Priceline Hotel: 4 star Downtown Portland

[medium]

Rejected $60 bid 4 star Portland for speciifc dates I need

Now asked me to change a check mark

Should I include another zone i.e. Convention Ctr?

I do ONLY want the Downtown Zone & 4 star & those dates....

[Romelle]

You can include zones that DO NOT have the star level (or higher) at which you are bidding. The Convention Center doesn't offer 4* or higher bidding, so it would be safe.

HOWEVER, if you haven't already done so, I urge you to read the FAQ discussion (above) about free re-bids, and then post back here all the zones you believe are correct free re-bids for Portland 4*s. Somebody will double check your list for you. And then just before you start bidding each day, check those zones again!

What dates are you bidding?

Romelle

PS - it doesn't apply in this case, but in other areas like Hawaii there is the Resort level. It is ranked between 4* and 5*, but listed at the bottom of the star listing. People have been burned with it, when assuming a zone with Resort is a safe 4* re-bid.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages.

Regarding your re-bid zones, see this thread: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board.

PS- after your next reply we will move this thread to the Oregon Priceline section of the board and we can continue the discussion there.

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

[medium]

I can't thank you enough for your time & expertise!

Dates are Thurs April 12 check in ...and Sat Apr 14 check out.

I did look at the FAQ rebidding info you suggested yesterday. I was not confident that I understood

what it was saying. I will take a look again today & see if it makes more sense to me.

Again, I appreciate your valued help!

[medium]

So I just re-read the FAQ on rebidding.

It seems Portland has NO OTHER 4 star hotels other than the Downtown Zone.

Thus, I SHOULD rebid ADDING say, the Convention Zone & also upping my bid slightly...From $60 ...to $62????

And I just use the link Priceline emailed me after rejecting my $60 bid for 4 star/Portland/Downtown Zone/April 12-14...???

Am I correct on this strategy??

[Romelle]

Yes, you are correct on all the free re-bids. Just keep adding them one at a time as you increase your bid amount.

Hotwire has a 4* downtown Portland for $137 for your dates. So your suggested $2 increment might need to be a little larger? One can often do a little better with Priceline than Hotwire, but Hotwire is a good general indication.

Finally, if you link through this site (upper right hand corner or any underlined Priceline) a tiny bit of revenue goes towards keeping Betterbidding in business. I don't think the link you got in your email will do the same thing. I'm just a member, but I'm lobbying so BB will be there when next I need it. :)

Romelle

PS - Have you found the list of hotels yet? The very first post in the Oregon/etc. - Priceline area. That will give you a good idea of what you might receive.

PPS - you don't mention a budget, but if you find you are getting too high for the 4*s and decide to start bidding 3 1/2*s you need to revisit the whole free re-bid thing. There are three zones you won't want to be using.

[thereuare]

And I just use the link Priceline emailed me after rejecting my $60 bid for 4 star/Portland/Downtown Zone/April 12-14...???

As noted above please use the requested links on the board to begin your bidding, searches and travel purchases... not the links from any emails that you're sent from PRICELINE / HOTWIRE.

What is your maximum bid for this trip?

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

[medium]

Maximum bid...????... I suppose I would bid up to $100 for this 4 star & still be doing better than Hotwire $137 price for 4 star...

Pardon me, will use the BB link to get over to Priceline! :)

[thereuare]

Using your ELEVEN re-bid zones, you can try as follows:

Select 4* Downtown...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $88, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $93, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100

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.

[medium]

Thank you for the clear & concise instructs.

Got up to $98 as you suggested with no acceptance.

Will try the same process in 24+hours & see if I have luck.

Again, I appreciate your time.

[AaronJB]

Sorry to hear that your bids weren't accepted. Please keep us updated and let us know if your bids are accepted. These dates do appear busy, so while you may want to try again up to $100 over the next few days, if that's your desired max bid and a couple of days go by without it being accepted, you may want to consider either lowering your star rating or considering other zones.

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

[medium]

Thanks For the input.

I now see that any additional future bidding I do must include an increase from my last rejected highest bid.

I might as well do another round of bidding up to the hotwire price of $159 for a 4 star downtown.

So I divide that $59 or so dollars out incrementally over the 11 rebid zones....???????

Hope that's a permissable & smart strategy!

[Romelle]

Your idea for figuring the bidding increment is totally reasonable and smart, in my opinion. No permission necessary.

You've still got a little time left. If you want to take it a little slower, you could increment by smaller amounts and bid over two or three days.

There is history of a bid not working one day, and then the same number working the next day. However, in this case that HOTWIRE $159 does suggest you will need to go higher than $100 on PRICELINE.

If you start getting "counter-offers" to do something like "increase your bid to $X", just ignore them and stick with your plan. All they really are is a clear indication there actually is something available somewhere between your current bid and $X. It rarely takes more than 1/2 the difference to be successful, and there is plenty of history of people just increasing their bids by $1 or $2 and winning.

Romelle

[slruud]

Just FYI, the Benson is available on Lastminutetravel.com for $125/nite.