsbarn and thanks for your help. Marc

Thereuare, thanks for the feedback. So far: I have been rejected @ 150 US$ for 4* MTE, MTW, UM/CPS (plus Zone 1 and 2) dates Aug. 15 to Aug. 18. I still have my back up @139 US$ for 2,5*. What do you recommend as my next bidding strategy ? Should I: 1) wait 72 hours and raise? What you do think is likely a winning bid for that time of the year? 2) wait till the last few days before my departure to catch some last-minute discounts? 3) go for the Beekman @ 168 US$/night? thanks for your feedback, Marc

Hi Thereuare, I followed your july 18th strategy and was REJECTED @ 150 US$ for 4* MTE, MTW, UM/CPS (plus Zone 1 and 2) dates Aug. 15 to Aug. 18. I still have my 2.5* cancellable back-up at the Stanford hotel in Koreatown 43west 32nd street at 139 US$ including Breakfast. I also have the first part of my split bid in swanky Intercontinental the Barclay @175 US$ dates Aug 12 to 15th. SO, what are my options: 1) wait until the last days before departure and try again? Do you think some last-minute better price will appear on the market? 2) raise my bid after 72 hours? ...I only want to go up by 10-20 US$ Max. Is that likely to get me anywhere? 3) Beekman towers via EasyClickTravel 1 bedroom suite @168 US$/night. Looks good, though not too central. Can you confirm that it is within a 10-15 min walk to Time Square? They claim it includes a fully kitted kitchen, so would be it realistic to heat up a couple (locally purchased) easy meals and thereby save on food costs? Also easy-click seem to offer full refund prior to the 72 hour before check-in which is nice because it takes out the cancellation or no-show risk (life is full of last minute surprises and that way I would'nt risk losing my 600 US$). What do you think is my best choice? looking forwards to your feedback, Chameleon

Hi Thereyouare, Thanks for the strategy which I will try when I get home tonight. Just a few questions: I notice you did not include MTS in your bidding. Is that because do you not recommend it to a sightseeing visitor like me? If not, would including it in the strategy improve my bidding chances? Correct me if I am wrong, but is it just a question of adding a paragraph in the "first act" and "second act" and then summing it to the other three in the "final act"? Thanks for your music club advice which I will definetly check out. I have also read your "THEREUARE's LOCAL THINGS TO DO IN NYC. " but I'd like to go deeper with regards to the "high-brow" entertainment (classical music, Opera and Ballet) and also the good food for less than 25 US$/head section. Can you recommend other travel sites or forums gviving advice on these topics? Thanks as ever, Chameleon

Hi thereuare, besides my search for the second hotel of my split bid, can you (or other readers) recommend: 1)decent, value-for-money home-cooked places which can be found near our first hotel (the Intercontinental the Barclay 111 east 48th Street)? 2)with regards to evening entertainment, any music clubs playing familiar, popular covers-stuff (billy Joel, Elvis, the Doors ...ecc...). 3)Some high-brow evening entertainment (Opera or Ballet or Classical Music) which could be appreciate by someone without extended knowledge of these Arts? I hope this the right place to file this request, otherwise let me know. thanks, Chameleon

moved discussion to new thread.

My back up is 139 US$/night including breakfast at the Stanford in Koreatown. I heard it is "acceptable", based upon friends who recently stayed there.

Hi thereuare, I am looking at bidding the second half of a split booking 4/5* NYC Aug. 15 to Aug. 18 . You were very helpful in my first bid which landed me with 3 nights at the Intercontinental The Barclay @175 US$/night from 8/12 to 08/15. Now on to the second half, here are the key issues: 1) I have a back up booking with a 2.5* at 140US$/night. 2) my motivation is to upgrade to a 4 or 5 star without spending (much) more. Say 150 US$/night. If I win at that price, great. If I fail, never mind, I already have one nice hotel in the first half of my trip. 3) I am already spending 3 nights in MTE and I still want to be close to the center but I don't mind trying a different neighborhood. I don't know Manhattan, but should I assume all Priceline areas are appropriate for sightseeing except Downtown? Please correct me if I am wrong. I put myself into your capable hands. Looking forwards to reading your startegy. Chameleon

Hi Thereuare, Thanks for your feedback, please confirm if I understand correctly my mistake: My third-to-last bid was a "jump " because I had not tried UPS or MTE in the range between 145 and 165 US$. Since they were both turned down at 165 and 170 I think I can claim my final bid at 175US$ was justified.(Am I correct?). Nevertheless, I am very impressed with your system. You are taking a methodical aproach to a gambling scenario. A wonderful mix! I will now start a new thread for the second half of my stay.

Here's my pitch: After 10 year, two kids and three mortages we are looking forwards to 6 romantic days and nights in NYC. We want to do "grown-up things". Don't anybody tell her, but I want to "romance her off her feet". I've read qite lot of threads and guide books but I thought I'd ask for fresh input from contributors. Can I ask for tips on secret and unusual stuff that you don't find in the guide books? ps. I'm on a bit of a budget (150 US$/day + hotels) Thanks, Chameleon

Hi Thereuare, I do want to learn where i went wrong. However, if you look at my second to last bid which included MTE (and was my favourite Zone in the first place), you see I was turned down @165 night. I then got a little restless and jumped up 10 US$ and won the bid. Oh well, I'll learn! By the way speaking of learning, are there similar sites to yours for destination outside the US? Thanks again for all your help. Chameleon

I split-bid and won the Intercontinental The Barclay @175 US$/night from 08/12 to 08/15. I checked with the hotel web site and could have got it for 199 US$/night, so not an amazing deal but still better than a kick in the pants. Did I get a good deal? what do you suggest I do with the remainer of my stay 08/15 to 08/18? what would be my bidding strategy? here's the bidding history of this first win: Selected 4* MTE... Bid $130, added re-bid zone...1 Bid $135 added re-bid zone...2 Bid $145, closed browser Selected 4* MTW... Bid $140, added re-bid zone...1 Bid $155, added re-bid zone...2 Bid $160, closed browser Selected 4*UM/CPS... Bid $165, added MTE... Bid $170, added zone 1 Bid $175 and WON!!!!!!. looking forwards to your comments, Chameleon

Hi Thereuare, 1) I bookmarked the savingsbarn link and cancelled the direct PRICELINE link to avoid any confusion. 2) Beekman hotel actually I got the name from various post of yours recommending it. Can you tell if you think I'm getting a good deal @168 US$/night for a Suite for the business days (i.e. 08/15 to 08/18)through EasyClickTravel? Would I get a better deal from their invidual web-site?Is EasyClickTravel a reliable web-site? 3) split bidding, ok I'll proceed as per your instruction and let you know. By the way, are you Manhattan based? that's all for now, take care, Marc

thanks blindman, but it's gotta be Manhattan.

Hi Thereuare, I'm finding out that this bidding lark is addictive as heck! I'm not sure about really wanting to wait the 72 hours until Monday. I tried the split bid research on hotel web-sites you suggested on 2 hotels: the Beekman and the Astoria and I split between weekend days (in Friday 08/12 out Monday 08/15) and business (in Monday 08/15 and out Thursday 08/18). Interestingly they had opposite results: the Beekman was cheaper on business days @ 168 USD/night against 183 US$/night on weekends the Waldorf was cheaper on weekends@ 249 US$/night against 299 in business days. So what do you suggest as my next strategy? Do I build up a split bid along those lines and slowly raise the stakes @5 US$/night? How high do you think I should go? thanks for your help, Chameleon

Thanks for the answer. If you don't mind, I'll bump up this thread on Monday and ask you for a fresh strategy. If you then recommend the split bid I'll follow your advice. Chameleon

One more question! If I decide to split blid: are Friday, Saturday and Sunday "cheap nights" and Monday to Thursday "expensive"? (or is it vice-versa.) what price ranges should I go for in the cheap bracket and what range in the expensive? Thanks, Chameleon

Thereuare, thanks for the feedback. Please consider: 1) I have a back-up cancellable booking for a 2 1/2 star at 140 per night, so there's no anxiety or worry. 2) I can split-book if absolutely necessary. However, I think (?) you are suggesting it is best 72 hours to get a better deal (I'm not quote sure, why?). Therefore, I will bump the thread on Monday and kindly ask you for a updated strategy. meantime, take care, Chameleon

Hi thereuare, Hi all, First of all thanks for the kind strategy you gave me. Unfortunately, despite following your instructions to the letter, I reached the final bid without catching a sale. I even went one bid further by adding MTS and 145 US$ to the list. So, where do we go from here?...... I'm ok to go up by up to a further 30 US$/night if necessary (ie. 185 US$/night). 1)Is there any value in giving it couple of days rest and trying again in case things have changed? 2)If I want to continue bidding right away, what is my strategy to avoid getting caught in the 72 hour waiting list? 3) Are you surprised by the results ? Could this have been expected? thanks for your help. Chameleon

I may have been a litlle long winded in previous posts, so, to summarize my request so you can suggest a bidding strategy, I am looking for: NYC - MTE, UM or MTW 4 to 5 star dates 08/12 to 08/18 bidding around 120 to 150 US$.(slight preference for the Astoria). I have read the re-bidding system but thought I'd to aks for help defining a strategy before I launched myself. Thanks. Chameleon

Does anyone know what is the status on these special restaurant deals? Are they still available? Thanks for any help.

Hi Thereyouare, Hi all, I am travelling to the Big Apple for a romantic few days with my wife from the 12th of August through to the 18th. I have never bought anything using a bidding web-site, however, I have spent the last few hours reading the forum and I think I understand the basics. I already have a cancellable booking with the 2

Hi thereuare, WOW! lots of information to digest for a newbie so before I sink myself into this , a couple of questions: 1) any country limitations?: I notice most users are either from the US or UK. DO you think there might be some limitations for an Italy based bidder? I would be using my Visa card with at least 2,000 US$ limit. Never had any credit problems with it in the past. 2) is this the right bidding season?: I am just under 3 months away from my due date. Is this the right time to bid or should I wait a little longer? thanks, Chameleon