Priceline Hotel: 4* Miami (Downtown) Hyatt Regency Downtown

[jd00510]

Hi All,

First off, thanks for this fantastic resources. I have used PL a few times with generally good results (particularly with rental cars).

I am looking for a reasonable hotel in Miami Beach/South Beach for an overnight stay prior to a cruise on 8/13. GF's first trip to Miami and I want her to be able to see South Beach.

I'd like to keep price under $80 or so if possible, as I know lastminutetravel.com has the Intercontinenal at $83 or so for the overnight; would be willing to do that, but would rather be in South Beach area if the price is about the same.

Acceptable PL geographic areas would be South Beach/Ocean Drive, South Beach/Collins Ave, South Beach Central in that order (unless other have strong feelings- like would it be better to take SB Central over SB/Collins?)

I saw a very awesome matrix of how to bid and in what order to get the best results. IF anyone can help me with similar, that would be great. Advice on areas/zones would be helpful as wel.

As a side note, I also have $50 "bonus cash" available. Not sure how this works exactly, but I have seen several threads debating how it's applied etc...

Thanks!

JD

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Acceptable PL geographic areas would be South Beach/Ocean Drive, South Beach/Collins Ave, South Beach Central in that order...

Are you willing to pay more to stay in the first zone in the sequence above, then more to pay in the second zone, etc... or is your goal the least expensive 3* or better in any of the above zones?

Please note that you can still use your Bonus Cash along with the board's PRICELINE links as follows...

1) click the PRICELINE link on the board

2) go to the MY PROFILE >> MY REWARDS link at the top right of their home page

3) use the bonus money link in the MY REWARDS section of your profile (not a link from an email) and bid as usual

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

[jd00510]

I read a bit more about the bonus cash - I think it has to be used on a stay of 2 days or more. I will only be there overnight so I don't think it would work.

I plan on using the board's URL once I'm ready to start bidding.

I think I'd be willing to go a bit higher to stay in South Beach/Ocean Drive - maybe $5 or $10 more. (max $85 or 90, obviously prefer lower)

Thanks for the reply!

[thereuare]

I plan on using the board's URL once I'm ready to start bidding.

Please use for your searches too.

I think I'd be willing to go a bit higher to stay in South Beach/Ocean Drive - maybe $5 or $10 more. (max $85 or 90, obviously prefer lower)

So did you want to bid South Beach Ocean Drive up to $90 before trying the other zones OR bid South Beach Ocean Drive up to $xx, then try the other two zones for $xx less $10... then bid South Beach Ocean Drive up to $yy, then try the other two zones for $yy less $10, etc, etc.

If you're not following the above let us know and i'll explain it further.

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

[jd00510]

Will do.

Let's do South Beach to $80 first, then other zones up to 70, then South Beach Ocean Drive to $90 then others to 80...

That makes sense to me - it is reasonable in your experience?

[AaronJB]

Would seem a reasonable plan.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[jd00510]

anyone? Still waiting for those lovely matrixes I've seen ....

[thereuare]

At the 3* level you only have ONE re-bid zone. 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.

Select 3* SB Ocean Drive..

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70

If the above is rejected wait 24 hours and re-try:

Select 3* SB Ocean Drive...

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

Bid $80, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Collins...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Central...

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $60, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Collins and SB Central...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70

If the above is rejected wait 24 hours and re-try:

Select 3* SB Ocean Drive...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Collins...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Central...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* SB Collins and SB Central...

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

Bid $80

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.

[jd00510]

Alright. Thanks for the help.

So I looked at your matrix, thought a little more about things and decided to try a bit on my own. I think I'd like to stay in S. Beach-Ocean Dr as my first choice, before looking at other areas.

You're right - at the 3* level there's not much free re-bidding to be had. So I looked at all the zones - if i start higher I can do a LOT of free-rebidding. So I did! Here's where I started.

Rebid Zones:

#1 North Miami (max 2*)

#2 SW Miami (max 3*)

#3 Aventura (max 3*)

#4 Dadeland (max 3*)

#5 Miami West (max 3*)

Started with 4* Collins Ave/Ocean Drive

4* bid $40, rejected (yes, I know I'm dreaming, but I figured dream big!)

bid $45 + zone #5, rejected

bid $50 + zone #4,5 rejected

bid $55 + zone #3, 4, 5 rejected

bid $60 + zone #2, 3, 4, 5 rejected

bid $65 + zone #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 rejected

Moved on to 3.5* in same matrix

bid $40, rejected

bid $45 + zone #5, rejected

bid $50 + zone #4,5 rejected

bid $55 + zone #3, 4, 5 rejected

bid $60 + zone #2, 3, 4, 5 rejected

bid $65 + zone #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 rejected

So no 3.5* or 4* to be had for less than $65 + tax on S. Beach/Ocean Dr. Not that shocking

At this point, I could redo this matrix for either of my other 2 zones (Collins or Central).

Alternatively I can wait 24 hours and increase my bid slightly.

Or I can downgrade my star level. However, if I drop my stars to 3* I then only have 1 free re-bid zone (N. Miami) if I am reading this correctly. I could pair that with a stepwise increase of my acceptable zones (Ocean Dr, Collins, Central etc.). I think I'm going to look around a bit more and see what prices I might be looking at.

I don't want to go over $90 or so all told as there is a deal on the 5* intercontinenal (downtown, though) for $83.

Thanks for the matrix and thoughts - this is very cool and kinda fun! It really does show you that when I DO get something accepted, it's likely going to be pretty close to the minimum price available. That makes me all warm and tingly inside. ;-)

[thereuare]

Keep us updated 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.

[jd00510]

Keep us updated 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.

So, after much ado, ended up changing the game-plan and going with a downtown hotel.

Did a lot of bidding (and re-bidding - thanks for teaching me a new trick!)

As a point of reference for others, for my dates (8/13-8/14)

-No 4* in South Beach (Ocean Dr, Central OR Collins) at $100

-No 3.5* in South Beach (Ocean Dr, CEntral OR Collins) at $90

-Decided to try 4* Downtown, DID get Hyatt Regency for $65. Less than my "goal" of $83 for the Intercontinental.

With the money saved we can just cab it to South Beach if we decide to go.

Thanks for all the help. BTW - if someone tells me how/if I can change the subtitle, I will change it ...

[yellowdog]

jd00510

Thank you for sharing your result with the board!

Enjoy your stay.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to start future purchases.

Yellowdog.

PS. You can't edit the topic yourself