Priceline Hotel: How early is too early?

[Cimbom]

Hello,

Having returned from the US just over a week ago, I am eager to head back as I really enjoyed our stay in New York. I am thinking about returning in July next year. When should I start trying to bid on \Priceline? Is December or January too early?

Thanks :)

[hohogap]

If your dates are certain, it's never too early to start bidding, so long as you're willing to accept any requested * hotel in your zone and understand that the "win" is non-refundable. It really depends on hotel inventory, etc., and this question is also addressed in the FAQ section of the Board (found under the Questions and Suggestions forum) for a more extensive explanation of the timing of bidding. Good luck!

[AaronJB]

Exact bids would depend on how busy the date/s of travel are/availability, but one tactic that can be used is to pick a reasonable "ceiling" for bids, and bid up to that ceiling once every week or two. If a few months go by and no hotels accept, then you can consider raising your ceiling or considering a lower star rating. The FAQ provides a good discussion of timing.

Please provide details on your trip (date/s of travel, budget per night, acceptable zones, star rating, etc.)

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Cimbom]

Hello,

I would like to book a hotel on Priceline for December 30 - Jan 6. Our budget for the entire stay is $1000 (tax inclusive) or about $120/night before tax. I haven't tried bidding yet but do you think we'd be able to get a 4* hotel for this price or we'll have to go for a 3 or 3.5*?

Thanks

[AaronJB]

Good morning. :)

Does this replace the date/s discussed in this prior Priceline NYC thread? Additionally, please provide an update for your Los Angeles Priceline thread. Thanks.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[Cimbom]

Well I didn't discuss any specific dates in the last thread so this is juat a follow on from that. With the LA thread, I said that I would be trying again soon which I am yet to do.

How much would I be looking at on Priceline for the above dates and star level?

Thanks

[thereuare]

The NYE Holiday will likely make midtown locations a tough win at most star levels... is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (and please click each of these links before replying)

Thanks.

[Cimbom]

I wouldn't want to split a one week stay but I'm not fussed if the hotel isn't in Times Square or anywhere like that. Pretty happy with most NYC Priceline zones if I can get that price.. Thoughts?

[thereuare]

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (and please click each of these links before replying)

[Cimbom]

I did now :)

[AaronJB]

In terms of splitting the way in this situation, the issue with these dates is really the NYE night +1 night on either side (so around 12/30-1/2). However, the NYE night itself is one of the busiest of the year and many midtown properties sell out or do not aggressively discount because they expect walk-ins. The other half of this stay (1/2-6) is going to most likely be slow or extremely slow. $100-120 for a 4* is possible for the back half of this stay, but the front half of this stay is probably going to be extremely expensive, and HOTWIRE prices are over $300 (and some closer to $400) for a 4* in Midtown when looking at that portion separately. Unfortunately, I think $120 is not going to be realistic for a 4* for this period.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[thereuare]

See this thread for additional information: SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID

Is this an option for this trip?

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

[Cimbom]

If I was staying for longer, I'd consider splitting but not for 1 week.

I have found the Salisbury for $190/night + tax (average rate) which is my back up and I will book it in a month or two if I don't get anywhere on Priceline.

The cheapest rate on Hotwire for my whole stay is $226/night + tax for 4 stars. Do you think it'd be possible for me to get it on Priceline for $200/night (inc tax)?

If not, what's the lowest you think I could get a 3-3.5* star for?

Thanks :)

[thereuare]

You can try certainly try, but the problem is that some hotels won't offer any inventory to the opaque suppliers for 12/31 (and or the day before and/or after). Any hotel which has not offered inventory for the nite of 12/31 will automatically not be eligible to accept your bid (at any price) which will greatly diminish the inventory of hotels available for purchase.

HOTWIRE has a few 3* offerings that come in right at your budget so there is a chance that you could be successful on PRICELINE at $165 or less (~$200 on an all-in basis)... but i suspect your $165 budget would be too low for a 4* property.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[Cimbom]

Well it seems that 200+tax ($230 all up?) will be the minimum we can get away with for booking something through normal channels. That should improve our chances, right? We can't try for a few weeks though.

[thereuare]

We can't try for a few weeks though.

Let us know once you're ready/able to bid and we'll take a look at current rates at that time.

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

Thanks.

[Cimbom]

There is a 4* Downtown-Soho hotel on Hotwire for $97/night from Jan 1 - 6. I could book this and then book the first 2 nights directly through the hotel. Any idea which hotel this is - I think you guessed Sheraton Tribeca in another thread?

Thanks

[thereuare]

What are the amenities associated with the HOTWIRE property? Keep in mind that 12/30-1/1 will likely cost you substantially more than 1/1-1/6.

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

[Cimbom]

Fitness Center, Business Center, High Speed Internet

I have checked the prices for the Sheraton and it is about $400/night for the first two nights but this still works out cheaper than booking the entire stay directly at pretty much any other decent hotel or booking the whole stay at a hotel I'd be happy with on Hotwire. I would try Priceline beforehand though. Can you narrow it down to which hotel (or two) you think it's likely to be?

[thereuare]

My guess is the Sheraton Tribeca without a Breakfast amenity showing, but i'm not certain as this property has not yet been reported to the board with this amenity set, so there is a risk that it could be something else. As well, keep in mind that if you use PRICELINE you may not receive the property that is currently appearing on HOTWIRE, so that adds another layer of risk since you don't know the hotel you will receive, and therefore won't know how much the hotel will cost for the additional two nites.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Cimbom]

Bit of an update...

We were initially wanting to stay in NY from Dec 30 - Jan 6 but this has now been changed to us arriving on Dec 28. We would like to split our stay from Dec 28 to Jan 1. Then another five nights from Jan 3 to 8. For the first part of our stay, I have found that Brooklyn has the best rates with Aloft and the Sheraton around $1100 for four nights ($275/night inc tax). Out of these, the Sheraton is the only one we can get by bidding. Do you think it would be possible to get it for around $180 on Priceline?

Thanks again :)

[thereuare]

Out of these, the Sheraton is the only one we can get by bidding.

I don't think you can make this statement with any degree of certainty... new hotels are added all the time and the board's hotel lists only contain hotels reported to the board (and 'new' things are more likely to happen during high demand dates such as this than during more 'typical' times)

Do you think it would be possible to get it for around $180 on Priceline?

Given the New Year's Eve holiday many hotels may not offer any inventory to the opaque providers, so it's impossible to say without giving it a shot. If you want to try bidding on PRICELINE for Brooklyn are there any Manhattan zones that you would also find acceptable (since you could then use these as pseudo re-bid zones and worst case scenario you win a hotel that is actually in Manhattan).

Also, before bidding for Brooklyn... would you be willing to stay on the NJ side of the River? HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel for $105/nite in the Hoboken-Jersey City-North Bergen zone which i'm guessing is the Sheraton Weehawken. While it's my lease favorite 4* hotel in the zone, it does provide 'easy enough' transportation to Manhattan via bus (it just doesn't have the 'cool' factor of commuting via subway/train) and for the price i would take this ahead of Brooklyn... even if you took a $10 taxi each way to the PATH train (so you could travel by train instead of bus) you'd still come out way ahead of the prices you're looking at in Brooklyn.

Thoughts?

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