Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Downtown - Financial District) Marriott New York Downtown

[gemmagor]

I'm from Ireland and trying to formulate bidding strategy for a 3.5* or 4* New York hotel in Mid Town East, Mid Town West or Mid Town Central/Chelsea for following dates for 2 adults - 1 bed is suitable:-

1 night on 15/12/2012 (pre cruise)so good links to Manhatten Cruise terminal important & 3 nights on 23, 24 & 25 December 2012 (post cruise). I know I'm a bit early as prices for above dates have not been released but want to have a bidding strategy sorted. Budget $140 including taxes per night.

Thanks in advance

[thereuare]

Please use separate threads for each leg of your trip. We'll use this thread for your Dec 15 stay and please start a NEW TOPIC for your post cruise stay. However, we won't suggest any strategy until you're able to begin bidding, so please post only inside 330 days of your trip(s).

For the Dec 15 stay, are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this trip?

You may also want to check out our sister site, Pre Cruise Hotels which will give you a very good overview of the pier location and the hotels around it (as well as prices, which are displayed up to 18 months before check-in)

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

[gemmagor]

Pre Cruise Hotels website works out expensive. I hope to bid for Priceline hotel in one of the areas I mentioned which are a short taxi ride to cruise pier. What would you advise me to start bidding at? Is my budget reasonable for a MTE hotel?

[thereuare]

...we won't suggest any strategy until you're able to begin bidding, so please post only inside 330 days of your trip(s).

[gemmagor]

Trying to book pre cruise hotel in MTW, MTE or TS for 1 night for 2 adults on December 15th. Other zones considered too which are short taxi ride to Manhatten Cruise Terminal. Happy with a 3.5* or 4* up to 130$.

Can you please assist with bidding strategy?

[thereuare]

This date is right on the cusp of when rates usually drop from seasonally very high rates to the low pre-Christmas rates, but whether that happens a few days prior to Dec 15 this year, or a few days after Dec 15, there is no way to know.

At the moment i think you're going to have a tough time winning something in the zones above at $130 or less, but if you wanted to give it a try, did you want to try for a 4* first and then if rejected try for a 3.5*... OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this stay?

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

[gemmagor]

I'm happy to try for a 4* first then 3.5*. MTW, MTE, Downtown-Soho and any other zone which would be short taxi ride to Manhatten Cruise terminal all suitable.

Thanks for your assistance

[AaronJB]

You may be able to get a downtown/soho 4* closer to your desired range or possibly a bit under, as what appears to be either the W Downtown or Tribeca Grand is showing on HOTWIRE for $165 and the 4* Millennium Hilton (to use an example of a hotel in the area) is $229 regular rate. However, Midtown is likely going to be much more difficult to get close to to $130. As noted, this still falls within the very busy pre-Christmas shopping period.

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

[thereuare]

I'm happy to try for a 4* first then 3.5*. MTW, MTE, Downtown-Soho and any other zone which would be short taxi ride to Manhatten Cruise terminal all suitable.

Is your 4* bidding only MTE, MTW and TS... or are you also willing to add other zones at the 4* level? For the average user MTE, MTW, TS, CPS and ESB all typically work well. If/when you add Downtown you may be looking at ~$20 taxi ride... a little less from ESB zone, are these within 'reason'?

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

[gemmagor]

I'm willing to add CPS, ESB and Downtown Soho for a 4*. I'm happy to pay up to $130 plus room taxes. Calculated taxi fare from Downtown Soho to Cruise terminal and its about $11 which I think is very reasonable. Would 4* in Hells Kitchen area be achievable for my budget as Ink 48 close to terminal?

[gemmagor]

I'm keen to start bidding and await a bidding strategy.

[thereuare]

So to confirm, your first goal is the least expensive 4* in either the MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, ESB, DT and Soho zones? NOTE that you listed 'Downtown Soho' as one zone but this is actually two different zones on PRICELINE: 'Downtown-Financial' and 'Soho-Tribeca'.

Also, i do believe a taxi from Downtown will likely be closer to $20 than it will be to $10. This shouldn't be a dealbreaker, imo, but you should expect the fare to be more than $11.

While i don't think $130 will be enough, you can begin as follows:

At the 4* level in NYC you have SEVEN re-bid zones. 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 4* MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, ESB, DT and Soho...

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

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

Bid $118, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $123, if rejected add re-bid zone...

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

Bid $128, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $130

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.

[gemmagor]

I had a disaster with bidding. Used Priceline US website and followed the bidding strategy which was unsuccessful. I then tried a link to PRICELINE UK. As I was bidding I mistakenly forgot I was bidding in GBP sterling and placed a bid of what I thought was $120 US dollars but to my horror I had placed my bid £120 in sterling. I only realised my mistake when the hotel was `won'. I immediately contacted Priceline customer services and ended up speaking to 3 different people at their call centre in the Phillipines. This was extremely frustrating as several times I was cut off and when I continually tried to phone again the line was going dead. The third person I spoke to advised me to contact the Marriott Hotel New York Downtown directly which I had won to request them to cancel the booking. I contacted the hotel who directed me back to Priceline stating that Priceline had the authority to cancel the booking. I ended up on the telephone until 3.00 am trying sort this matter out.

I have ended up paying an inflated £150.83 sterling including taxes ($240) for a hotel in the financial district that I realistically could have won for a better price or booked for a better price elsewhere.

My mistake was obviously a genuine human error. I'm aware of Pricelines no cancellation policy but thought they might have used their discretion to take a common sense approach and cancel my booking which was made as a result of a genuine human error through currency confusion. :(

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of your bidding error... perhaps another reason to stick with the US site and using the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

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

Enjoy your stay.