Priceline Hotel: Albany, 3*, Sept 28

[cruiseshmooz]

I bid $66 for a 3* , Albany airport area, Sept.28. Rejected. Added Suny, bid $68. Rejected. Added Latham. Bid $72. Rejected. What's going on? Why can't I get anything? I think these are reasonable bids. Any feedback? Thanks.

[AaronJB]

Rates may be higher-than-normal if there's something going on during this date. What would be your desired max bid per night?

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

[cruiseshmooz]

Well, the $72 plus tax & fee (which total over 25%) comes to over $90. I can book the Courtyard at $105 plus tax (senior rate),total $119, no cancelation charges. Granted, it's not a 3^, but for one night, all those hotels near the airport are pretty similar! So I don't know at what point it will not be worth using Priceline. I can book something cancellable. Do you think that Priceline will go down? They do have a one day sale today and they are giving $10 off if you book 2 nights. But we are booking only one! Perhaps they raised the prices to give the $10!!!!

[thereuare]

Nobody can say if rates will come down between now and your stay... or move even higher.

Is the rate at the Courtyard fully refundable? If so, why not book that as a back-up and use it as the 'price to beat'. You could then continue to bid in the weeks ahead at current bid amounts in hopes for a win. If a few weeks before your trip you're still unsuccessful you can then decide at that time if it's worthwhile to continue to bid higher.

It's still very early before your stay, i would book a back-up reservation (if not the Courtyard perhaps something else that you can find that is fully refundable, try our MAPS and HOTELS.com and/or the links in our Support Page) so that you're protected should rates rise further from here, and you also have the flexibility to continue to bid on PRICELINE in hopes of lower priced inventory being introduced in the weeks ahead.

Your thoughts?

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

[cruiseshmooz]

Thank you for your suggestion. I booked Fairfied Inn at senior rate, because it was the lowest one that could be cancelled. I booked by phone because at the same time I booked a free night with Marriot points for our return stay. It came to approx. $124 includidng tax and breakfast.

[thereuare]

Keep us updated on your progress in the weeks ahead and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

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

[cruiseshmooz]

Keep us updated on your progress in the weeks ahead and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

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

Today,I tried again. I went up to $75. Nothing.

[Romelle]

Today,I tried again. I went up to $75. Nothing.

Have you looked at the list of hotels (very first post in this Priceline-New York area)? At the 2 1/2* level the reported hotels are from some of the nicer chains - Hilton Garden Inn, Springhill Suite, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, and La Quinta Airport.

Maybe that star level would be more reasonable for your bidding?

You could also check for reviews both here in the Hotel Review area (way at the end of the site) and on www.tripadvisor.com. The 2 1/2*s above are in three different zones so if there was a clunker in one, you'd still have a couple zones to bid.

Romelle

[cruiseshmooz]

In the end, we stayed at Springhill Suites. We got a senior rate of around $92 plus tax.

[thereuare]

Thank you for closing this thread with your decision.

Please remember to follow-up your threads with whatever you end up doing for the stay, even if you choose to book direct, cancel your trip, etc.

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

Hope you enjoyed your stay.