Priceline Hotel: Help need bidding strategy for 4* San Francisco (Financial District-Em

[HardBoiled]

Using BetterBidding.com's PRICELINE link we selected Financial District-Embarcadero, 4 star and bid $115 which was not accepted.

Any suggestions on what to do next? Although we've used Priceline a few times we've never had a bid rejected.

The way I see it we have at least 3 choices:

1) Wait 24 hours and we can bid a higher amount, is this correct?

2) Select an additional area but I'm concerned our bid may be accepted, is this where we lowball knowing it will most likely be rejected? Any suggestions on where to bid and how much?

3) We're also open to using Hotwire.com if we can get some guidance as how to increase our chances to win a 4* hotel in the Financial District-Embarcadero area.

Thank you so much for your assistance input. Your efforts are greatly appreciated :)

[thereuare]

2) Select an additional area but I'm concerned our bid may be accepted, is this where we lowball knowing it will most likely be rejected? Any suggestions on where to bid and how much?

What you want to do is add re-bid zones which are areas which only have hotels lower then the star rating you are bidding (and thus you can't win a hotel there since it doesn't contain any hotels which meet your minimum star rating criteria)

See this thread for more info: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and confirm your re-bid zones before bidding (HINT: at the 4* level in this area you have SIX re-bid zones). If you read the previous thread and are confused just post back and we'll break it down further for you.

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

[Colfax]

I'll mention that Embarcadero rates are very high for your dates:

Omni $359

Le Meridien $329

Hyatt Regency $359

Even the Hilton Financial District, a Priceline 3.5*, is $345.

Hotwire has no opaque 4*. They're selling Le Meridien at $329, full retail. Travelocity Top Secret has nothing in Embarcadero area.

I think you need to get your PRICELINE bidding up closer to the $150 mark, which is still less than 50% of best available retail, or try some other zones. (Other zones seem to be cheaper for these dates.)

As thereuare mentioned you've got six rebid zones, if you want edge up from $115 to $150 (or whatever your limit is) on PRICELINE.

[HardBoiled]

Thank you both for your helpful replies.

We bid up to $215 and it was rejected. Instead of delaying our trip (again) we just booked directly with the Sheraton @ Wharf for $159 + taxes.

[thereuare]

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision.

Please note from our support page that we're an affiliate of the Sheraton, please check for and use the links in the support page for your hotel direct purchases.

Thanks, enjoy your stay.

[Colfax]

Instead of delaying our trip (again) we just booked directly with the Sheraton @ Wharf for $159 + taxes.

HardBoiled,

When you wrote "Instead of delaying our trip (again)..." it jogged my memory and I recalled your aborted attempt to visit SF earlier this year, as detailed in this priceline san francisco hotel thread.

I'm bringing it up months later because I had a followup comment I wanted to make in January and I forgot about it until this thread reminded me.

To summarize the other thread: HardBoiled planned to visit SF from 1/25-1/27, had airline tickets, and was bidding for a hotel two weeks before stay. Her dates overlapped MacWorld though, with 35,000 expected, and hotel rates were sky high (4* hotels over $300) two weeks before the convention.

Based on the high rates she cancelled the trip, paid a $230 change fee on the airline tickets, and rescheduled for May.

At the last minute I had to go to SF during MacWorld and I planned to stay at the airport or even San Mateo due to the high rates downtown. But when I checked---this was 2 or 3 days before the start of MacWorld---downtown rates had plummeted. Several 4* hotels downtown, including Hilton and Parc55, were charging $99 rack rate. Those weren't Priceline or Hotwire rates. $99 on the hotel websites, and several more 4* were $109 or $119.

35,000 is a lot of people but a few years ago MacWorld was drawing over 60,000. And many of the 35,000 attendees live in the Bay area and didn't need hotels. So rates really crashed in the days before the convention...from very high to very low.

You can't plan on a last minute price plunge before every large convention or event, but it does happen, and I don't think it's rare.

Even though you had to pay to reschedule your plane I still think it worked out. The weather was cold and windy during MacWorld and it ought to be splendid when you visit next week. I just called Mayor Ed Lee and put in a special request.

Have fun in SF!