Priceline Hotel: 4* CPS Swissotel Drake at $125.00

[travelpjean]

I need to submit a bid to Priceline soon so, this is the strategy I came up with. I have never done this before.

Please, submit your opinion. Thanks

1. bid $120.00 5* Midtown East. I DON'T want the Grand Hyatt I hope bidding here just for the Waldorf Towers won't allow that to happen.

2. If rejected $125.00 CPS for a 4* hotel(This is what I want the most)

3. Bid if rejected $130.00 add free rebid zone which is the upper west side. I understand that if I bid here, there is NO WAY I will receive anthing here because, I'm searching for a four star hotel , right?

Also, I want to make sure I won't get anything but a five star in midtown east. Just because I select a four star in another zone, it doesn't mean I will get a four star in midtown east will it? Thanks, so much for your help!

[WillTravel]

If I understand correctly, I would start a new bid for #1.

If that failed, I would start a completely new bid for #2.

If that failed, I would add your rebid zone to the #2 bid to get bid #3.

Double-check your screens very carefully, of course.

If you just added rebid zones and star levels to #1, you could end up with a 4* in MTE.

Upper West Side currently does not have 4* hotels, so it's a safe free rebid (at least as of this moment - that should be rechecked when you do your bid).

[thereuare]

You are correct in your logic, but i will make 2 comments:

1) If/when your 5* MTE bid is rejected, DON"T add the other zones, close out that browser and start an entirely new bid from scratch (this will ensure that the MTE zone is NOT selected, as there is no way to 'un-select' zones when you re-bid, unless you start a brand new bidding cycle)

2) If you're willing to pay $130 for a room, would you be willing to stay at the 5* MTE hotel at that price (assumed to be the Waldorf Towers)? If so, bid $130 (or however much you're willing to pay) for the 5* MTE, if rejected, start over completely (by closing that browser) and follow the bidding procedure for 4* CPS that you supplied.

Since following the above procedure your 5* MTE bid is treated separately from your other bids, you can actually bid as high as your willing to pay for that hotel, and it won't effect your ability to lower your price and start over when you begin your 4* bidding.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you'd ike, you can send me a PM as to when you'll be bidding this and i'll try to have my AOL Messenger on so that i can help you with any questions you might have in 'real time'.

It would be appreciated if you started your bid at an affilliate's site.

[travelpjean]

That's great !Thanks, so much for your help. I will probably do this , this weekend so, I will try to get your help in real time. I think I will leave out Midtown East for now. I will do CPS at 125.00 then do free rebid at $130.00,sound like a winner? I will go through savingsbarn.com and post results to this forum. I hope those amounts are reasonable.

[travelpjean]

I placed my bid through savingsbarn.com.

First bid was cps $120.00 , rejected then I rebid using the upper west side and increased my bid to $125.00 , was accepted at the Swissotel New York, the Drake. I had not considered this hotel before. I was expecting something like the Le Parker Meridian or Intercontinential. I hope this is a good one. I'll check the reviews.

the taxes were $125.97 and the total charges were $875.97 Thanks for your help.

[travelpjean]

I realized I didn't put the dates., July 20th through July 26th, 6 nights.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up, i'm glad you were successful and don't have to worry about it anymore.

Keep an eye HERE for discounts to some restaurants (some of which are very good). The current offer expires 6-30-03, but if history serves a precedent, they will extend the offer after this one expires (but in the past, it didn't happen right away, but sometime about a week after expiration).

NYC is my area, so if you have any questions or need advice on anything, just ask.

You can also see some <favorable> reviews HERE and Travelocity.com/Vacations/Reviews/Hotel/Read/0,,TRAVELOCITY_12078_0,00.html"]HERE.

By the way, from the second review link above, if you run into 'Jim S' at the hotel who says, "When I can get a good rate ($270 or less) on online, I always pick it", make sure you tell him about our site!!

Enjoy your stay and trip.