Priceline Hotel: London hotel bidding help please!

[jennferkb]

Hello,

I am a newbie to this forum and have previously been on similar site (I'm sure you can guess which one!), but the moderators were pretty cranky if anyone asked something they think was "common sense". Anyway, I found this site and was hoping for some help from more experienced and kind travelers.

My husband and I are planning on traveling to London for 6-7 days during the first or second week of January 2007. I am very interested in using priceline for a great hotel price, but have never used it before. I've read the faq, but had some other questions.

My question is if you think it is way too early right now to bid for a January 2007 trip. Also, on average and based on past experiences, it seems like people were able to get low rates at places like Thistle Marble Arch for around $50 USD. Is this usually the case for January?

Also, I didn't see many posts with 3 star hotel bids and bookings. Do most people opt for the 4 star hotels because they will wind up being around the same price as 3 star hotels? We're on a budget so I'm just curious to get an idea of how much price difference it usually is between a 3 and 4 star hotel. Of course I realize it depends on the dates and availability.

On the priceline site it says under the terms and conditions that said something like this about being upgraded...You are bidding for an area and a quality/star rating level and if the area you are bidding offers a higher quality/star rating level than you are bidding, you could be upgraded."

I wasn't sure if this is a positive thing..meaning they will accept your bid for say a 4 star hotel and then wind up giving you an upgrade for a 5 star for the same price. OR does it mean that they have the right to charge you extra? I was confused about that.

Okay, last but not least, there are so many areas in London and I was hoping for experienced travelers recommendations on where a first time traveler should go in London. We are looking for an area that is close to the popular tourist attractions.

Thanks so much for your help!

[thereuare]

My question is if you think it is way too early right now to bid for a January 2007 trip. Also, on average and based on past experiences, it seems like people were able to get low rates at places like Thistle Marble Arch for around $50 USD. Is this usually the case for January?

As far as when to bid, see the related link our PRICELINE FAQ. $50 seems low, but it all depends upon the specific dates you choose and supply/demand for those dates.

Do most people opt for the 4 star hotels because they will wind up being around the same price as 3 star hotels? We're on a budget so I'm just curious to get an idea of how much price difference it usually is between a 3 and 4 star hotel. Of course I realize it depends on the dates and availability.

I think most choose 4* over 3* because Eureopean star ratings are somewhat different than here in the States... you should probably deduct .5-1 stars from European star ratings for their US equivalents. As well, European hotel rooms are notoriously small and a bit more 'basic' than what most non-European vistors are accustomed to.

On the priceline site it says under the terms and conditions that said something like this about being upgraded...You are bidding for an area and a quality/star rating level and if the area you are bidding offers a higher quality/star rating level than you are bidding, you could be upgraded."

I wasn't sure if this is a positive thing..meaning they will accept your bid for say a 4 star hotel and then wind up giving you an upgrade for a 5 star for the same price. OR does it mean that they have the right to charge you extra? I was confused about that.

You won't be charged more than your bid amount (plus taxes and fees). This is essentially stating that if you bid for a 3* hotel you could be upgraded to a 4* hotel if such a hotel is willing to accept your bid.

I was hoping for experienced travelers recommendations on where a first time traveler should go in London. We are looking for an area that is close to the popular tourist attractions.

Others know more than I when it comes to being a tourist in London, but i would suggest that the Bloomsbury/Marble Arch, Mayfair/Soho are the most frequently bid zones, followed by the Kensington/Earls Court/Knightbridge zone. You can also use our PRICELINE MAPS to see which properties are closest to the areas which you want to visit.

[jennferkb]

Thank you so much! You are so much more helpful than the other message board. All they simply said to me and others who had some questions was to read the faqs.

I'll definitely be staying over here! :)

[WillTravel]

Most people do bid for 4* hotels in London.

However, I have had very good success with two English 3* hotels that I've bid for - the Holiday Inn Bloomsbury (in the Bloomsbury-Marble Arch zone) and the Holiday Inn Ariel near Heathrow.

I do agree that your chances are higher of getting a better hotel if you bid 4*. Nonetheless, I feel I did very well with 3*. Why not try with 4* first? If you fail after reaching your bidding limit, you can consider trying 3*.

My favorite zone, but one I've never gotten because I didn't want to spend the money, would be Mayfair-Soho. I would be very happy with the Bloomsbury-Marble Arch zone and the Westminster zone, and there's a good chance I'd be happy with the Kensington zone. With the K zone, though, you have a fair chance of getting a hotel that is further out than my preference.

[jennferkb]

Hello,

I am currently reading the explanation of the Priceline re-bidding

strategy. The visual pictures were a great help and I really have a great understanding of how this all works now.

I haven't used priceline yet so I'm just basing this on assumptions. I'm

assuming when you place the bid, a separate/new window comes up with

whether or not your bid was accepted. Is this correct?

In this case...After your offer is declined and you are given the

chance to re-bid, is that when you close that new window immediately? Upon

closing that window, do you just type in the same requirements you want (with the added lower star rating area) on the original window and re-bid with the strategy?

Also, we are pretty flexible in our dates (either the 1st or 2nd week

in January) and I was wondering what strategy would work better for us.

Just say we wanted a 4* hotel in X area during the 1st week of Jan.,

but the offer was declined and we were given the chance to re-bid. Would

you recommend changing the date to the 2nd week of Jan. and keeping the

same area with the 4* hotel OR would you recommend keeping the 1st week

of Jan date and doing the above mentioned strategy of finding hotels

that are lower than the 4* in different areas. Which strategy is the

least risky one? I guess what we are trying to say is that we are more

flexible in our timeframe than we are with the hotel rating.

Lastly, are you always given the chance to re-bid or is it completely

random? I read somewhere that not everyone gets a chance to re-bid

right away and just has to wait the 24 hrs. to try again.

Thank you!

[jennferkb]

I wasn't sure if this question has already been answered so please excuse me if it was.

Does anybody know if the VAT tax is included in the priceline bid? I'm not too familar with what the VAT tax means, but isn't it a tax that any non-Europe citizen gets when they travel to Europe?

I'm assuming once you accept a bid, a final adjusted price comes up that includes all the taxes and fees...does that also include the VAT tax?

Thanks!

[jennferkb]

Just for research, I went to the priceline.com site and searched for hotels (not bidding yet through name your own price) and typed in Thistle Marble Arch first with Jan.3-10th 2007 and then another time for Jan. 8 -15th. Both times, it came up saying there is no hotel available with that name.

Does this mean that the Thistle Marble Arch has not published its rates for Jan. 2007 yet OR does it mean that all the rooms are booked up for the first two weeks in Jan. 2007?

I cannot imagine it to be that they are all booked up since it is so far away. I am just worried that if it does not show up through the regular hotel search that it will not be a hotel option when I go to "name your own price".

I am really interested in booking this hotel for the 1st or 2nd week in Jan. 2007 so I am hoping someone could tell me what the problem could be.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

After you place your bid you are taken to a screen where you are either accepted and given the hotel information OR you are told they couldn't find a hotel at that price and then offered to change some criteria (check-in, check-out, lower your star rating) in order to bid again immediately.

As far as if it is better to try different dates, it depends upon the actual dates of your stay and we look at prices for those dates. Until then, there are too many unknowns to speculate what would be best for your particular situation.

Before your submist your bid you'll be shown a confirmation screen in which you should confirm the dates of your travel, zone(s) selected, and minimum star rating... this page also shows you your total including fees and taxes.

[blindman]

When you bid another page comes up to confirm all the details. On this page it shows what the taxes and fees are and what you'll eventually pay if you win, nothing is hidden.

If you're unsure then do a 'dummy' run with any dates or places and either put a really low bid (there are minimum bids for different * ratings) and actually bid or go to the penultimate page and then cancel.

In Europe VAT (at 17.5%)is mostly included in the price of whatever service or item you are buying. The only places that seem to add it to what you've been quoted are some restaurants and some hotels.

If it is added as an extra in these (or other) places there is usually a (small :) ) note to this effect

Us Europeans pay VAT too!

[jennferkb]

Do most people tend to book airfare (not necessarily through priceline, but through other options such as a travel agent or from other websites) first and then with those dates, book the hotel through priceline OR vice versa?

I'm interested in using priceline for the hotel only, but I don't know if it is better to book that first through priceline and then book my flight through other websites. If they don't have a flight for the specific hotel days I bid on through priceline then I wouldn't be able to get there! I'm guessing that I should book the airfare first and then book hotels through priceline. The only thing is that we have a flexible two week period we can choose from in January and I don't know which week would be cheaper. What do you think?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ regarding using priceline's non-opaque product to determine what you will get on the opaque side.

Which to purchase first is trip specific (i have done it both ways), but for your particular situation i don't think you're likely to find much (any?) difference between airfare from one week to the next this far ahead of your travel dates... check to see if this is the case for both sets of dates you are considering and then book your hotel accordingly based upon that info. If the price is the same then you know you can choose either set of dates... once your hotel dates are confirm then book the airfare (in which case it should only be a few hours from the time you previously checked).

PS- please keep all posts regarding this stay in this thread rather than starting new topics for each question, thanks