Priceline Hotel: need help with 3* NYC for April 2011

[tses]

Husband and I are planning our first trip to NYC next year in April, for 4 nights . we are happy to stay at MTE MTW and also flexible with days of the week to get the best deal. eg if mon to fri is cheaper than fri to tue we are happy to do those days.

I am new to price line and I would like to know what is a realistic starting bid I should put down. I have read thru the forum and noticed a number of people were able to get 4* hotels for around $125. not sure if that is because the dates for these winning bids are low season.

thanks for your help!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Rates are really on a case-by-case basis (and this is especially true in places like NYC, where one day can be $150 and the next be $300 at the same hotel if something is going on.)

What are your exact date/s of travel? Early April is (generally) not going to be as busy as later April. Additionally, this far in advance, bidding is achieving a balance between not ramping bidding up too high and seeing if you can get a reasonable/realistic rate this far in advance. In other words, you definitely want to try to lock something in, but you don't want to go too far too quickly in order to do so.

So, given that it's November, you could pick a ceiling and then bid up to that ceiling for a few weeks. If you didn't get anything by 1/1, you could start bumping up the ceiling a bit higher.

What would be your desired budget per night, and what zones would you be interested in bidding for?

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

[tses]

thanks for your reply. we are thinking the start of April say the 6th to 10th. we are happy to stay at midtown and spending no more than $180 per night. I was close to book a 2* hotels for 179 then came across this forum while doing my research. I can see that with less than this amount I can get even better quality accommodation if I am lucky :)

[AaronJB]

Are there particular PRICELINE zones you would be interested in trying for or would not be interested in? Are you interested in trying for a cheaper 3*, or would you want to push forwards the high end of your budget and maybe get a 3.5* or possibly 4*?

A 4* for $180 or under - at this point - is somewhat unlikely, although if these dates are slow, that may become more of a possibility closer to the dates. $180 or under could likely get a 3.5* in at least some of the Midtown zones, and a 3* for $180 would seem almost certain.

Let us know your thoughts on the above and then we would be happy to suggest how to proceed further.

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