Priceline Hotel: Paris 4 star

[mini123]

I'm new to this, and when I did a dummy bid on Priceline for $50 for a 4 star hotel for 11 days from May 31, I was quite surprised, when it was accepted. Being a newbie I'm a little skeptical, so before I actually make the booking, I want to find out, if anybody has had any experience with bids in this price range, it almost sounds too good to be true.

The areas I had chosen were Latin Quarter-Marais-Montparnasse.

Thank you.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'm assuming that your bid was not yet actually accepted...

If you've simply entered your dates and bid amount and clicked "NEXT" the next page is asking you to confirm the details of your purchase (double check the dates, name on reservation, zones, etc) before they check for availability (since once they check, if your bid is accepted, you own it).

Unless you have inputted your credit card details and clicked the 'Buy My Hotel Room' button then PRICELINE has not yet checked hotels for inventory at the price you've entered.

Do i have the scenario correct?

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

[mini123]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, you have the scenario correct, so now it makes more sense to me, so I'll know better, when I'm actually ready to make the reservation.

[Romelle]

For your dates Hotwire has a 3 1/2* Latin Quarter at $260. Priceline can be a little less expensive, but I thought this might give you a general idea.

Paris can be really expensive. The more Priceline zones you are willing to consider, the more likely you will be successful at a reasonable rate.

I'd suggest NOW is a good time to start working on the situation.

11 days is a sufficiently long time span that it may pose problems in the bidding. You might think about whether you'd be willing to break the stay up into two or even three shorter stays. Usually referred to here as "SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID".

Romelle

[jrk]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, you have the scenario correct, so now it makes more sense to me, so I'll know better, when I'm actually ready to make the reservation.

$50 or anything close to it for a 4-star in Paris, extremely unlikely.

Recently (mid-January) went up to $140, with no success. Settled for a 3-star for that price via Expedia, in a so-so district (Clichy/St. Lazaire) and a so-so hotel.

jrk

[vanpoodle]

I'd seriously consider splitting my stay into two or three blocks, you'd have a better chance of getting the best hotel rate that way. I'm happy to do that for stays more than 5 days or so. Try the full 11 days first, see if anything works, then consider splitting it up. To me the advantage is that I might get to stay in a new hotel or a different part of the city and see a bit more.

Also, this is a link to a fantastic post by smilingboy explaining re-bidding and using a matrix to maximize the # of bids you can do in one session, I think it can squeeze out about 30 at one session if there are 5 zones that you can bid on before getting frozen out for 24 hours.

Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

[mini123]

Thank you all for the information and this link. I now have a much better understanding of the process and will consider splitting the nights, if I decide go ahead with the bidding.

[thereuare]

Let us know whatever you decide to do for this stay or if we can be of further help.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (or the links in our Support Page if you decide to book direct)