Priceline Hotel: Priceline New York Help

[Eric11]

I was hoping someone could help me understand the Priceline process better. I've used this forum some times before with success. This time, I'm tying for New York Downtown 5/6 through 5/8.

With the help of posts on this site, I've tried starting around 150 for 4*s and 125 for 3.5*s. After a couple weeks, I'm up to $195 for 4*s and 150 for 3.5*s with no luck.

I understand the basic premise of priceline but would appreciate help understanding how exactly the behind the scenes process works.

Do the hotels place rooms out there for availability at a certain price range, or does priceline actually consult with the hotel(or their computer systems) for each bid? Is there a certain quantity of rooms a hotel would put available for priceline?

Are there dates where a hotel would withhold rooms from priceline at any price?

Is it better to wait until closer to the date of travel or to book early? In other words, do more rooms open up closer to the date, or are they generally filled the closer you get?

I would really appreciate anyone who understands this better sharing what they know, or pointing out a post that explains it better.

[thereuare]

Welcome (officially) to BetterBidding!

If you haven't yet, please start by reading your messages.

I've used this forum some times before with success.

We're glad to hear the board has been helpful to your in the past, but it would be appreciated if you shared your wins with the board so that the information can help others, just as you have been helped by those who posted before you.

Is it better to wait until closer to the date of travel or to book early? In other words, do more rooms open up closer to the date, or are they generally filled the closer you get?

See the related 'Bid Early or Close to Arrival' link in our PRICELINE FAQ, then let us know any other questions which may remain.

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

[Verbat]

Hi Eric11,

Few things:

1. I'm not sure if you MUST stay in the downtown area or not but if it's not a must i would suggest trying few different areas in NY with 4* hotels. After all the subway system in NY is good and you can get anywhere in a short time.

2. I would try and make a search on the internet and see if there is something special going on in NY on those date. Something like a conference, special even, a big concert or anything else that could book the hotels in the city.

3. There is no way to really say if closer to your date is better or ordering ahead of time is better. Personally i prefer to wait closer to my dates and hope for better prices and i'll explain my logic. I usually try to bid in 3 areas in NY: MTW, MTE and Times Square. Between the 3 areas there are around 20 4* hotels. In those 20 hotels there are probably 15,000+ rooms. If there is no special event in the city i highly doubt that all rooms in all the hotels will be booked and a hotel will prefer to book a cheaper room with priceline than not to book it at all. I've used this tactic in NY numerous times and everytime i got good prices.

With that said, this is not a 100% sure thing.

4. If you check the posts here you will see that some people were able to book rooms with priceline several months before and they have good prices and some people did it closer to the date. You still have time until your visit, i would suggest keep bidding few times a week everytime until the maximum amount you want to bid. With the re-bidding strategy you have 7 zones that you can use to re-bid before the 24 hours limit if you are looking for a 4* hotel so start lower than your maximum prices and go up slowly.

Let us know how it goes.

[Eric11]

I really appreciate the help. Part of the problem was that I didn't know New York City at all, and this helped me to look more into the different zones. I still haven't had any luck, this must be an in demand time. I found a couple conferences but nothing that looks like it would block out the whole city. I will post separately my attempts so others can see what I've failed at so far. Thanks Again

[AaronJB]

This is unfortunately a very busy time in the city (worst is the holiday season and Fall/Spring are bad, while late Summer is somewhat slower and January-March are the slowest period of the year.) The PRICELINE FAQ provides a detailed discussion of purchase timing.

What would be your desired max bid per night for this stay?

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