Superabounder Posted April 15, 2012 Report Posted April 15, 2012 4 * 5/16-5/19 Chel, Soho,MTE, MTW, ESB, TS, CPS, UWS helpI've bid up to $235/night for the selected areas on 4 star hotels 5/16-5/19...no luck so far. First time I've bid or used strategy from here. Anyone have any other ideas, or maybe bidding on a weekend may be a bad idea? I know sometimes airfare may be a little higher on weekends and then it drops down some during weekdays.
thereuare Posted April 15, 2012 Report Posted April 15, 2012 Welcome to BetterBidding!Seasonally this is one of the busiest times of year in NYC and this year is no exception. Nobody can say if rates will come down, or move even higher, between now and your stay, but at the moment i'm guessing you'll likely need to be north of $250/nite to be successful at a 4* property.Are you included to wait it out and hope for lower rates in the weeks ahead OR how high are you willing to bid at this point in time before lowering your star rating or including other zones?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Let us know the above and we'll take it from there.EDIT TO ADD: i do see what i think is the Empire Hotel for $230/nite but it would need to be done with two separate purchases (which involves a little risk which we can explain further if interested)... would this be a viable option for this trip? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Posted April 15, 2012 Thank you for the response. I have made sure to use the links on this board for all my bidding :) I think we are more inclined to drop our star rating now instead of getting too much higher for the 4 star hotels. I seem to remember reading about about one of the hotels in the three star list being extremely small (140 square feet rooms) so maybe I will avoid that area (maybe it was ESB but I'll confirm before bidding). The Empire Hotel: that would probably work just fine, but we are already splitting our trip between Manhattan and Flushing for the remainder of our trip 5/19-5/21, so if it involves splitting bids and possibly having to switch hotels then I would probably not want to do. I haven't figured out what that is yet, but saw a thread mentioning the possibility of not getting the same hotel for each night. By the way the Flushing accommodations are already set so we do not need to worry about those.
thereuare Posted April 15, 2012 Report Posted April 15, 2012 The Central Park option of the Empire is no longer available at the moment.If you decide to lower your star rating it's the Hudson Hotel in the CPS zone that has the very small rooms. As well, at the 3.5* star rating and under, some hotels in the MTE zone can be up to a 15 minute walk to the subway, so you'll need to decide of this is acceptable or not as well.Lastly, at the 3.5* level the MSG zone becomes a possibility so you may want to look into this zone too, although note that the Affinia Manhattan is in the zone and they have, at times, shown a bit of a bias to PRICELINE / HOTWIRE customers and given them the smallest rooms in the hotel (to which some users have been able to able upgrade, sometimes by complaining to management other times for an additional fee)Let us now how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Posted April 15, 2012 That's great info: I think I will exclude the CPS and MTE and try 3.5 stars. I think maybe avoid the MSG due to that issue you mentioned. Thank you!
thereuare Posted April 15, 2012 Report Posted April 15, 2012 Sorry, one more caveat...UWS can go pretty far north and not be that convenient, should this zone be included/excluded? Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Posted April 15, 2012 Oh in that case I would say exclude UWS then...thanks!
thereuare Posted April 15, 2012 Report Posted April 15, 2012 So to recap...A 3.5* for 5/16-5/19 in Chelsea, Soho, MTW, ESB, TS with a maximum bid of $235? If correct...At the 3.5* level you have SIX 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 3.5* Chelsea, Soho, MTW...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $155, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* ESB, TS...Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $150, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $155, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* ESB, Soho, MTW...Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $165, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $170, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* Chelsea, TS...Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $165, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $170, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* Chelsea, Soho, ESB...Bid $175, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $185, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* MTW, TS...Bid $175, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $185, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* Chelsea, Soho, ESB, MTW...Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $195, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $200, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* Chelsea, Soho, ESB, TS...Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $195, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $200, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3.5* Chelsea, Soho, MTW, ESB, TS...Bid $205, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $210, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $215, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $220, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $225, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $230, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $235Any 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 now how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 15, 2012 Author Report Posted April 15, 2012 Well, no luck at 3.5: went all the way up to $235. Have to decide what next step will be. Thanks for the detailed strategy!
thereuare Posted April 16, 2012 Report Posted April 16, 2012 If you decide you are willing to split your bid, i think you could get the Empire Hotel for two nites and then the Kitano for one nite, all at about the price you're currently bidding.Let us know once you decide how you'd like to move forward and we'll try to assist further.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 20, 2012 Author Report Posted April 20, 2012 Well, I attempted 3 star bids using a bidding strategy I saw you suggest on another thread:If you wanted to move forward trying for a 3* first in any of the following zones: MTW, TS, ESB, MSG, with a $150 maximum bid and using your ONE re-bid zone:Select 3* MTW and TS...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* ESB and MSG...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* MTW and MSG...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* ESB and TS...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $120, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* MTW and ESB...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* TS and MSG...Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $130, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* MTW and TS and ESB...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* MTW and TS and MSG...Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $140, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 3* MTW and TS and ESB and MSG...Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $150Any questions feel free to ask.I actually raised the last few bids to max out at $160/night, but no luck. Do you have any other suggestions if I were to try the 3 star hotels again tomorrow night?Thank you!
thereuare Posted April 20, 2012 Report Posted April 20, 2012 Are your desired zones the same as that of the other user whose strategy you followed?If you're only bidding the zones indicated above, at current rates i think for a 3* property you're likely looking closer to what you bid for a 3.5* property, $225-$250... maybe a little lower $200-$225, but somewhere in these ranges.Let us know how you'd like to proceed and how we can be of further help. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 20, 2012 Author Report Posted April 20, 2012 I am actually interested in all of my original zones, but out of time constraints I had just bid on the zones the other user had selected. So, if my original zones for the 4 star and 3.5 star bids are also good for 3 star hotels, that is great with me. Thank you!
thereuare Posted April 20, 2012 Report Posted April 20, 2012 When you bid it's the minimum that you're willing to accept so even though you only bid 3* in the zones above, PRICELINE had also checked for 3.5* and 4* properties in those zones.However, at the moment, i think you're facing a budget issue more so than a zone issue as i think unfortunately think you'll need to be more in the $200-$250 range than the $150-$200 range. Not sure if you prefer to wait it out and hope for lower prices in the weeks ahead, raise your budget, or consider something outside of Manhattan but commutable, such as a 4* in Jersey City/Hoboken.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 21, 2012 Author Report Posted April 21, 2012 Thanks for the information: I think it is just a really expensive and desirable time to go to NYC like you have said. I just rebid using the 3 star bidding strategy and no luck up to $250/night. I may retry again tomorrow. I used MSG, ESB, MTW and TS.Do you have any other suggestions for 3 star in Manhattan? I didn't include Chelsea or Soho. I am more inclined to raise my bid I think rather than move out to outlying areas. I don't really know about lower star rated hotels: do you have any feedback for those?
thereuare Posted April 21, 2012 Report Posted April 21, 2012 If you're inclined to bid higher i would switch to 4* as i think you may be able to get something at that level for ~$275 or so (and i would include MTE, MTW, TS, CPS and ESB assuming all of these zones are acceptable at the 4* level)... if you're looking to stay at the current bid amount then i'd give it another week and see if can make any headway in the days ahead. I wouldn't lower the star rating 5 weeks before your stay since in NYC the quality within the lower star ratings can vary greatly... you could get a 'diamond in the rough' which you love OR you could also get something that you're less than pleased with, and with PRICELINE you don't get to choose which type you will get ;)Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Let us know how you decide to proceed and how we can be of further help. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Superabounder Posted April 21, 2012 Author Report Posted April 21, 2012 Thanks for the tip: I bid at 4 stars and got the Hilton Manhattan East for $285 so at least I don't have to worry about it any more :)I appreciate all the quick responses and bidding advice: was quite helpful!
thereuare Posted April 21, 2012 Report Posted April 21, 2012 Congratulations on your success! Glad to see you got this settled and are pleased with the results... sure are some expensive dates in the city!Thank you for sharing your win with the board and helping us update the Prieline Hotel List with the new star rating for this property. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Enjoy your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
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