Priceline Hotel: 4* Boston (Harbor Front-Aquarium) InterContinental

[UnknownLegacy]

I'm very new to all of this so I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing. I'm trying to look for a nice hotel in the middle of boston (No car or shuttle busses). I'm actually from Boston so I know the MBTA train system quite well and would much rather walk around.

I've seen quite a few gems (Sheraton - $84/night) on your site by using some of your tools and I kind of want to see if I can get the same results.

I'm looking for a 4 or 3.5 star hotel for 8/17 to 8/21 in the Copley Square or Quincy Market area. I'm kind of nervous to just blind bid for hotels in those areas. My budget is about $150/night but would much rather spend only $100/night.

Should I select these areas on Priceline and start bidding at $100 and just add $5 if I get rejected? Is that all there really is to it? >.> I think I saw the Sheraton mentioned above on HOTWIRE for $164/night...

[jluff]

Should I select these areas on Priceline and start bidding at $100 and just add $5 if I get rejected? Is that all there really is to it? >.> I think I saw the Sheraton mentioned above on HOTWIRE for $164/night...

Not quite. Priceline requires you to either add other zones or change your dates in order to rebid again within 24 hours..but there is a little strategy that we use.

Free rebid zones.. There are currently several in Boston.

You should learn the strategy prior to bidding. It involves only bidding one area at a time and if your bid is not accepted simply add areas of the city that don't have the level of hotel you are trying to aquire. Then bidd again in the same area without risk or changing dates. You can tell what levels of hotels are available on priceline by highlighting the sections of town prior to bidding. Make a grid, that's what I do.

For example:

You bid a 4* in the theatre district for $75. Priceline says no.

Then you bid a 4* in the theatre district at $80 and add 'Medford' (which has NO 4* hotels listed on Priceline), you bid again. You win a night at the Hyatt in the Theatre district...hoooray for free rebid zones!

You can do that over and over until you run out of rebid zones.

If you get no bites, log out of priceline and start over with 3.5* hotels. Don't bid the 3.5* in the same session. It will count against you, and you will have to end up waiting 24 hours.

[UnknownLegacy]

Interesting. Thanks for the quick reply. I'll be sure to do this. I should print out that list of Priceline hotels ^^ Will post my results, either good or bad.

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Thank you for keeping us updated; while I'd start lower at around $90-95, based upon the rates I'm seeing a win for a 4* may require heading up to $125-140.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[musicphan]

UNKNOWN...don't be nervous. I've used Hotwire & Priceline (before I found this board) and Priceline (via the link found on here) and always had an excellent experience. Have stayed at the Onyx in Boston thru Hotwire, Doubletree NYC & Westin Seattle thru Priceline.

[UnknownLegacy]

So far no bites of 4 stars @$115. I want the zone list to reset, so I'll wait out the 24 hours to try again. Going to $140 on the 4 stars and then switching to 3.5 stars and resetting my starting value.

Started Bidding at $90.

Used Zones (in order): Copley Square, Quincy Market, Boston Harbor Front, Brighton/Brookline (no 4 stars in area), and South Boston (no 4 stars in area).

Dates used: 8/17 to 8/21 (4 Nights)

Princeline lists 11 zones for Boston, 9 of them are on your site with the hotels listed. I printed that out and crossed out what would be "bad zones" to use. Fenway Park and North Cambridge-Arlington weren't listed. I would assume that Fenway park is a "safe" zone since it's more or less right next to Copley. I'm trying to aim for a hotel that has really easy access to the MBTA ("T").

[Ragu Sauce]

Aloha jhuff:

Can you assist me too? I'm looking for a 3.5* in the Copely area... If I follow your directions, does Medford have 3.5* hotels? I really don't want to be stuck in Medford!

Mahalo!

[thereuare]

UnknownLegacy,

As per the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List you don't want to use the hotel list to determine your re-bid zones... see this thread on how to determine your re-bid zones: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

At the 4* level you actually have FIVE re-bid zones. See if you can determine your re-bid zones using the methods outlined in the link above and we'll confirm them for you. If you read the link and are confused 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.

Ragu Sauce,

Please start a NEW TOPIC for your own stay, and please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[UnknownLegacy]

Ahh, ok. I see now.

Boston Downtown - 23 Hotels

Logan Airport - 2 Hotels

Cambridge - 4 Hotels

Waltham - 1 Hotel

0 Hotels:

Medford - Somerville

Chestnut Hill - Brookline

Lexington - Burlington - Woburn

Needham - Dedham

Quincy

[Ragu Sauce]

UnknownLegacy,

As per the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List you don't want to use the hotel list to determine your re-bid zones... see this thread on how to determine your re-bid zones: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

At the 4* level you actually have FIVE re-bid zones. See if you can determine your re-bid zones using the methods outlined in the link above and we'll confirm them for you. If you read the link and are confused 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.

Ragu Sauce,

Please start a NEW TOPIC for your own stay, and please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Ok... Thanks for the advice. I think I get it now!

[jluff]

UnknownLegacy - Don't search in the regular PRICELINE listings. Go into the 'name your own price' section. Enter your dates and city. Then when you see the different areas of the city, put a check in the box next to that area. It will highlight or grey out what levels of hotels are available or not. That's how you determine rebid zones.

[thereuare]

UnknownLegacy,

If you're still confused, list each zone on the bidding side (not the 'retail' side) of PRICELINE and the highest star rating available in each zone.

To re-iterate, to find the higher star rating in each zone click the first zone in the list, scroll down and see which star ratings are offered in the zone (some will be 'greyed out' and others as 'selected'... you're interested in the highest star rating that is selectable)

Then UNcheck the current zone selected, and then place a checkmark in the next zone. Repeat the process for each zone, noting along the way the highest star rating available in each, making sure that each time you check the star rating that ONLY one zone is selected.

PS- nice signature :)

[UnknownLegacy]

PS- nice signature :)

I did that cause I see everyone putting that at the end of their posts. So I figured I would be lazy and just put it as my signature =P

I see what you guys mean now >.> Going to try some bidding now.

Edit: Or not, hasn't been 24 hours yet. 2 hours to go >.>

[UnknownLegacy]

Man... Just... wow.

Final Bid: $140/night

Winner!

I was on my last rebid zone and at my max price per night. I added the Aquarium area since I know there were some really nice 4-star hotels in that area and I just wanted to cover all of my bases. Nailed this beauty at $140/night which is normally $306/night. 8/17-8/21 (4 Nights). Simply amazing.

Priceline's link to the hotel

Thank you so much for the help ^^ I'll be recommending this site to everyone I know when they go travelling (sadly, isn't often, but hey some visits are better than none).

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you're pleased with the results and the deal you received. We're happy to have helped and thanks for helping to spread the word about BetterBidding! :)

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.