Priceline Hotel: Need Help 2.5* Coral Gables 12/09/10 - 12/13/10

[allwests]

We are a family of four travelling to the US in December/January and have just discovered this site. We have a number of questions that we hope someone would be kind enough to help us with, before we begin!

We have looked over both PRICELINE and Hotwire and prefer HOTWIRE as we like the ability to enter the number of guests - it may be a bit cold for the children to sleep in tents in December!

Can someone please advise when it is appropriate to begin booking on this site? That is, should we wait until later in the year? When I put our dates in, for example Washington DC, 19-23 December, Dupont Circle, there is not a huge range of hotels to choose between. Would there be more if we waited?

There is a 3* hotel that sounds pretty good - would anyone have any idea which hotel it is (Amenities include laundry, pool, restaurant, fitness and business centre). It is $99.00 per night and rated at 85%.

This is very exciting!

Thanks in advance.

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding :)

Can someone please advise when it is appropriate to begin booking on this site?

There's no general answer to this. And it's big difference between December and January so we need to know your firm dates. Do you have tickets ready for the trip? Since HOTWIRE bookings are non-refundable reservations.

Please read this link: Should i Bid Early or Close to Arrival Date

Let us know how we can help you further.

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

Yellowdog.

[allwests]

Hi Everyone

Could I ask for a little advice to see if I am doing the right thing!

I link through to priceline via this site. I've narrowed down my seach options to Coral Gables for 9-13 Dec 10 in a 2.5* hotel. It appears there is only the one hotel in this category.

I've bid every 24 hours (I have plenty of time) at $50, $51, $52, $53, $55 and tonight $56.00 (not all of my bids I linked through this site, but will from now on).

Is my approach correct? Should I keep going until it reaches a point that it is not economical. I am buying two rooms as we have two children - we could in fact, take one room on hotwire.

Hope this make sense.

Regards

Debra

[thereuare]

Few comments...

While there may only be one 2.5* hotel listed in the Priceline Hotel List for this zone, the lists only contain hotels reported to the board, so there could always be others (see the comments at the top of the hotel list). As well, the star rating you select is the minimum you are willing to accept, so your 2.5* bid could be upgraded to a higher rated hotel... not that this is such a bad thing, but it adds another dimension to the fact that you're not bidding on just this one specific hotel.

You do have ONE re-bid zone available when bidding 2.5* in the Miami area. See Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zone with the board before bidding. This should cut the time of your bidding in half since you can make two bids each day instead of one. Similarly, you can increase in whatever increments you choose, but if you increase your bids by $2 each bid you cut the amount of time it take to bid and increase your bid up to your limit in half, in you bid by $3 you cut the time bidding to a third... i'm willing to risk leaving $2 on the table to make the bidding process easier and quicker, but it depends upon how you value your time.

What is the hotel direct price of the 'known' 2.5* hotel in this zone? What is the price of one room for quad occupancy on HOTWIRE?

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board for your future bidding/purchases.

[allwests]

Thank you thereuare for your advice.

The advertised rate for the Hampton Inn Coral Gables is $118 plus taxes (an advance purchase price available on their website). This is for a quad room. I am trying to reduce that rate by bidding on PRICELINE so that we may be able to afford two rooms for approx the same rate, maybe a little more.

I've read the notes regarding the free re-bid and can't work out what the other zone is for 2.5*? The zones don't seem to be the same when comparing retail PRICELINE with name your own price.

I take your point about increasing the incremental bid and will do so when I next bid.

Thanks again

Debra

[thereuare]

I've read the notes regarding the free re-bid and can't work out what the other zone is for 2.5*? The zones don't seem to be the same when comparing retail PRICELINE with name your own price.

That's just one of the reasons why you don't want to use the "retail" section to determine your re-bid zones... did you read the first post of Priceline Re-Bidding Explained, more specifically this section:

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a PRICELINE page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time. (NOTE: for most users Priceline has updated their interface making the above process easier... simply check a zone and note the highest star rating available within each zone, UNcheck that zone and checkmark the next zone, repeating the process)

Feel free to confirm your re-bid zones with the board, or if you're confused by the above, just post back and we'll break it down further for you.

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