Priceline Hotel: 2* Boston (Revere-Logan Airport BOS) Fairfield Inn

[MBTA-Rider]

Well, hadn't used Priceline in years. Not since you could just pick an area, and just repeat your bid, increasing it $5.00 at a time until you won. Seems Priceline has taken the edge away from the bidder...

Going to Boston this Fall. WANTED to stay downtown, zone 9. Started to do the bidding, and imagine my suprise when the first low-ball bid got rejected (not a suprise) and I tried to simply up my initail bid $5.00 and re-bid. Suprise! Kept getting error "Your bid of xx was already rejected, please select an additional area or star level".

I said, WHAT!?! Knowing immediately what this meant. With only so many "stars" to choose from, and so many areas to add, it was only a matter of time before I would have to add areas I did not want, (Like Revere).

I finally ended up in Revere. Technically, looking at a map, it is the furthest tip of Revere. Saying this is an Airport Hotel (Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriot) is like saying downtown Pittsburgh has Airport Hotels (Boston traffic being what it is).

So, I broke rules.

Rule one. Don't keep bidding like you are at vegas or something. If you don't get what you want, walk away for a couple days. Let your old bids expire.

Rule two. I was bidding on a room for October. That is five months out. They still have plenty of rooms, and unlike airlines, who sell out their cheap seats to early buyers, hotels wait until the bitter end to drop prices. I got a good deal, $65.00, actually less than I have paid for lesser spots in Boston. But my GOAL was to stay downtown. I lost sight of that goal and paid the price.

Rule three. See rule one. Again, I got lazy. I could have played this out for weeks until I got what I wanted. But got lazy and clicked that button next to "Boston Logan Airport North / Revere". Over four miles to the nearest "T" stop. (Wonderland, Blue line, fortunately hotel provides shuttle) and over half a mile to closest bus stop. In Boston, this is like being out in the sticks. People who live in Revere actually drive cars to work!

So, learn from my (not so massive, but still stupid) mistake. DON"T FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BIDDING! Stay FOCUSED! (as I will for my next trip to Boston, which will be sooner than the one I just muffed).

I still like Priceline, they just changed the rules since I last used them, and even though I tried to be savvy, I got over eager. To quote Rohrschach "stupid! stupid! stupid!"

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, MBTA-Rider.

Did you win the 2* Fairfield Inn and Suites Boston North at 100 Morris Street in Revere? If so this is a new hotel for the Hotel List.

Sorry your bidding didn't work out as desired. Feel free to ask for assistance before bidding in the future.

Well, hadn't used Priceline in years. Not since you could just pick an area, and just repeat your bid, increasing it $5.00 at a time until you won. Seems Priceline has taken the edge away from the bidder...

Actually PRICELINE is much more bidder friendly today than it was several years ago. The lockout period for bidding higher used to be 72 hours. Now it's 24 hours.

Hope the Fairfield works out for you.

Please use these HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links for your future purchases.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the reported win and sharing your experience with the board.

Can you please add a reply to this thread confirming the hotel you received (is it the Fairfield Inn at 100 Morris St) and also add the dates of your stay so we can enable your win to appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

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

Hope you enjoy your stay and can make the best of the location.

[MBTA-Rider]

Yep, I got lucky, HAH! 100 Morris St. Literally, across the street from Saugus. The Nothern-est tip of Revere. The Holiday Inn Express Saugus is two blocks away...

Looking through all the winning bids, looks like no one else won this spot yet... I got it for $65.00 a night for dates 12 to 16 Oct. The place gets wildly mixed reviews on travel sites. Folks seem to either love it or hate it.

Plus side... It IS a Marriot property. And if I were on a DRIVING trip, this place would be ideal. Free parking and right off Route 1. So, for folks driving into Boston, I would love to get this spot. Just park at the huge Wonderland "T" Blue line parking lot, 4.5 miles away, on side less traveled streets, and take the Blue line all the way into the waterfront aquarium or Beacon hill (last stop) for Boston trips. Or drive to New hampshire (or my favorite place in MA, Rockport) for a getaway.

Unfortunately, for the first time ever, I am doing this trip "green". Flying in, and no car rental. I am still set on doing the trip this way. But seriously, what makes this place ideal for business travel or staying at a spot with a car so you can be within striking distance of NH, ME, and VT, makes it horrible for my current purpose.

So, if you are FLYING into Logan, watch out for this little trap. DO NOT CHOOSE "Logan Airport North Boston / Revere" as an option for Hotel stay. I would have picked Brookline etc if I had known this little gem was out there...

The losing bid I had made just prior to this was for Boston Waterfront - Convention Center, Quincy Market - Faneuil Hall - Financial, Boston Harbor Front - Aquarium 2.5 star at $95.00 for 12 to 16 Oct. My next bid I dropped the amount to $65.00, added "Airport boston North / Revere" and got the above win.

After doing more research on other sites, I should have dropped the Star level instead of adding an area. I was afraid of getting some dump. In reality, looks like even a one star in the above areas is not bad. just older property...

Did you say this is a two star property? I bid it at 2.5 stars. Does that make a difference?

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up and confirming the property you received.

I'm fairly certain that this property is currently rated 2* by PRICELINE, so i suspect you may have lowered your star rating at some point to accept a 2* property... if you look at your winning bid confirmation page, do you see something there indicating that it's actually rated 2.5*? (or confirm that it is 2* rated)

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

Hope you enjoy your stay and this works out better than you expect.

[Colfax]

Did you say this is a two star property? I bid it at 2.5 stars. Does that make a difference?

PRICELINE currently rates this Fairfield 2* in their "Shop and Compare" product, and they use the same ratings in "Name Your Own Price".

It's possible Fairfield was 2.5* when you bought and got downgraded to 2* later. If that's the case, and you can show you bought it as 2.5* (did you print the acceptance page?), you'd be entitled to a refund, since you're no longer getting what you bid for---a 2.5* hotel.

That would be a great outcome, since this hotel sounds pretty inconvenient for you, although you have a postive attitude about the situation.

[MBTA-Rider]

I'm going to rent a car, most likely...

What I save on staying downtown, will just use on a rental car and take day trips to NH for breakfast at that place on the ocean front, the one that gives you a little bottle of real maple syrup with your pancakes. And then, get some lobstah. That joint on Bear Skin Neck in Rockport, MA. Not the "fancy" place. But the place that has a 12'x12' deck in back, and they get the lobster from the lobsterman, and steam it for you and serve it with cracked with butter. No sides, no nothing. Just lobster...

And, am already using my advice. Got an e-mail from PRICELINE that "rental car winning bids in Boston, $20.00". So, bid at 20 bucks. Lost. Bid at 25 bucks. Lost. And that is where I quit. Will try every month until I get close to departure. I am going to squeeze for that last couple bucks...

[thereuare]

When you receive emails from PRICELINE, please remember to stop by here and use the links on the board to begin your bidding... and not the links in any emails they send.

Thanks!