Priceline Hotel: NEED HELP ASAP NYC BID 12/28-12/31

[hxs02]

I am trying to book a room in NYC during the worst possible time from 12/28-12/31. I would like to stay in the Central Park South area, but am open to Times Square Area as well.

I have bid up to $205/night on a 4**** with no success. Does anyone have any advice?

[Romelle]

Is your check-out 12/31 for a 3 day stay, or 1/1 for a 4 day stay?

Take a look at what Hotwire has to say - upper left hand corner on this page.

Try your full span of days first and take notes on the offerings/areas that look good. Then try one day at a time and see if one of your days is unusually high. If everything is pretty much the same from day to day, you can either take one of the Hotwire possibilities or keep bidding Priceline.

But if one of the days is much higher than the others, you need to consider splitting your Priceline bid or booking via Hotwire.

Priceline does some averaging, but not always. And when it doesn't, your bid has to be higher than the highest individual day to win. Hotwire seems to do more averaging.

3 or 4 days isn't much to split, but with both New Year's Eve and a weekend in your span, it might be necessary to get a result you like.

Also, the further out you can consider, and the more areas you can consider, the better your chances of success at a (at least sort of) reasonable rate.

Romelle

[hxs02]

Hi Romelle,

Great strategy and good question. I am actually trying to stay through 1/1. That being said, since I was having such difficulty getting a room and my flight gets in late on the 28th I broke it up into pieces. I am flying into Newark, so I booked a room in Newark for around $60/night ($77 after taxes and fees) for the 28th (will post win in Jersey shortly). I am now looking for individual days in Manhattan to try to break up the bids. I am trying right now to bid for the 29th in Central Park South and then if I win take the extend a stay option at the same Hotel and see if that might work.

Thank you again for your response. Hopefully, I will find something. I realize that New Year's Eve makes NYC super expensive right now, but I hope to snag a deal. I can't believe the deal that someone just posted for the Renaissance 57 at Central Park South $139/night! Obviously, the dates are a little different 12/26-12/28, but still that is awesome!

I welcome any and all other strategies you or others might have:)

[Romelle]

I'm not a New Yorker, but have had a little experience staying in Newark and "commuting" to NYC. You can get there semi-efficiently with a hotel shuttle back to the airport, maybe a little ride on that airport train to the city bus pick-up point at the airport, a city bus to the Newark train station, and then a train (or maybe two - sometimes you have to change) on into the city.

Nice work on nailing that first night.

The main administrator here - thereuare - is a New Yorker, so you will get lots more specific help from him. The others are also well versed. I think they are short-handed right now because of the holidays, but they WILL get to you with more info. I'm a member, not an official moderator, but have done a lot of personal bidding.

You do know you can only extend a bid for the number of days of the original bid? So if you get the 29th, you can only extend to the 30th. You might first bid 29 and 30, and if that doesn't work, then drop back to just 29 at the same $$. If you get both nights on the bid, you save the extra basic fee Priceline adds on for an extension.

You also probably know that even if the extension is offered, it isn't necessarily offered at the same rate.

At the 4* level, you also have quite a few free rebids. If you aren't familiar with the concept, it is explained in the FAQs above - the last question in the list.

Finally, have you found the Calendar of Wins yet? It is under the Tools pulldown up above on this page. Just select your dates and type NY in the state box. There might be something there that gives you another idea.

Romelle

[AaronJB]

Unfortunately, this is a tough set of dates, even in terms of looking at separate dates. The 29th night is relatively reasonable (while MTE may not be of interest, HOTWIRE has a 3.5* for $106), but 12/30-1/1 are significantly more expensive - unfortunately, I'd be surprised if an additional night/add-a-night beyond the 29th was available at the same price, given the variation in prices. What would be your desired max budget per night?

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

[thereuare]

I am flying into Newark, so I booked a room in Newark for around $60/night...

Please share your win with the board as a NEW TOPIC, then click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links and reply to this thread, we'll then have a further look at the remaining nites of your trip.

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

Thanks.

[hxs02]

As I mentioned in the thread I am planning on posting that NJ win in the appropriate topic forum:)

thereuare--It sounds like you have a lot of experience with NYC. I use priceline all the time and have for several years. I am aware of a lot of the "tricks" for multiple bids and things. My question for you has to do with the "quality" of the 3.5 star properties in the Central Park South Area. I realize that there is a list of what those properties are and that it would be possible to go through each hotel site and read the reviews, but my question for you as a Native New Yorker is what do you know about those?

Finally, I am thinking about getting a suite for the 31st as there are four of us that are traveling together. Any suggestions regarding that?

Thank you again for all your work on bb:)

[hxs02]

Hi Romelle,

Thank you again for your suggestions. I am still waiting to here back from one of the moderators.

That being said, I bid on a 3.5 * in CPS and won The DREAM for $195 on 12/29-12/30. I don't normally trust the 3.5* hotels on PL so not sure what to think about this hotel? The reviews are mixed.

I did not know that my extension was limited to the number of days I bid, good information.

Finally, when I tried to rebid for the same Hotel on 12/30 I did not get it, but was offered the same hotel for $285/night. I rejected that offer.

I am still looking for a Hotel in CPS for 12/30-1/1. Hopefully, I will have good news to report soon. I am even thinking about trying to get a suite for 1/1 as there will be four of us on that night. However, I am not as "savvy" with how to get a suite using Priceline or other services.

[Romelle]

I'm glad to see you posted your thus far wins for this trip. The more winning bid postings (and reviews) there are on this site, the better it works for all.

If you look at the stats at the bottom of the first page, there often are some 300 people here. But usually only some 20 to 30 are logged-on members. I do know sometimes people just hop on to look at something, and don't bother to log on, eventually posting when they have a successful bid. But think of the depth of the information if all the other "lurkers" posted their wins!

Romelle

[hxs02]

Great point! I have all too often failed to report my successful bids on priceline, so hopefully I can be a little bit better in the coming year

[hxs02]

Just booked a 4* Hotel in Mid Town East for my travel companions. The W for $205/night.

Still looking and trying to win in CPS for me....

[thereuare]

What are the dates of the purchase of the W New York? Please add a reply here OR start a NEW TOPIC for this win so that others will be aware of the purchase when searching the topic titles on the board and in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins.

It would be appreciated if you used the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your future travel purchases.

Thanks.

[hxs02]

Already did: Priceline NYC

dates were December 29 and 30th

[thereuare]

Thank you for posting your win... it would also be appreciated if you used the requested links for your purchases.

Thanks.

[hxs02]

It would also be appreciated if you answered my question B)

[AaronJB]

There is no way to guarantee a suite via PRICELINE; with HOTWIRE you can look for a listing with suite in the amenity set in order to guarantee a suite, but unfortunately, there are few NYC all-suite properties that have been seen on the service. There is also no way to guarantee quad occupancy on PRICELINE - with HOTWIRE, you can search for up to four people. There are some apartment rentals on services such as Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity, but many of these properties do not get great reviews and aren't recommended.

What would be your desired budget for the additional night/s?

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