Priceline Hotel: Help bidding on Washington, DC hotel

[jackmash]

I will be coming to Washington on April 26 - April 28.

The price on 3-4* hotels are upward of $280.

Any clue what the recommended bid, for a win, on a 4* and 3* hotel for the White house and convention center areas?

I am going to need 4 rooms.

[thereuare]

We'll be happy to suggest a bidding strategy to follow... do you have a maximum bid in mind?

Also, are you familiar with PRICELINE RE-BIDDING? (you have five re-bid zones at the 4* level)

Let us know and we'll supply a strategy to try.

[jackmash]

Maximum of $100 no minimum, naturally!!

[thereuare]

Assuming you're "ok" on your re-bid zones...

Select 4* Convention Center...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $74, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $78, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $82, if rejected close browser and reaccess priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* White House...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $74, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $78, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $82, if rejected close browser and reaccess priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* Convention Center and White House

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $89, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $93, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $97, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and reaccess priceline however you did previously.

I don't think there is much of a chance until the last round of bidding, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Any questions feel free to ask. Let us know how it goes.

[jackmash]

Thanks for your help!

I am kinda stuck. I can't decide what to do. I need 5 rooms and priceline only lets me bid on 4. I don't know if I want to take the chance of splitting it and ending off with a different hotel.

[thereuare]

I don't know the group that is going (and how they're related) but if you split you may want to split it as 3 rooms and 2 rooms so that if a different hotel is received that party won't be by themselves.

Other options:

Book on HOTWIRE in the same 3 rooms/2 rooms split... at least on the 2nd purchase you'll have a very good idea if it's the same hotel based upon the amenties and star rating matching the first purchase

Book using either opaque service (4 rooms) and then book the last room 'direct'... take the total of both purchases and divide by 5 to determine everybody's cost (so that nobody is 'stuck' with the conventional booking). This could be risky, but still worthwhile, if you receive a hotel for $100 that sells direct for $300 as you'll then be paying that hotel-direct rate for the last room.

Of the options i think HOTWIRE is the best route and split the purchase by 3 rooms and 2 rooms... at least this way you can be reasonably sure of the 2nd purchase, and if for some reason the same hotel is not shown for the second purchase, you can 1) wait a few days and see if re-appears, 2) buy the different propert anyway, 3) book it direct after checking conventional rates

[jackmash]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. Things were a bit crazy.

I tried (via savings barn)

4* convention center and white house using free rebids as follows

$75 No

$82 NO

$89 NO

$99 NO

$103 No

3* White house $79 - No

Added convention center for $93 - No

free rebid $103 - No

And than I gave up...!!!

Thanks for your help anyway.

[thereuare]

So did you cancel the trip or what did you end up doing?

[jackmash]

I used my backup hotel a comfort Inn in Landover, MD - nothing very exciting but it fit the budget at $95.00 after tax.

[ScottTexas]

Those rates are crazy; do you know what was going on in DC that caused them to be so high?!? I've had a lot of success staying in Crystal City at National Airport (just a short Metro ride from DC) when the DC prices are too high.