Priceline Hotel: Bidding help for 6/26 - 7/2

[jmorris]

My wife and I will be in New York 6/26 - 7/2 and are looking for a good deal on a 4* hotel. I've been reading a lot of the posts here, and think I have the bidding strategy down. My main problem is knowing what price to start at.

I haven't used PL before, but took a look at their zones. Our preferred zones are 1 - Upper Midtown, 2 - Midtown West, 3 - Midtown East.

Using the EasyClickTravel Reverse Lookup we found a couple hotels we would choose if given the names:

Beckman Tower $194

Murray Hill East $179

Eastgate Tower $176

I would assume my max bid would be $175, unless someone else knows something I don't :)

Can anyone help me with a starting bid, and maybe some other pointers? I would like my first PL experience to be a good one! :)

Thanks much for any help. This site has been a great help...

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Is SPLITTING THE BID an option? (or would you rather not change hotels and simply stay at one of the above if you can't do better on a continuous stay)

[jmorris]

I think Splitting would be a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. To do that, would we enter one set of bids for 6/26 - 6/29 and a second for 6/29 - 7/2? I assume the 6/26-6/29 would most likely be lower since it is a mid-week?

Thanks!

Jon

[thereuare]

I only suggested splitting the bid because i think it will be tough to beat the $175 above. However, i don't think doing so is going to save you a significant amount of money (but if you have the time we can always try). You can definately save some money by bidding Sunday separately, but i don't know if you want to change properties after a one nite stay.

Let us know and we'll move forward with a suggestion on how to proceed.

[jmorris]

I would rather split 3/3 if that would help at all. I don't think my wife would like to change after only 1 night. I had to talk her into the idea of changing after 3 nights. She likes to set up camp in hotel rooms. :)

Thanks,

Jon

[thereuare]

You have two re-bids available at the 4* level. Rates look lower for the 2nd half of your stay so iin this instance i would start with them.

Bid the following for 6/29-7/2 (don't bid the other dates yet):

Select 4* UM/CPS...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTE...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $120, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* UM/CPS and MTW...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $135, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* UM/CPS and MTE...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $135, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* UM/CPS and MTE and MTW...

Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $150.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[jmorris]

I tried the bids, but nothing was accepted for 6/29-7/2. :)

Thanks,

Jon

[thereuare]

If you haven't already i would reserve either the Eastgate Tower or the Beekman Tower as a back-up.

Then in 72 hours bump this thread again and we'll take another look at current prices and update a strategy. You could also (immediately) try the above for the first 3 nites of your stay, but i think those will actually be the more difficult dates to get.