Priceline Hotel: 3.5* DC (Alexandria East - Old Town) Crowne Plaza Hotel Old Town Alexandria

[hangman]

My opening bid was $55 for a 3.5* hotel in Alexandria East/Old Town. This bid was rejected, but Priceline offered me a one-time opportunity to increase my bid to $70, without changing any other parameters.

I declined the offer, and submitted a new bid including the Dupont Circle region and a $60 room rate. This bid was accepted for the Crowne Plaza Old Town. My bids were for two rooms. After the taxes and fees, my grand total for this visit was $144.46

One thing I noticed was Priceline's "helper" information was all over the place:

1. When I first checked the region and hotel rating, the Not Sure What to bid box indicated that the median rate for a room in this area was $59, so I initially typed in a $40 bid.
   
2. Before submitting this bid, I was warned that my bid had almost no chance of being accepted, so I increased my bid to $50. This time I received a warning message that there was very little chance of the bid being accepted. I hit the submit button, and ended up on an intermediate screen that said a bid of $50 probably would not be accepted when the median price was $215, and I should reconsider my bid.
   
3. I went back to the page to submit an initial bid, checked/unchecked a few options to get back to my original bid, and this time the Not Sure What to Bid changed to $88. At this point I fully submitted my $55 bid that was rejected. My updated $60 bid was accepted.
   

My bidding process started by using the PRICELINE link.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Nicely done! Hope you're happy with the results and this property works well for your needs this trip.

Often the median price shown by HOTWIRE is not that accurate and generally speaking the 'no chance' message should be ignored as well... i currently wouldn't use either of these to determine a maximum bid or bidding strategy.

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

Enjoy your stay.