Priceline Hotel: Help bidding-NYC 07/16 to 07/18

[TO123]

I'm hoping to stay in a hotel of 3* or better for $125 per night or less from July 16 to July 18. Last year, I bid for a hotel in MTE using priceline and got the Doubletree @ Lexington Ave for $120 per night. I was pretty satisfied with the room and I think it is a good example of what I would hope to get this time.

I tried the same bid Today and got rejected. The areas I would not want to stay in are Brooklyn, Central Park South, Long Island, Queensborough Bridge and Upper east/west sides. I understand Coney island is the re-bidding area if I want 3* or better

I would really appreciate help with a bidding strategy! Thanks

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages.

To avoid any confusion, please list the zones (by PRICELINE name) you are willing to stay in rather then the ones you won't be willing to accept. Also, for your $120 bid above, did you bid all your acceptable zones OR only the MTE zone?

Please confirm the zones and let us know regarding which zone(s) were already bid and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[TO123]

thereuare, Thanks a lot for the quick response!

1. The zones I would like to stay in are: Chelsea, Downtown - SoHo - Financial District, Empire State Building, Hell's Kitchen, Madison Square Garden, Midtown East, Midtown West, Times Square

2. I bid all the acceptable zones. I started by bidding for 3 of them. I think they were Soho, Chelsea and Hell's kitchen at a $100 4*, then when I got rejected I added more of the acceptable zones at the same price and got rejected. Then I lowered my star rating and increase my bid to $110, then got rejected. I added the remainder zones, got rejected and then lowered my star rating and increase my bid to $120. I never left the priceline site or used the re-biddig area. all and all a pretty messy bid :)

I really had no idea what I was doing.

Thank you very much for your help. I will make sure to use the links above everytime I need to access the priceline site. Cheers!

[thereuare]

Indeed... most important 'lesson' from the above is that you don't want to increase your bid price while lowering your star rating as this can often result in an overbid (see this thread for a further discussion: If You Lower Your Star Rating then Lower Your Bid Price). Any questions on this subject feel free to ask.

Although with your maximum bid at only $5 more than your previously rejected you're not leaving too much room for success, but this would be a better approach...

At the 3* you have ONE re-bid zone. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 3* Chelsea, DT, ESB, HK...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MSG, MTE, MTW, TS...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MSG, DT, ESB, HK...

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* Chelsea, MTE, MTW, TS...

Bid $105, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* Chelsea, MTE, ESB, HK...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MSG, DT, MTW, TS...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* Chelsea, DT, MTW, HK...

Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MSG, MTE, ESB, TS...

Bid $115, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* Chelsea, DT, ESB, TS...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* MSG, MTE, MTW, HK...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link re-access PRICELINE

Select 3* Chelsea, DT, ESB, HK, MSG, MTE, MTW, TS...

Bid $125

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.