Priceline Hotel: 3* Vancouver (Airport YVR) Park Plaza

[Y0B1G0]

hello Travellers and Thereuare, I've been reading up on this site for two nights and i'm just not catching on fast enough. We are travelling this coming weekend and need a room at or near YVR for april 24th for myself and 5 year old.

>Our flight south leaves at 7 am April 25th and assume that international check in means 5:30 or 6am so lickety split airport shuttle is critical and it's a Monday morning.

>

> i experimented with a low bid of usd62 on priceline for 4* airport which

> was declined. i think i'm prohibited from bidding on any more 4*

> hotels for next 72 hours, but they really aren't in my price range

> anyway. i just wanted to try it out.

>

can you suggest a reasonable place and price (- CDN100) for parent and child and a strategy please?

>

> thanks very much.

>

>

>

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

You still can bid 4* again by using your qualified re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED and feel free to ask questionsa and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board.

However, it sounds as if cost is a concern, and 3* hotels in this area typically go for much less than 4* hotels so i'll supply a strategy for a 3* property, for which you have two re-bid zones available (again, confirm them if you're unsure which zones qualify)

Select 3* Vancouver Airport

Bid $28, if rejected add re-bid zone1 and...

Bid $32, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously...

Select 3* Vancouver Airport and rebid zone2...

Bid $35, if rejected add re-bid zone 1 and...

Bid $37.

I'll add that you can receive a 3* hotel anywhere in the airport zone and there is no guarantee of shuttle service, although i would suspect that most of them in the area offer it. If you're successful with the above i would think that even if you had to pay for taxi to the airport (doubtful), you'll still likely be lower than a conventionally booked hotel.

If the above fails you may also want to look at HOTWIRE where there is a 3* hotel list for $37 (or there abouts, the price for your search may be slightly different) which is most likely the Park Plaza. Their website shows "scheduled shuttle service" but doesn't give times at which the shuttle runs (ie- may not start until 6am or so).

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[Y0B1G0]

thanks very much for your helpful suggestions; I followed step one and bid $28 for 3* at the airport. Priceline rejected my bid but asked for another $7 without having to change zones * or anything.........so i did and "scored" Park Plaza Vancouver airport for usd35.00

Fees 10.97

total 45.97.

It does have a free airport shuttle that starts at 5am, so that will be the saving grace. All the reviews I've read since "winning" indicate that this hotel is a joke of a 3*.

any suggestions for how to score one of their cleaner/newer rooms when i check in?

thanks

[thereuare]

Be nice at check-in and ask for one of the upgraded rooms... try to strike up a casual conversation with the check-in clerk and find some sort of connection with them. They're the ones with the power to give you a good room and you have to give them a reason to do so.

Priceline's offer to increase by $7 is what we refer to as a counter-offer and they can almost always be undercut, as discussed in this thread: PRICELINE SUGGESTS PRICE TO PAY. Not too much of a difference on a one nite stay, but could add up on an extended stay vacation, so you should at least know about it for future bids.

Enjoy your stay.