New to Bidding

[jlbee]

Hi, I have looked around on PRICELINE for hotels in cumming, ga. That is the area I want to be in. There is a 1 star hotel (other sites list as 2) and the other 3 hotels are 2 stars (other sites lists as 2.5). I need this room Jan 1-3. I am thinking of bidding..cumming, GA , 2 star and 30.00. Should I wait to bid until wed or is earlier good if I need to rebid... Opinions?

Thanks

[Romelle]

I'm assuming you mean check in on Jan 1 and check out on Jan 3 (two nights). The numbers below would be a little different if you mean three nights, but not significantly different.

Definitely start your bidding now. That will give you time to go a little higher if necessary. You can bid every 24 hours, but it has to be a full 24. If you jump the gun even a little you won't be allowed to bid then, and the attempt sometimes starts the clock over and you are again locked out for the next 24.

The least expensive 2* for your dates is $80 so it may well take more than $30 to win via bidding. By starting now you can explore a little more. The least expensive 1* is $54.

I'm just a member, not a moderator, but I thought it best to help you get going now rather than wait for a more official response.

Maybe plan your 2* bids with a $4 increment each day so if you aren't successful by the last day you can just switch over and directly purchase the $54 1*. $30, 34, 38, 42, 46, 50. Or increment a little more if you more strongly prefer the 2*.

Or you could simultaneously bid at the 1* level? Figure out what you thing the difference between the * levels is worth to you - $10? and then bid first the 2* at your $30 and then the 1* at $20. Bid the 2* first since when you are bidding at a lower level it assumes all the levels above are also included.

Finally, there is not necessarily a perfect correspondence between the offerings on the retail side and the bidding side of Priceline. There can be different hotels on each side, so don't be surprised if you get one via bidding that was not listed as available for direct purchase.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Take special note of Romelle's comment above about not using the retail section of PRICELINE to determine what you'll get when bidding... while many hotels participate in both, each uses a different universe of hotels so you would easily receive something when bidding which doesn't show up on the 'retail' side of things. See the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for more info.

What is your maximum bid for this stay?

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