Priceline Hotel: Resort Maui (Ka'anapali - Lahaina) Sheraton Maui

[genuine7288]

Hi,

I'm completely new to bidding on PL and to this site. What would everyone recommend I bid for a resort in the Lahaina/Kaanapali area during the last week in April.

Thanks!

[bbbb]

WOW I checked your dates on Hotwire and the rates are low. I would start at $140 in the Kaanapali area and increase your bid by $5 each time. You have two free rebids for Kaanapali resorts and I think you have a good chance to win a room for $140 or $150 per night. If your not sure of the free rebids please ask before bidding!

[genuine7288]

I'm a total newbie.....

I bid $140 for a resort in Lahaina/Kaanapali and got rejected. I tried to rebid up to $150 but it wouldn't let me without me changing one of the travel details. Since I'm pretty set with staying in Lahaina at a resort, I wasn't sure what I should do. Should I wait 72 hours or shoud I try the 72 hour rebidding strategy by selecting a different region that doesn't have resorts listed? It looks like as long as I don't add Wailea into the mix, I should be fine. Is that a correct statement?

[genuine7288]

Thanks BBBB. I just wrote another post regarding this...I tried $140 but it got rejected. I tried increasing my bid to $150 but it wouldn't let me without me adding in another change. Since I'm pretty set on just staying in a resort in Lahaina area, I was afraid to add in another region. What do you think I should do?

Thanks again for responding. I'm so clueless.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Before bidding you'll need to know about re-bid zones, which are explained in this thread: PRICELINE RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED. Please read the previous thread and ask any questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board (to avoid any mistakes).

This is how i would bid:

Select Resort Ka'anapali-Lahania

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $140.

If rejected close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously.

Select Resort Ka'anapali-Lahania and re-bid zone2...

Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $160.

If the above are higher than you orginally intended on bidding (you didn't tell us what your maximum bid was) then post back and let us know how high you're willing to bid and we'll adjust accordingly. I assumed these prices were 'ok' given that hotels at the Resort class are selling direct at $275+/nite.

Any questions please feel free to ask.

If you proceed let us know how it goes.

[genuine7288]

Thanks. I think I get it now.

I'll try the strategy you recommended.

[genuine7288]

Bid $140 Resort Ka'anapali-Lahania- got rejected

added Kihei bid $145- got rejected

added Kahului bid $150- got rejected

Will try back in 72 hours.

Thanks for all the advice!

I'm trying to stay under $185 b/c Hotwire is $196 for that same time frame.

[LoneStar]

Whoops, my post got lost in cyberspace when thereuare consolidated the thread. :)

Genuine, I think you can get a good deal on the Sheraton Resort if you were to lop the last night off your stay. The Sheraton is offering their cheapo priceline rates on the other nights. If you decide to do this, of course, you'd have to come up with something for that last night (or lop a couple more nights off and split your stay).

Without 4/30 (and remember, if you change your days, you don't have to wait 72 hours to rebid), you could start at $145. More likely, you'll get hit at $150 or slightly above.

Good luck!

[thereuare]

Whoops, my post got lost in cyberspace when thereuare consolidated the thread.

Sorry 'bout that :)

[Vicin]

Without 4/30 (and remember, if you change your days, you don't have to wait 72 hours to rebid), you could start at $145.

[thereuare]

... but what if the 'trouble' date for your stay was the 20th?

I'm not saying this is the case, but it is certainly a possibility :)

[LoneStar]

After looking at Vicin's post, I looked at the packages inventory again. Now looks like Sheraton pulled its cheapest rates from all of those nights so nothing may be available in the $150 range. Not sure how often hotels typically alter their priceline rates. Never hurts to bid low, of course -- you never know.

[Vicin]

Tried again after 72 hours:

4/20-4/27, Resorts,

Increased bid to $160.

Still Rejected.

[genuine7288]

My 72 hours is almost up. Based on some of your suggestions, I'm thinking about splitting my trip into 2 different sections. I'm also considering adding in Wailea into the mix for one of those sections. Typically which is cheaper, Wailea or Kaanapali? What do you think the best bidding strategy is?

[LoneStar]

My 72 hours is almost up. Based on some of your suggestions, I'm thinking about splitting my trip into 2 different sections. I'm also considering adding in Wailea into the mix for one of those sections. Typically which is cheaper, Wailea or Kaanapali? What do you think the best bidding strategy is?

Wailea and Kaanapali resorts typically run about the same -- generally $130 to $180 (although I don't think we've seen any successful $130 or $140 bids very recently). It seemed that Wailea used to be a few dollars cheaper, but I'm not sure that's the case now. What you get by being willing to stay in either is access to more inventory. FWIW, if you're staying a week on the island, I don't think it's a bad idea to split your time between the two. I think I'd stay a little longer in Kaanapali, however.

If you're going to do a split bid, try Kaanapali first, up to $150 or $151. Remember I said I saw the Sheraton available on a packages search if you took off the last night? And then it somehow "disappeared"? Well, if you read dumbo's post, you'll see he got the Sheraton for $151 even though it was not available on "packages" for the low price. My hunch is it's still out there for your days, but perhaps not for the last night.

[genuine7288]

Used savingbarn.com

So I decided to split up the trip into 2 segments.

First leg (4/24-4/28)

Bid $140 Resort Ka'anapali-Lahania- got rejected

<got message saying that I can increase by $22 without rebidding- decided not to>

added Wailea bid $145- got rejected

added Kahului bid $150- WON!

***Won Sheraton Maui for $150***

Second leg (4/28-5/1)

Bid $145 Resort Wailea- got rejected

<got message saying recent activity shows that bid is too low>

added Ka'anapali-Lahania bid $150- got rejected

added Kihei bid $160- got rejected

added Kahului bid $165- got rejected

Will try back in a week and will start with 4 stars in Wailea and then add in Resort.

Thanks!

[LoneStar]

Congrats, genuine. You see how much "hunch" was probably right -- I think it's that last night which is the trouble at the Sheraton.

Here's what you can do if you want to save money. Search on priceline and there's a way you can try to add additional nights to you stay. You're only allowed to do it once, and it has to be for the same or fewer nights than you've already booked. It spares you the risk of getting a different property. If you want to add $150 nights to your Sheraton stay, I'd bet they'll be available. You can take as many as you want, but don't include the last night, since it will be rejected (and you're only allowed to try once).

That will leave you the last night to deal with. You could slum it at a 3-star in Kaanapali for less than $100, you can hold off and hope it becomes available at the Sheraton, or you could leave a couple extra nights, wait, and try to get another resort.

If I were in your shoes, I'd snag two more nights at the Sheraton using the method I described, and then leave 2 nights to try something else.

BTW, this raises another interesting question: why did Princeline initially "show" that availability through their packages function, and why did they pull it? Very mysterious.

[LoneStar]

BTW, looking at packages inventory, I think it will take about $180 to snag a resort for that last night. You'd get the Prince or the Renaissance, both in Wailea. Perhaps a little more than that would get you the Hyatt in Lahaina.

The cheapskate option would be to slum at the 3 star Royal Lahaina Resort, which gets mixed reviews. It should only be about $70, however, which would be a reasonable deal.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your (partial) win... and thanks for starting your bid at the SavingsBarn.com, we appreciate it very much. :)

Sometimes the only way to get your dates is to piecemeal it together!

I agree with post(s) above that i think the 'sticking' point is the last nite of 4/30. I would think a similar bid for 4/28-4/30 should also be accepted, but of course the risk now is that if you bid these additiona 2 nites and do get a different property, you'd be looking at changing hotels 3 times... something i'm not sure you're willing to do.

Please start a new thread for the balance of your dates so that we'll accurately be able to track that thread and reflect the ultimate win in that topic title as well.

[genuine7288]

Added another day to the Sheraton. Now staying there 4/24-4/29.

I'll check back in a week and let you know what I get for the additional 2 nights. I will start a new thread as requested.

Thanks again for everyone's advice. I'm absolutely thrilled with my price. Sheraton on Expedia is currently going for $255/night and I got it for $105/night off.

[LoneStar]

For a Newbie, you're playing the game well Genuine. :)

Now the game gets a little harder, because -- at least for the moment -- you're probably not going to find a good deal for a Resort on that last Saturday night.

But if you're patient, I think you've got time on your side. Two months -- a "lifetime" on priceline. You've got most of your vacation set at a good price, so no worries about getting "shut out." And since you're not travelling at a peak time, you can wait for priceline to come down to your price. So decide where you want to stay those last nights -- Waimea or Kaanapali. And then bid every 5 days or so up to your limit, which should probably be about $150 for now. See if you get hit. If it's early April, and still no success, they maybe you need to become more flexible (nothing wrong with taking a $70 3 star). But right now, you're sitting pretty.

[thereuare]

Did you try for the nite of the 29th and were rejected... or did you not want to move for only one nite and therefore left the last 2 nites open?

Nice job so far!!

[genuine7288]

I actually only added one night and didn't try for the night of the 29th. I didn't want to move more than once.

I'll let you know what I get for the last 2 nights.

Thanks again!

[LoneStar]

I actually only added one night and didn't try for the night of the 29th. I didn't want to move more than once.

I'll let you know what I get for the last 2 nights.

Thanks again!

Yeah, I might have started that confusion by forgetting which months have 30 days and which have 31. :)