Priceline Hotel: Bidding advice Honolulu Airport (3/13/05)

[ufauxreal]

Hi..

We need a room near the airport for just one night. We're getting into Honolulu too late to get a flight out to Hilo, so just need someplace to crash for the night. I bid $49 for a 2-star in the Airport zone... rejected!

Can I pick another zone as a re-bid and if so... how much should I up my bid? The highest star level in the airport zone is a 2* .. I don't think I want to do a one star.

Thanks!

JB

[thereuare]

I'm fairly consservative, so i personally wouldn't be adding zones that 'probably' won't be accepted given you still have over 3 weeks before your arrival.

Rates at the Best Western are higher than usual, but rates at the Honolulu Airport hotel are not high at all... i'd book a cancellable back-up and continue to try Priceline.... Lonestar and/or Keoni will probably have additional comments.

[LoneStar]

With Waikiki 3 stars going for so little, we don't get a lot of airport zone bidding, but it does seem like most $50 bids are successful. Hotwire has a 2 star airport hotel listed in the $70s (not sure which one it is), so something is "out there." I'd take my time and slowly bid up to $55. Maybe hold something cancellable in the meantime. If you get to within 7 days, bid a little more.

FWIW, I think the Ihilani zone is essentially a free rebid here because it only has resorts. You're not going to get the JW Marriott for 50 bucks. :)

[Keoni]

JB,

Thereuare hit the nail squarely on the head. I also am a big

fan of... make the backup you can cancel (looks like $90 - 100.00)

if you pick one of the 3 places near the airport, and keep bidding

the $49.00 bid that has been accepted previously at two

of the properties available in the airport zone. Your only rebid

zone is Iliahi because all that zone has is resorts and if you get

an Iliahi resort for $50.00 per night, rent a car and enjoy the

night! :)

However, I wouldn't press to rebid the second zone until

you are much nearer departure time and a new bidding strategy

would be in order. The key here is to make sure you note the

cancellation policy as some internet rates are collectable at

time of reservation and invoke penalties or deadlines of several

days prior to, for cancellation.

Hang in there, stay the course, let us know how it turns out.

Aloha, Keoni :)

[LoneStar]

JB,

Thereuare hit the nail squarely on the head. I also am a big

fan of... make the backup you can cancel (looks like $90 - 100.00)

if you pick one of the 3 places near the airport, and keep bidding

the $49.00 bid that has been accepted previously at two

of the properties available in the airport zone. Your only rebid

zone is Iliahi because all that zone has is resorts and if you get

an Iliahi resort for $50.00 per night, rent a car and enjoy the

night! :)

However, I wouldn't press to rebid the second zone until

you are much nearer departure time and a new bidding strategy

would be in order. The key here is to make sure you note the

cancellation policy as some internet rates are collectable at

time of reservation and invoke penalties or deadlines of several

days prior to, for cancellation.

Hang in there, stay the course, let us know how it turns out.

Aloha, Keoni :o

Wow Keoni, if I knew you were writing, too, I'd have saved the keystrokes. :)

[ufauxreal]

Thereuare hit the nail squarely on the head. I also am a big

fan of... make the backup you can cancel (looks like $90 - 100.00)

I checked out the Airport Hotel ($99) but I thought I read where they do penalize if cancelled. A lot of places will penalize one night's stay... but since we're only staying one night anyway....

if you pick one of the 3 places near the airport, and keep bidding the $49.00 bid that has been accepted previously at two of the properties available in the airport zone.

You think I should just keep re-submitting the $49 bid?

Is there another zone that's relatively close to the airport, that might have more properties available? We fly into HNL at 9PM (although, since we are coming from the East Coast, our bodies will think it is 4 AM) and fly out again around 11:20 AM, so we could go a bit further afield, if necessary.

Thanks so much for your help. This is our first trip to Hawaii so we are totally unfamiliar with it.

JB

[Scorp]

There's the Executive Center zone, but based on reviews I have seen, you would only want to try for the 3*, not the 2*, and that might end up costing almost as much as booking something directly. Also, you would have to pay for shuttle or taxi and that would add at least $30 on to your overnight stay.

The Pacific Marina does have a special rate on its website of $79, and you could call them and make sure that is cancellable, if you want to try and keep bidding.

I also see that a recent bidder was rejected up to $65 before getting the Pacific Marina for $67 for a stay in mid-March.

The Pacific Marina is rated as 2* by Expedia, but it has pretty mixed reviews on TripAdvisor.

You could go into Honolulu or Waikiki for the night, but again you would have to pay for a shuttle or cab (not cheap) and it would add extra travel time to and from the airport.

[LoneStar]

Yeah, normally I would say it's worth driving over to Waikiki and taking a cheap 3 star, but in this instance it's not. You're going to wake up and pretty much head right back to the airport.

Isn't one of the places called the Honolulu Airport Hotel? I think I saw on their website that they offer a $75 rate to transit passengers. Check it out and if it's cancellable, just book that while you wait to see if priceline comes through for 50 bucks.

[Keoni]

JB,

This is a little long but I think it is important to tie some of the information together as all of the folks who have been responding to you want your trip to the islands to go as smoothly as possible. You have gotten quite a bit of helpful information from several sources, and done your own homework as well, so let's review some of the info to date...

JB wrote,

I checked out the Airport Hotel ($99) but I thought I read where they do penalize if cancelled.

According to the hotel website you can cancel up to 6pm on the day of the stay with no penalty.

Lonestar wrote,

Isn't one of the places called the Honolulu Airport Hotel? I think I saw on their website that they offer a $75 rate to transit passengers. Check it out and if it's cancellable, just book that while you wait to see if priceline comes through for 50 bucks.

If this is the "Cruise Ship" rate the $75 rate is the Day rate from 9am to 6pm only

After 6 and overnight the rate is $95.00 which is a $4.00 savings off the internet rate

JB found in the quote above.

Scorp wrote,

The Pacific Marina does have a special rate on its website of $79, and you could call them and make sure that is cancellable, if you want to try and keep bidding.

According to the hotel's website, this "hotrate" is good for the month of March and they will immediately hit your credit card for a one night deposit. The website, Castle Marina also says,

" In the event of cancellation within 72 hours of arrival, a one-night cancellation fee will be charged to your credit card.

Your deposit is fully refundable if you cancel prior to 72 hours of arrival."

The third choice for a cancelable backup hotel is the Best Western the Plaza.

The Plaza has an internet rate of $109.00 and you can cancel up to 6pm the day of the stay. This is a little higher than the Airport hotel and quite a bit above the Marina's hotrate, but Best Western is a national chain so there is merit in using something recognizable for the cancelable backup. And with the ability to cancel at the last minute, if you don't get something off of priceline you could always try to get the Marina or Airport after your last available priceline bid.

********************

Having said all of the above here is what I would recommend:

Book the Best Western as the backup. I realize it is the most expensive but may be the easiest to deal with for the cancellation.

Go to Savingsbarn.com

Select Honolulu Airport, 2*

Bid $49.00, if rejected add Ihilani zone and...

Bid $55.00, if rejected wait 72 hours and repeat strategy.

If unsuccessful with PRICELINE within 72 hours before you fly,

Check HOTWIRE one last time. If the Honolulu airport zone comes in

less than $72.00 take it. $72 is the break even point as HOTWIRE

will add $7.00 in fees to the bid price. If Hotwire doesn't come

in for $72 or less, try the Pacific Marina website, if unsuccessful,

try Airport Hotel Cruise Rate, if unsuccessful, you always have your

backup at the Best Western.

Good luck and let us know how it goes...

Regards, Keoni :)

[Keoni]

:) Forgot to add to my previous post...

Hotwire has a 2 star airport hotel listed in the $70s (not sure which one it is), so something is "out there."

This property must be the HONOLULU AIRPORT hotel as neither the Best Western or Pacific Marina have a pool. With the HOTWIRE fee you would be saving about $15.00 off the hotel's website best rate so that is why

you should check hotwire if the PRICELINE strategy doesn't work out.

Regards, Keoni :)

[LoneStar]

That sounds like great advice, Keoni. :)

[ufauxreal]

Wow!!! Thanks for all that great advice!

I just bid up to $56 on priceline (used that one free re-bid). I checked Hotwire and there is one hotel going for $76.

However.... I also just read in another thread where if the price on Hotwire is $95 or above (apparently including fees and taxes?) there is a $30 rebate using the Entertainment Book. I, in fact, *do* have one of those. So, does anyone want to venture a guess as to what the bid price (not including fees) has to be? Hotwire charges $7?? Not sure on the taxes.

I will now check into making a cancellable reservation.

Thanks so much for all the help.

JB

[LoneStar]

you can see total taxes and fees on hotwire before you buy, so go and check. My recollection is that, for Hawaii, you have to be at around $78 for the hotel, so you may be a tad shy. :) But check for yourself and see. And maybe if you reprice it, they'll charge you a couple more bucks and put you over the top. :) Still no great bargain for an airport 2-star, though.

[Keoni]

:) Boy is my face red....

Posted on Feb 19 2005, 08:52 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Forgot to add to my previous post...

QUOTE 

Hotwire has a 2 star airport hotel listed in the $70s (not sure which one it is), so something is "out there." 

This property must be the HONOLULU AIRPORT hotel as neither the Best Western or Pacific Marina have a pool.

I stand corrected. I previously used a program running in the back-

ground that checks multiple hotels at once and it erroneously reported

no pool icon for Best Western and Pacific Marina. In fact, all three airport

hotels match the 4 icons listed by hotwire (Shuttle, Pool, Restaurant, Laundry)

which makes it impossible to guarantee the identity of the property.

A guess would be that since Best Western The Plaza has high speed

internet, and the Honolulu Airport Hotel has wireless internet

in the lobby and meeting rooms, the Hotwire property is most likely

the Pacific Marina. Sorry for the confusion.

Regards, Keoni :)