Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Ft. Worth (North) La Quinta Inn and Suites Fort Worth North

[Horselover Fat]

Hello!

First I just want to say that I think this forum is great. I've been lurking for a few weeks as I've begun planning a trip to the northern Fort Worth area to visit relatives.

I really, really want to stay at the 2.5-star Hampton Inn in Fossil Creek. This is very close to the people I'm visiting, and I've always been happy with the chain. There are two 3-star hotels in the same zone: a Holiday Inn and a Radisson. Normally, I wouldn't mind stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something different if the price was right, but the reviews on Tripadvisor for these two hotels are pretty horrendous. So, to reiterate, I really want that Hampton.

If I understand re-bidding correctly (and please correct me if I don't), I can't use the re-bidding strategy in this case because there aren't any other zones in the region that don't have at least 2.5-star hotels. So, as far as I can tell, I have 2 options: a)start bidding low and simply bid a dollar or two higher every 24 hours until the bid is accepted and just hope I get the Hampton and not the Holiday Inn or Radisson, or b)do what the last couple of posters that got this Hampton did and bid around $40 for a 3-star, hopefully get rejected, and re-bid adding 2.5-star and hopefully get accepted. My big fear here would be the $40 bid getting accepted for a 3-star.

Any suggestions as to which of these strategies looks better, or any other ideas? Any advice is greatly appreciated, and of course I'll use the link here to bid.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What are the actual date(s) of your stay?

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[Horselover Fat]

First weekend of June, probably 5/31-6/4.

[thereuare]

You're correct that you have no re-bid zones when bidding 2.5* in this region.

or b)do what the last couple of posters that got this Hampton did and bid around $40 for a 3-star, hopefully get rejected, and re-bid adding 2.5-star and hopefully get accepted. My big fear here would be the $40 bid getting accepted for a 3-star.

Not sure i follow the strategy here... with the Hampton Inn that you want being 2.5* rated, and you don't want the 3* hotels, what would be the purpose of bidding 3* as it seem like this would only enable you to win a hotel that you don't want AND not enable you to win the hotel you do want.

I think you're aware of this but will include it anyway just to make sure, as well as for the benefit of anyone else following along, but the star rating you select is the minimum that you're willing to accept, and your 2.5* bid could always be upgraded to a higher level hotel... thus receiving one of the 3* properties you're trying to avoid, even though you had only bid 2.5*.

When trying to target, or avoid, a particular property HOTWIRE can often be a better option as you can take a guess as to the hotel you may receive based upon the amenities and any other information shown by HOTWIRE. Even if you don't have a perfect guess of the hotel, you can sometimes exclude hotels from the possibility... for example, if the hotel you're trying to avoid doesn't have a pool you can 'safely' purchase any hotel that lists pool as an offered amenity.

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

Let us know how you'd like to proceed (or clarify your strategy above) and we'll take it from there.

[Horselover Fat]

I'm not sure if that's much of a "strategy" either (starting by bidding on a 3-star then getting rejected and adding 2.5-star), but that's what was done by 2 of the last 3 posters on here that won that particular Hampton, as seen in this thread and this one. Of course, those threads were from over a year ago, so not sure if that strategy is still relevant.

The only more recent post on this hotel, here, said he bid $39, got rejected, and added a zone for a $40 rebid and got it. Don't think I want to go this route, though, as adding a zone in this case will put me at risk of landing in that zone.

I think what I'll probably do, since I have a little time, is just start with a low bid (low $30s or so) and just add a buck or two every day until something hits. Hopefully that'll be the Hampton, but if not, I'm sure my experience at one of the other hotels will be fine.

[thereuare]

The first two threads you linked didn't didn't win at 2.5* because there were first rejected at 3*... the 3 star bidding they did was entirely independent of their win at the 2.5* level. Based upon your comments above about wanting to avoid the 3* hotels in the zone, i would only bid the 2.5* level, with the understanding that you may get upgraded to the 3* level... but actually bidding the 3* level i don't think makes any sense in your circumstances.

You can certainly try less than $40 but based upon previous wins, and their rejections at under $40, i wouldn't waste my time with $1 bids at sub-$40... if you feel the need to you can try $35 and then $38 and then $40 (each bid on a different day) and then increase in smaller amounts if you desire.

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

Keep us updated on your progress, let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help along the way.

Good luck!

[Horselover Fat]

Quick question!

So I've been bidding once a day since I don't have any rebid zones. Haven't been accepted yet, but I think I'm getting close to the range. My last bid was $38, and my next was going to be $40...however, Priceline just sent me this $7/night bonus cash coupon thing which apparently adds $7/night to my bid. My question is, should I bid lower than I was going to - perhaps even make one of my lower bids again? I guess essentially what I'm asking is, would bidding, say, $34 with this bonus cash be exactly the same to Priceline as if I were bidding $41? Considering it's an unexpected bonus, I wouldn't have a problem with sticking with my plan of bidding $40 and being almost positive my bid would be expected, but I'm afraid that might leapfrog me past the 2.5* I want to one of the 3*s I don't want.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[thereuare]

The bonus cash will act as if you are bidding $7 more per nite than you actually are... so if you want your bid to be see by PRICELINE as $40, then you should bid $33 + Bonus money... if you want your bid to be seen as $43 then you should bid $36 + Bonus money.

Please note that you can still use your Bonus Cash along with the board's PRICELINE links as follows...

1) click the link in the PRICELINE email to deposit the bonus cash into your account (usually you're given a form to enter your email address)

2) close the current browser

3) use a link on the board to access PRICELINE

4) go to the MY PROFILE >> MY REWARDS link at the top right of their home page

5) use the bonus money link in the MY REWARDS section of your profile (not a link from an email) and bid as usual

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[bedderbidder]

Thanks for this advice - I have bonus cash and was wondering what I'd do if I wasn't able to use the affiliate links. Good thing there's a way to do it.

[Horselover Fat]

Okay, here's what happened.

Bid $32 on a 2.5*, was rejected. Waited 24 hours (with no re-bid zones), bid $35, was rejected. Bid $38, was rejected. Then got the $7/night bonus cash email. Bid $34 (+7 = $41), was rejected. Didn't want to lose the bonus cash (which expired that night, according to Priceline), so went ahead and added a night to the front of the stay so I could re-bid; bid $37 (+7 = $44), was rejected. Was starting to get frustrated; figured maybe I was bidding for too many nights (5) to find an availability fit. So I decided to split the trip up and see if that worked. Bid for the first 3 nights and figured I would worry about the last 2 nights later. Bid $39 (+7 = $46) and was accepted at the La Quinta Ft. Worth North. Wasn't really what I had hoped for, but I thought, okay, should be fine. But then I started reading the reviews on Tripadvisor, and apparently this is a VERY pet-friendly hotel. Nearly every reviewer mentioned their pets. Being new to the whole Priceline thing, I wasn't aware that this would be a possibility; it seems like they would at least let you know that you could be getting a pet resort. I am allergic to household pets, so I didn't see any way this was going to work. My fault for making assumptions I guess, but I've never, ever seen a pet at any hotel I've ever stayed in, so I guess I just figured no halfway decent hotel allowed them. A hotel that has someone bring a pet with them every once in a while probably wouldn't affect me, but I was very concerned with a place where the pets run the asylum, like the reviews make this place sound.

I called Priceline, well aware of the no-refund policy and figuring I would probably just be out the money. They were actually very helpful. The first guy I talked to couldn't help me, so he transferred me to someone higher on the ladder. This second guy listened to my explanation and asked me to hold for a few minutes while he called the La Quinta. He came back and said, yes, the La Quinta is a very pet-friendly hotel, and while it's their policy to not offer refunds, he was making an exception this time. I thanked him, and asked if this meant there was no way I could use Priceline without knowing whether I might get a pet resort or not. He said the only way would be to use the Priceline option where you see the hotel you're getting and the price instead of naming your own price (which, from what I've seen, isn't much of a money saver at all). I said, if I could make a suggestion, even with the "name your own price" feature there should be a way to opt for no pets, knowing it would limit the choices and you might have to bid more but that it would be worth it for those with pet allergies. He said it was a good suggestion and he would mention it at the monthly meeting (just placating me possibly, but maybe being sincere). Anyway, he was very polite and helpful and I was impressed with the way Priceline handled this.

I'm not sure what I'll do now; maybe read up on Hotwire and try that.

tl;dr version: bid $39 + $7 bonus cash for 2.5* Ft. Worth North 6/6-6/9 (yes, my travel dates changed from the original post) and got the La Quinta Inn & Suites Fort Worth North (but won't be staying there).

[Romelle]

You are indeed fortunate. The refunds from Priceline are very rare. Usually it is simply "No". Once in a while they cancel with a $25 penalty. Hope you eventually are successful with something.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear the hotel received wouldn't work for your plans, but glad that you were able to work it out with PRICELINE.

The trend is actually heading in the other direction, and PRICELINE is now indicating when all hotels in a given zone and star rating are pet friendly... i would imagine there are more people looking to ensure a pet friendly property (as they may be traveling with their pets) as opposed to those who are trying to ensure a pet-free property.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and helping us add this property to the Priceline Hotel List.

If you do want to give HOTWIRE a try please start a NEW TOPIC and we'll try to assist you there.

[Horselover Fat]

Thanks for all the help. I did, of course, use one of the PRICELINE links on this site.

I have another question, as I'm not quite ready to give up on the Priceline experiment completely.

When I got the win at the La Quinta, PL offered to let me add additional nights either at the front or at the back of the stay for the same nightly rate. Do they always do this? If so, wouldn't it be smart to only bid on a night or two and then just add nights on? Sorry if this is covered somewhere else; I didn't see it.

[thereuare]

When the option is offered to add additional nites you're not guaranteed that you'll be able to do so (afterall, PRICELINE doesn't know if you'd be looking to add nites to the beginning OR end of your trip). As well, you can only add a number of nites equal to or less than your original reservation... so book 1 nites you can add 1 nite, book 2 nites and you can add up to 2 nites, etc, etc.

If you attempt to extend the stay PRICELINE will either come back with:

• you've successfully added nite(s) to your reservation
• a room is available but only at $xx (and you're given the opportunity to accept or reject the new price
• no availability at all

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[Romelle]

And incidentally, only on one end - i.e. either before or after, but not some on front and some on back.

Romelle