Priceline Hotel: New Year vacation bidding strategy

[vpr]

Hello!

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for this great forum because it makes bidding on Priceline much less blind :)

We are planning a vacation to Oahu and Maui 12/30 - 01/20. Our plans are to stay on Oahu for the New Year's and leave to Maui on Jan 4,5,6.

Then stay on Maui for about a week and come back to Oahu.

My goal is a Resort on both islands. Waikiki Beach and Central areas on Oahu. Wailea and Kaanapali on Maui. But I'm more than glad to stay in Hilton Prince Kuhio on Oahu (which is a 3.5 star in Priceline ratings).

As far as I understand 12/30 - 01/04 will be a "high season" that would be difficult to find on Priceline (if possible at all).

I would appreciate if someone could share any information based on previous years.

Thanks,

Vladimir

[thereuare]

I would appreciate if someone could share any information based on previous years.

Welcome to BetterBidding!

You can use the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins to see there are wins posted during this time period for previous years.

See if the information you're seeking is there and post back your findings (if any) and we'll take it from there. If there are no wins, it could be that hotels are able to sell most of their rooms themselves during the peak holiday season, and therefore don't need to give any inventory (or what they do give may not be deeply discounted) to the opaque suppliers.

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

[vpr]

Thanks for the link. Looks like 6th onwards is quite a chance to get a good rate. I will try again in a week and see if it works out. Otherwise I'll try to revise my interisland travel to get the best deal.

[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.

[vpr]

Updating current bids:

Oahu:

12/30-01/05 - $110 for 3.5* not accepted

Maui:

01/05 - 01/12 - $145 for Resort not accepted

[thereuare]

Please use separate threads for each stay as it will be easier to talk about each as well as keep things better organized.

Please use this thread for your Oahu stay and feel free to start a NEW TOPIC for your the Maui leg of your trip.

Have you resolved not to try for a Resort in Oahu?

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

[vpr]

Sorry for that, I'll start new topics as soon as I get any luck with my bids on them.

My goal is getting Hilton Prince Kuhio (3,5*) on Oahu which I like even more over Hyatt that I stayed this summer.

Apart from it being a great property it's got one of the best parking options in Waikiki at Banyan.

Do you think hotels are still trying to squeeze as much as possible from New Year's advance bookings at rack rates and then push their inventory on PRICELINE if they don't meet their expectations? What could be their possible deadlines on that?

[thereuare]

I wouldn't say that hotels are trying to 'squeeze as much as possible from NYE bookings', it's simply a high demand nite for hotels and they will try to maximize revenue as much as possible.

This is also high season for Hawaii (with many families taking trips while the kids are off from school) and if occupancy levels are high, there is a chance that they wont' offer any inventory to the opaque suppliers. So I wouldn't put any time frame on them releasing rooms at deep discounts, and if you decide to try and wait for a last minute deal, i would make sure you book a cancellable back-up just in case a deal never materializes.

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

[vpr]

According to HOTWIRE things are definitely getting better. I can see many more hotels. A Waikiki resort has popped up for 01/02 onwards at $139 (which was not available previously and should be around $110-120 on PRICELINE I guess) Prince Kuhio is there from 01/03. Turtle Bay is there even for NYE (but still at a high price and it would be boring to stay there).

Not much of a choice for Maui yet.