Priceline Hotel: Newbie

[808travelinthru]

Alright...... I just found this AMAZING site last nite. I will be traveling to Wasington State in March and want to use Priceline, but very uneasy. I will be going to Oahu in February, so I decided that I would try it out there being that I am familiar with the place and if I get stuck with an unwanted' resort, I'll just roll with it. I'm not even sure if I am posting in the right forum.

Anyway, this is how I will proceed with my PL bid. I know I want to be in the downtown waikiki area (city central) I verified the types of resorts that are affiliated with the zone...........I even checked what types of star ratings would be in that zone. PL gives 2*, 3*, 3.5* but greys out 1* and 4*. Betterbidding only goes up to 3*.............No 3.5*, I know it states that the 3.5 is new to PL.............does that mean all the hotels listed as being 3* on betterbidding could have been upgraded to 3.5?

Gosh, I feel so................I don;t even have the words. You know when you know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING than all of a sudden you're bummarded with info........ HAHA I feel sorry for who ever is reading this.

In short. I am Looking to stay Feb.06-09 (My Bday weekend!) and want to score the Aqua Waikiki. 63/night. I am on PL just checking it out, it accepted my bid of 64/night 3* waikiki city cental. Am I doing the right thing? Any help/feedback would be appreciated. Mahalo!

[peakay]

808, don't sweat it - you'll get it. here is the basic process you want to go through:

- identify area you want to stay in

- check the lowest rates on the hotel web sites in question so you'll know what a good deal is

- make a cancellable backup reservation that you can live with in case PL does not work out. Pay careful attention as to when the cancel deadline is as you'll need to win PL before then

- research and write down which are the free rebid zones for your target. you can use sites like these, but the bottom line is you'll want to verify on PL which star zones greay out for a given area as there might have been updates not yet documented.

- identofy your bidding strategy base don your # of rebid oppties. if you want o max at 80 and ytou have 4 free rebids, you might want to start at $60 and add $5 each bid

My advice? go for 4 start or resorts. The hotels in PL are often tired or toward the end of their upgrade cycles, so I've found the ratings are lower than actual. in other words, most 4 stars i get in PL are not what i would consider 4 starst if i was paying anything close to a normal price. For me, this also simplifies the rebidding as there are ususally many areas that do not have 4 stars or resorts. that might not be the case ina 3 star scenario.

a lot of work, but i've gotten some killer deals this way. $49 4 star in palm springs, $145 4 star in nyc, etc. good luck!

[slick_gd]

Welcome to the site 808travelinthru!

While it may seem like a lot of information at first, it really isn't that complicated when you get down to it. We're here to help so just post as many questions as you like.

I would really suggest you read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained to get an idea of how the bidding process works.

I am on PL just checking it out, it accepted my bid of 64/night 3* waikiki city cental.

It looks like you have already won a room with PRICELINE but it seems like you may not have realized it. I suggest you check your email to see if PRICELINE has emailed you a confirmation for your hotel win, and please update this thread with the hotel that you won.

Keep in mind that PRICELINE reservations are non-refundable or cancelable, so you cannot change your reservation if you are unhappy with the hotel.

[thereuare]

In short. I am Looking to stay Feb.06-09 (My Bday weekend!) and want to score the Aqua Waikiki. 63/night. I am on PL just checking it out, it accepted my bid of 64/night 3* waikiki city cental. Am I doing the right thing? Any help/feedback would be appreciated. Mahalo!

It looks like you have already won a room with PRICELINE but it seems like you may not have realized it. I suggest you check your email to see if PRICELINE has emailed you a confirmation for your hotel win, and please update this thread with the hotel that you won.

I'm guessing that you probably haven't won a hotel yet...

Did you ever click a button "Buy My Hotel Room Now" or receive an email and presented a page from PRICELINE "Congratulations... we founda hotel to accept your $64 bid..."

If neither of the above then you haven't won a hotel yet. I'm guessing that you entered the bid amount and PRICELINE is now showing you the information that you are about to submit if you click the BUY MY HOTEL ROOM NOW button at the bottom of that page.

If you did infact win a hotel room please do post the details of the hotel you received here, if my hypothesis above is correct, please post back and i'll add my thoughts regarding your first post above.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[808travelinthru]

I'm guessing that you probably haven't won a hotel yet...

Did you ever click a button "Buy My Hotel Room Now" or receive an email and presented a page from PRICELINE "Congratulations... we founda hotel to accept your $64 bid..."

If neither of the above then you haven't won a hotel yet. I'm guessing that you entered the bid amount and PRICELINE is now showing you the information that you are about to submit if you click the BUY MY HOTEL ROOM NOW button at the bottom of that page.

Yes you are right. Foolish me. Haha And thanks to all the replies........ I am still alittle skeptic though. So, just the basic........from scratch, what are the correct or 'ideal' procedures to bidding on Priceline? I have been reading this board and peoples replys........ I know I should verify the zones that my ideal hotel in located in..........kinda search reviews on sites to see thier star ratings.......find what the current rate is.......then id bid half of the current rate (made that up myself).

Is this the right way of going about this?

[thereuare]

Let's backtrack a moment...

I know I should verify the zones that my ideal hotel in located in

Not really, for if your "ideal" hotel is in a zone and there are hotels in that zone are hotels you DON"T want to stay in, then i wouldn't bid that zone at all. I would be seeking zones where you'll be comfortable receving any hotel in the zone at the minimum star rating you select.

If you have your heart set on a specific hotel than PRICELINE is probably not your best option, and you may just end up disappointed, since you can't choose which hotel you will recieve. If you're trying to target, or avoid, a particular hotel you may be better off with HOTWIRE where you can often identify the property being offered before your purchase based upon the amenities shown. The trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, but if you're able to identify the property and have an educated guess as to what you will receive beforehand, the slight additional cost may be worth it to you.

then id bid half of the current rate (made that up myself)

In some areas bidding half of a conventionally booked rate may be a waste of time, in others it could easily be too much to bid. You're right that you need to research rates beforehand, but what i would do is find the best deal you're able at an acceptable property, then determine how much you'd need to save to make an 'opaque' (unknown hotel) purchase worthwhile. Let us know that amount and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

[808travelinthru]

I went ahead and put in a bid of 55 for waikiki city central at priceline. It told me to rebid. I read the tips on rebidding. My perferred zone goes up to 3 1/2* the next zone I am willing to stay in offers 4*. When I attempted to rebid, my perferred zone and star level was a default and it also made 4* and Resort a default selection when I added the zone to try my rebid. Now what would be the steps? I truely dont mind getting a hotel in another zone.

The lowest rate a hotel goes for in the perferred zone is at 149 and its a 3 1/2*.

[808travelinthru]

Sorry for all the trobule with this one, but I ended up not booking a hotel room thru any site. Thanks for the replies though! It helped with my last trip.