Priceline Hotel: need help with "name your own price"

[superhenderson13]

so my family is planning on going to Toronto and Niagara Falls. We have never used priceline and after reading about it, we believe we can save a ton of money using "Name your own price". however i have a few quick questions about the process that i need answered before bidding

1. if there are a few hotels with the same start level in the area i bid on, is it possible to have 2 or 3 accept my offer and i pick the hotel? or is it the first one to accept?

2. i see there is nothing about how many beds and people are attending so how hard is it to get a room with a double bed? is the hotel good about stuff like that or is it the luck of the draw?

3. To avoid a situation where i dont get a good 3 star hotel, im going to bid on a 4 star in each of the places. I plan on bidding $85.00 on a 4 star hotel in Downtown Toronto and 85.00 in the heart of the falls. Is this wistful thinking? do i have a shot of getting a 4 star hotel for only 85.00 plus tax?

again, honest and complete answers would be great

thank you so much

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

First of all, we'll use this thread for your Toronto stay. Please start a separate topic for your Niagara Falls stay.

1. if there are a few hotels with the same start level in the area i bid on, is it possible to have 2 or 3 accept my offer and i pick the hotel? or is it the first one to accept?

No, you will only get any options for hotels. It's the first one to accept

2. i see there is nothing about how many beds and people are attending so how hard is it to get a room with a double bed? is the hotel good about stuff like that or is it the luck of the draw?

PRICELINE only guarantee a room for two adults, that could mean one bed only. How big is your party? In the end is this really up to the hotel what room you'll get at C/I. But you can try to call the hotel and ask. Some hotels are better than others with this.

To avoid a situation where i dont get a good 3 star hotel, im going to bid on a 4 star in each of the places. I plan on bidding $85.00 on a 4 star hotel in Downtown Toronto and 85.00 in the heart of the falls. Is this wistful thinking?

Please post your date(s) for the stay and we'll have a look at this.

Let us know how we can help you further.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Yellowdog.

[superhenderson13]

thanks for the answers. we are staying from August 3rd-August 8th

[thereuare]

To confirm/expand further on the comments above...

PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it is at the discretion of the hotel... so you could receive a room with only one bed and the hotel may be unable, or unwilling, to provide you a room with two beds (or could charge an additional fee for such a room configuration) Many hotels will try to work with you, but others aren't as flexible, and sometimes there is a situation where the hotel would like to help but just can't as due to occupancy levels there are no rooms of the type you want available. Is this a risk you're willing to accept?

If not HOTWIRE can still be an option as they allow you to search for up to quad occupancy per room... but the trade-off is that HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE.

If you decide you would still like to try PRICELINE take a look at their map/zones of this area... are both the Downtown North and Downtown South zones acceptable?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[superhenderson13]

should i bid what someone else won? i was reading the wins calendar and noticed someone won a 4* Sheraton for $77.00...

should i bid 77?

[thereuare]

I don't see a $77 win for the exact same dates as your, and adding/removing dates can effect the price of an overall stay. As well, what if the price has gone up since then? What if it's gone down... wouldn't you like to try a lower price?

This is why we suggest a bidding strategy which is able to start low and increase gradually all in the same bidding session. If you let us know your maximum bid for this stay we will suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.