Priceline Hotel: Bidding Assistance

[sibley]

Looking for a 4* in the French Quarter May 11-15. A few things...

I have a certificate for a free weekend night at the Intercontinental when staying the whole weekend. So my first idea was to Priceline the 11th and 12th, then going to IC and using the certificate for the weekend stay, even though IC is not in the FQ.

Then I saw that someone got the IC for under $70. I'd be paying $179 for two nights (balcony room). That's fine--but I really don't want to pay $179 for the additional nights as well.

Any thoughts on a strategy--not only for how to split the stay but for bidding as well.

[thereuare]

Are you sure your certificate is valid even if you don't book directly with the Inter-Continental website? Not all, but most certificates, are not valid in conjunction with opaque purchases.

Perhaps i'm not following you as i don't understand the $179 amount (where does that come from: 2 x $70 plus taxes and fees?) If so, it sounds as if you would be trying this in order to tartet the IC so that you could use your certificate... so why would you have to pay for the additional nites, in case you didn't get the Inter-Continental?

Please clarify and we'll try to help further... especially verify if your certificate is good in conjunction with an opaque purchase, that would be first in order of importance in formulating the best route to take.

[sibley]

Well, it made sense to me at the time. :)

I knew the cert was not valid with opaque purchases. In fact, this particular cert is only good on a Fri/Sat or Sat/Sun night stay. The room I would book using the cert is $179/night. So, with the cert, it's $179 for two nights...or $90/night before taxes.

The other two nights come into play because we're using miles for the airline tiks. The only available dates for air travel using my miles are 5-11/5-15. My plan was that the first two nights would be spent in whatever the Priceline hotel turns out to be, and then we would move to the IC to use the cert.

I wanted to know if that strategy made sense overall, and what my bidding strategy should be for the two nights I'll bid for on Priceline.

Hoepfully I've made my situation more clear this time...but if not, ask away!

[thereuare]

I think i got the scenario understood now.

What sort of budget are you anticipating for the first two nites?

Do you only want to be in the Quarter for the first two nites of your stay?

[sibley]

Budget, I'm thinking $120/night. This is a leisure trip (yay!) so we'd really like to be in the thick of things. I'm taking my mom, and she has pretty serious arthritis. She can walk around for a while, but I don't want to be somewhere that requires all of her energy just to *get* to the good stuff in the FQ.

[thereuare]

We can suggest a Priceline strategy, but quite a few users have been forgoing priceline in this area for some of the EasyClickTravel offerings such as:

Astor Crowne Plaza for $112/nite (reviews and a great location)

Alexa for $112/nite (reviews)

From what i have read and heard the Astor Crowne Plaza is a better choice of the two. Let us know if that works for you or if you'd rather try Priceline for which we'll suggest a strategy.

PS- if you book the IC direct (in order to use your certificate) please use our Inter-Continental affiliate link.

[sibley]

I'm good with the EasyClickTravel option. I'll post after I get everything arranged. Thanks, as always, for your help.