Priceline Hotel: HELP with 4* Austin bid

[nolavacayer]

Hey guys, I just wandered upon this site and am AMAZED at how much money people are saving! I cant tell you how many times I've saved and saved to go vacation paying full retail price at these hotels. NEVER AGAIN LOL!!! I've used Hotwire before but the places were never nice and just decided I'd rather pay more to stay at a nicer place. Here is what I need help with: I've never used Priceline before. I've read lots on this site about how it works and rebidding but I have a few specific questions about using Priceline for my upcoming Texas trip:

It's going to be 5 nights in Austin: 7/19-7/23

Hotel must be 4 stars

I've stayed in Austin a few times before so I know which hotels I want and which ones I want to avoid...

I'd rather not stay at the Hilton or the Omni...

My first choice is the W cuz it's brand new and I've never stayed at that one before

My second choices are Intercontinental and Driskill

Here is basically what my question is:

I've noticed on the Texas board that the Omni and Intercontinental can be won around the $80 range and that the W is usually won around the $104 dollar range... Is there any way I could know I'd be getting the W while bidding $104, or is it possible that I could bid $104 and I'd win the Omni which I could've won for $80? Is my best bet to start bidding around $80 and hope for the best? Is starting bidding around $104 a dumb idea because it might give me one of the cheaper hotels anyway?

THANKS GUYS!!!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages and clicking each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links... then reply to this thread and we'll have a look at and comment on your post above.

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

[nolavacayer]

ok... i read the PM and clicked the links...

[thereuare]

To answer your question above, you don't want to bid higher in hopes for one of the 'better' hotels as you could simply end up overpaying and still receive one of the 'lesser' hotels. For more on this subject see this thread: Don't Bid Higher or a Specific Hotel.

However, note that you can't bid on, or avoid, a specific hotel in the zone when using PRICELINE, you have to be able to accept any hotel in the zone at the star level (or higher) that you choose. With HOTWIRE you can often take an educated guess as to what is being offered based upon the amenities associated with the property, but it's still a 'best guess' and no guarantees you will receive the hotel you're hoping for. As well, HOTWIRE only shows one hotel at each star level per zone, so there is a chance the hotel you're hoping for isn't the one which is offered for your particular dates.

Let us know 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.