Priceline Hotel: General question -

[fiberleaf]

By looking at the available pachages for April 20-22 for Kona, a number of 2* appear.

My question as a newbie is, whats a bidding strategy to avoid lets say, Uncle Billy's and

get accepted by Casstle Kona Reef 2*. What is the process that Priceline uses? Does it

offer the bid to the better places for rejection (because the package price does vary,

some places are more expensive than others within the same star level). So does

price line fire off your bid to that star level and the first one to accept gets it. You

wound think there is a priority order since I'm sure that this is all automated.

******Sorry about the lengthy querie, SO what should I do given those dates

and availability. Hoping to get something around 50-65 dollars a day.

Thanks lonestar and all.

[thereuare]

The bid gets accepted at the hotel with the highest rate equal or lower than you bid amount.

So in the following example, hotels load:

HotelA $55

HotelB $58

HotelC $60

If you bid $59 your bid would go to HotelB.

Here is more discussion on this subject:

Don't Bid Higher for a Specific Hotel

In areas where there is a specific hotel that you want to avoid, HOTWIRE begins to become a good alternative.

[LoneStar]

Well, fiber, with the possible remote exception of something happening of the sort described in thereuare's post, what I think will happen if you bid for a 2 star is you'll get Uncle Billy's. I think Uncle Billy might go for something between $45 and $60.

To avoid Uncle Billy (and I know little about him or his hotels!), you need to go to 2 1/2 stars, where I think you'll get the Royal Kona, or 3 stars, where you're likely to wind up with the Outrigger Keauhou Resort. I think both of the 2 1/2 star and 3 star properties should go for between $60 and $80.

I would normally suggest splurging on the 4-star Marriott for $95 (hey, it's your Hawaiian vacation!) but the packages feature suggests it might not be available for those nights (of course, you could try).

[fiberleaf]

Thanks again Lonestar. You've been right on since the begining and don't doubt you know.

I'll try the Marroitt for the heck of it...

We'll increase to 2.5* or 3* and bump up a bit.

Fiber~

[LoneStar]

Yeah, but if I've been right so far, it's time for Priceline to throw us a curveball. :) You can never be 100% sure. Before you bid, check the packages feature again to make sure there hasn't been a change in the lowest price hotel in each star category.

And if you can't get the Marriott for both nights, consider bidding for it separately for each night if you're willing to do a one-day "sample" of the resort. And unless you've got infinite patience, you can just bid a flat $95 for it. The odds that it will go for less are very, very small.

BTW, I suspect the 3 star Outrigger Keauhou Resort would be fine. It gets mixed reviews, but most Hawaiian hotels do (and remember, some of the unhappy people are holding it to a $200/night standard). It it were me, and I could pay another $25 to stay at the Marriott, I certainly would. If the Marriott was unavailable, I'd certainly pick this one over Uncle Billy's or the Royal Kona. Hands down.

Another good option here if the Marriott is unavailable is to wait. It's still early, and your days do not overlap a peak travel period.