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Priceline Hotel: 4* San Diego (Downtown-Harbor Island) Andaz San Diego


TheBugster
By TheBugster,
in

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Hi guys,

Wondering if you can offer any advice. I understand the whole bidding process and all the tips/methods available.

What I'm interested in is advice on bidding about 5 months in advance...does it make any difference to the price/is there less chance of winning bids so far in advance? We are doing a road trip, starting in San Diego. With so much time I thought I'd give the 5* hotels a go and in San Diego Downtown, there are so many re-bid opportunities as there are tons of zones and only 1 has a 5* hotel. Ideally we'd save the cash and get a 4* but I don't really want the hotel out of the city centre (by the airport) - I've got so far to about $100 and don't mind going quite a bit more. I'm wondering being at the end of July/beginning of August, is it likely bids won't be accepted till nearer the time due to the high season?

I've given Disney-Anaheim a go as well (next stop!) at 4* and got to about $80 so far and still no luck.

Just wondering what people's thoughts are and the best way to approach this may be. Dates for San Diego are 29-31 July and Anaheim would be 31-1.

Many thanks

ps. For about 20 bids I have done on San Diego so far, I've used the PRICELINE link each time!!

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I see you got the Priceline Anaheim leg of your stay taken care of, so we'll just use this thread for the San Diego part of your trip.

As far as 'when to bid' there is no perfect answer, but here is a quote i recently gave in a reply to this same/similar question:

Hotels have a pretty good ideal where they'd like to be, and where they should be, in terms of booking for any given date, taking in to consideration seasonality factors, events, conventions, etc.

If it's 10 months before a date and the hotel is only 5% occupied but they feel they should be at 15% occupancy, then they will price rooms (including opaque rates) very aggressively until they're at a 'comfortable' occupancy level for the amount of time before the dates in question... at which point they're raise rates again.

A perfect example of this is what we're currently seeing in NYC... just a short time ago the hotel market there was very slow and the economy was still somewhat uncertain, users who booked 6-9+ months ahead where getting great deals, even for peak season (spring) dates, as hotels didn't have many reservations on the books. The hotel market there, while still not 'strong', has recovered very nicely (stronger then most had expected) and rates for Spring dates are high once again, leaving many asking 'why can't i get the same deal' (which was booked months ago)

Bottomline: If your plans are firm, it never hurts to bid early... as long as you don't overbid. Know what a 'good deal' is for the time period you're traveling and keep your bids near the lower end of the expected range... not bidding the high end of the expected range until you get closer to the stay.

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

As far as your PRICELINE bidding, note that the only known 5* hotel is the US Grant, and it has not yet been reported to the board via PRICELINE since it was renovated and upgraded to the 5* level, so your chances of picking up a rock-bottom deal there i think are a bit low. If you're sticking to 5* bidding because you don't want to end up by the airport, you should also look at HOTWIRE who uses slightly different zones and boundaries... while their Downtown zone also extends up north by the marina/airport, they also have a separate Gaslamp Quarter zone which you may be interested in.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board for your bidding.

Feel free to ask any additional questions and keep us updated or let us know how we can help further.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks for the reply - I guessed at most of that but good to hear from you as you see everything that goes on here on the board!

Yes, I got a bit impatient with Anaheim - with 4* hotels I got up quite high....and this stay was really a get to the hotel as early as possible, leave bags with hotel, get to Disney asap bed late then off to LA the next day! So I went for a 3.5*, and got Red Lion at a good rate (I hope) - location is great and will do us fine!

San Diego is another story. As you rightly say, there is only 1 5* hotel. As we have so much time, I'd rather try for that at a decent price than get the airport for a 4* near the airport. Having said that, the 4* hotels look absolutely fine for us - and if I got the Sheraton Marina at a really good rate, it would be fine....I think I tried $60-70 on 4* but didn't get anywhere yet. Just need to see whether or not it is worth trying multiple bids for the one and only 5* hotel...it is so easy for re-bids in San Diego!!

Hotwire: In the Gaslamp Quarter you are looking at $195 for 5* and $178 for 4*.....that seems a little high but what do I know!! I know the wife would just want me to go for the 5* especially as we would have just been on a long flight. If it's $195 for 5* on Hotwire.....I am probably nowhere near with $100 on Priceline (I could go up a little I guess...but would rather 4* but risky with the airport hotel - the only good thing about that is that I guess picking up a car would be from the Airport mainly....any ideas? I haven't booked the car yet...!!)

Thanks for the help

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I'm not 100% what you're asking in regards to the car situation, but assuming you are flying into the area, won't you get a car at whatever airport you land at? Even if you ultimately end up in the Gaslamp Quarter and/or away from the airport, won't you rent a car when you land?

Agreed, with HOTWIRE at nearly $200 for a 5* you're $100 bid isn't likely very close.

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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We'll get a car on the morning before we head off - no point having it before/paying for parking.

So we land Day 1, spend the whole of next day in San Diego and leave early on Day 3. So possibly staying by the airport could be a good thing as I guess the majority of rental places will be by the airport!

Would love 5* but think 4 will be the way going forward..I have ages to go so will try my luck - and with all those re-bid zones I can have some fun!!

Cheers

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are actually a good number of rental car places everywhere in metropolitan San Diego, and off-airport rental locations often have cheaper rates and less fees. However, they're less likely to be open when you want, so check their hours. Enterprise, and probably some other rental car companies too, will pick you up from the vicinity and drop you off too.

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Would love 5* but think 4 will be the way going forward..I have ages to go so will try my luck - and with all those re-bid zones I can have some fun!!

I'm not sure on your price range, but some of the larger 4* hotels in the DT/Harbor Island area have car rental agencies in the hotel. We rented our car from Hertz, which has a rental desk in the Hyatt (amongst other hotels). You pay an extra fee for these locations (no idea how much as I did a one-way rental and paid a lot of other fees) however. On the plus side, parking is "free" because when you bring the car back at night (and you're staying the night) you bring it back to the Hertz stalls and rent it again the next day (if you want).

We're actually heading down to San Diego the same time you are so I'm eager to see your results as we'll be looking at the same type of hotel (4* or better) that you are.

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