Priceline Hotel: Singapore 5* 14/3/11 to 21/3/11

[marnie_g]

Hi Everyone,

It seems there are quite a few wins on the board in Singapore at the Conrad Centennial, Hilton Singapore & Marriott. We arrive early hours Monday morning Changi airport at 2.50am. 2 couples and a baby. We favour the Marina Bay area preferably then Orchard Rd. Have read every post on here so have taken onboard advice re: splitting the booking.

I thought that we would book leave first night(morning hours - maybe even get a 2 cheap rooms at the airport) till last - we do need to get to a hotel asap as we have a baby. Thought I would try booking 4 nights - Mon 14, Tues 15, Wed 16, Thurs 17 then try another booking for Friday,18, Sat 19, Sun 20 in a second booking.

We would love to get the Centennial in one or both bookings but the Hilton Singapore/or Marriott would also be great. Hoping to keep it under $100. Thought I would leave it till about October November to bid. Good idea or maybe earlier or later?

We have stayed in SG quite a few times but never in March. There doesn't seem to be much on and we appear to miss a trade show the week before.

Any info and advice from fellow travellers would be greatly appreciated. Happy travelling to all!

Matty :)

[thereuare]

If your plans are firm i would begin bidding now with bids at the low end of the anticipated range... trying to snag what you know to be a good deal. For more info on this subject see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

Once you decide you're ready to bid reply to this thread and we'll advise accordingly based upon current rates at that time.

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

[marnie_g]

Thanks Thereuare,

We have our flights booked. I will start bidding over this weekend. I am tempted to just bid for the 7 nights all at once - Marina Bay area however I will go with your advice. I will definately be

BOOKING THROUGH THE PRICELINE link at Better Bidding is BB isthe best!

It appears that Fri & Sat are the cheaper nights at these hotels.

Current rates at the time are 209 Centennial and 279 for Hilton and about that for the Marriott. Is this about right?

Matty :)

[thereuare]

At the 5* level you have THREE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

(NOTE: 're-bid zone1' is not the same as priceline's Zone1, 're-bid zone2' is not the same as priceline's Zone2, etc, etc)

Select 5* Marina Bay...

Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $85, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 5* Marina Bay and re-bid zone3...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $100

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[marnie_g]

Tried today using your strategy and bid up to 91. No luck. Tried combinations of dates up bidding up to 91 no luck. Think I will wait a bit before I try again. Not prepared to go higher at this stage. Might try again later in the week............

thanks

Matty :)

[thereuare]

Keep us updated as to your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

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

[marnie_g]

Just couldn't wait to try again AU Dollar seems to be going up a little - 03/14 to 03/18 Mon to Thurs incl. Marina Bay (ave hotel room cost 242) - 87 start climbed gradually to 101 adding further 3 rebid zones + orchard last (400 ave)- no luck!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm done for a while........................ maybe next week - next month?

Matty :) :)

Any advice?

[thereuare]

Any advice?

Be patient :)

For a stay 9 months away i wouldn't expect inventory to change over the course of 3 days. I'd try once every 2 weeks at this point as it will keep you from getting frustrated. As well, if you haven't, look for an acceptable back-up reservation which is full cancellable as it will help you remain patient when your bids are rejected, as well as give you some perspective in not 'chasing' this by raising your bids too early.

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

Good luck and keep us updated.

[marnie_g]

Thanks for your help. Will keep you posted! :)

[marnie_g]

Tried all date combos

Mon 14 to 17

14 to 16

Fri 18 to 21 Mon

18 to 20

Sat 19 to 21

Thur 17 to 21 under my name and email and CC and under my husbands email & CC - didn't do single days

Used both Marina Bay and Orchard plus 3 rebid zones - up to 97 - Got in and out of the PL site and got as many free bids as possible logged onto PL each time from BB

NO LUCK AT ALL :)

I'll try again next month!

[yellowdog]

marnie_g

Please keep all posts in the same thread since posts are for the same stay.

Let us know if you need any additional help.

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

Yellowdog.

[sofi]

The advice about making a backup reservation and to keep on bidding until right before you need the hotel sounds just right to me. But I wouldn't bother staying at the airport the first night because you think it would be easier. We flew into Singapore after midnight and found taxis were readily available and inexpensive. Our driver was very nice. There was no traffic at that hour and we got to the Conrad very quickly. I don't think you'd save much time at all by staying at the airport and, of course, you would then have the inconvenience of moving the next day.

[marnie_g]

Oops! After my last mammoth session on the 22nd July where I got creative & used every possible combination I bid upto $97(which was more than i wanted to go to - however I can afford it) without any luck I was sent $30 by priceline to use by the 25th. I was dumb and only just checked this email yesterday - too late to use the coupon....

So... what to do now? I am thinking that prob $106/107 using the coupon would have bought three nights out of my 8 required ...... I believe I can contact customer service from this email address beg nicely for the coupon again........maybe I might be sent the $30 again or do I wait , prices will probably come down........ its still 7 months till the accom is needed - March.......... also I don't want to spoil it of other BB members by taking the price up too high..........

I'm a bit cross with myself - no prizes for being stoopid!

Any thoughts......

[Romelle]

Those bonuses come and go. You'll know to keep an eye out now. It also wouldn't hurt to contact customer service and ask for an extension. Anything is possible.

Don't worry about spoiling prices for other BB members. The people here are just a very small subset of the total bidding population.

With 7 months to go, I think you need to remind yourself what the purpose of PRICELINE is for the hotels - to sell rooms that otherwise would be empty. Of course they have models that predict so there are some offerings this far out, but lots of rooms don't even get given to PL inventory until much closer to their "spoil date" (for want of a better term). A few cities are sort of notorious for only working well via PRICELINE a very few DAYS ahead of time. New York is one example.

Suggestions:

1 - as a couple others have suggested, get a cancelable back-up reservation in place.

2 - try maybe just bidding once a week or every two weeks so there is not so much rejection to deal with.

3 - keep your bidding at a level at which you'd figure you got a bargain if it succeeds. You can always go higher later.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Customer service has no control over the Bonus Money... so they won't be able to send you another one nor extend the existing link you've been given.

PLEASE REMEMBER to use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your bidding.

[marnie_g]

Thanks Romelle, Sophie and Thereuare,

I do have a fully cancellable booking, thanks for your comments. I think I will just chill and try every now and then and hopefully get the rooms at my price.....

Cheers,

Matty

[marnie_g]

:) Tried again for Singapore today - both weekends and weekdays different dates combinations logging in and out - both my husband and i tried and used all combinations - bid up to $107.

It is school holiday time in Singapore - there are also conventions booked the week before and the week after our stay - I would like to get just part of the booking organized. I will try again in another couple of weeks.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear your bids continue to be turned down... hopefully you have booked a suitable back-up reservation.

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

Good luck and keep us updated.