Priceline Hotel: Priceline or Hotwire Jersey City

[travelbuff]

Hi: would like advice on bidding 3* Jersey City for one night 5/20/05. Would appreciate any tips that might make the Hyatt a win but I realize this is not a given. Thanks for all your help!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

There are no re-bid zones so your only option from there is to lower to a 2.5* which would most likely put you in the Courtyard Marriott if you won at that level, but don't know if 2.5* is acceptable to you or not.

With time on your side i would try bidding $55 for a 3* hotel in the area... not a high probability bid, i would start there nonetheless. After that i don't know if you'd want to try for a 2.5* or simply wait 72 hours and raise your bid amount.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[travelbuff]

Hi: Thanks for bidding info. I bid through SB; entered $55. and immediately got the message, "according to recent data, this amount would probably not be sufficient so I changed to $59. and didn't get that repeat message. The next page screen showed a similar message but I held to $59. with no luck. Think we would prefer to stay with 3*, crossing our toes for the Hyatt... What would you recommend for bidding amount after 72 hr lockout? Hotwire seems to be holding at $159 - $164 thereabouts. Do you have an idea of how past history trends with bidding close to the desired date with Hotwire? As a side note, I have seen Priceline advertise on TV for the first time this past week ! If we can catch a winning bid, what would be the best way to get to the Statue of Liberty? Thanks for all your help. This board is great!

[thereuare]

The 'problem' is that as you go above $55 you also open up the possibility of getting the Doubletree. The Doubletree is ok, but some prefer the 2.5* Courtyard to the Doubletree (some even prefer the Candlewood Suites taking into consideration the Candelwood offers free parking).

So in other words, it's tough to suggest you bid higher if you really don't want any ohter hotels in the zone. This property has also recently made some internal changes and it much less agressive in their opaque hotel pricing, so a little less knowledge can be gained from previous history given that we are in a 'new paradigm' with this property... but generally you're already in the range for low rates and hotels don't typically drop rates considerably at the last minute.

So i don't know if i'd bid higher unless you are willing to accept a hotel other than the Hyatt. As well, if you are going to bid higher, i would encourage you to read reviews of the other hotels in the zone as some like them better than the 'lesser-liked' 3 stars.