Priceline Hotel: Looking for 3* close to DC

[mikedba]

I'm trying to get a 3* hotel for 4 nights (weekday) next week. Prefer across the river South of DC because I have my own car and don't want to add an extra $25/day parking. Also, will be taking day trips outside of DC (Lancaster, Mt. Vernon, plantations/towns, etc.).

1) Alexandria Mt. Vernon - starting bid 3* $50 failed.

2) Added Springfield zone and increased to $60 failed.

3) Added Arlington and increased to $70 failed.

4) Added Crystal Citgy and increased to $75 failed.

Stayed at 3* the whole way. The only zone left is Alexandria Pentagon unless I want to go North of the river. Any suggestions? If I tried hotwire, is the process still the same with adding zones and retrying your bid? Any differences to priceline in the rebidding? Thanks.

[lowballer]

DC has become super expensive on weeknights recently... not sure if those bids are going to work. Also, not all of those zones are free rebids for 3*. It wasn't clear whether you did this, but if you're indifferent among those zones you should be starting with fresh new bids in each of the 3* zones rather than immediately piggybacking one 3* zone onto another. (IOW, bid Alexandria 3*, then add Springfield because it does not offer 3*, then start a fresh bid with only Arlington 3*, then add Springfield and then Alexandria, etc.)

If you win something in Crystal City, you will almost certainly pay for parking. Figure at least $10/day.

If you are OK with that you may be able to drop down to 2

[mikedba]

Can you explain in more detail about when to piggy back the bid and when not to? I'm new at this and have been reviewing how-to posts and may have missed that. Is there an extra charge to keep adding zones to the original bid v.s. cancelling? And how does one cancel and not biggy back? Doesn't it all just build on your original bid which gets tracked until you've run out of choices for it or hit a 72 hour limit? Thanks.

[WillTravel]

You just close the browser, go back to the affiliate link you are using, and then re-enter Priceline to start a completely new bid for a different zone.

You don't have to just add zones to your original bid.

[mikedba]

1) What is the downside to adding zones...is there a higher charge for each rebid attempt?

2) When you say just close the browser and put in a new bid. Is that like starting a brand new entry again which has no assocation with your prior bid and request number?

3) Does the 72 hour lock down apply when doing #2 above?

[TravelGuy]

I'm trying to get a 3* hotel for 4 nights (weekday) next week.

[thereuare]

What are the dates of your stay?

[mikedba]

Monday 08/01 checkin, Friday 08/05 checkout. Still noroom.

While there, we thought about these activities...

Day 1, tour sorounding areas (Mt. Vernon, plantations, quaint towns, battlefield?).

Day 2, tour DC museums.

Day 3, day trip to Lancaster Penn area (maybe better to stay night in Baltimore on way back and eat crab?).

Day 4, tour DC again.

We will have our car. Any advice would be appreciated!

[thereuare]

... and what is your maximum bid?

Do you want to bid higher or lower your star rating?

[mikedba]

I would prefer to keep my bid under $100. I'm also trying to limit the impact of parking fees (4 nights at $25 each seems kinda a waste to me). I just want a nice, clean place which is convenient to metros to DC attractions and also lets me take my day trips outside of DC. Springfield looked interesting, but someone said it was a 45 minute commute to DC which seems a little long. If a 2* or 2.5* hotel fits the bill perfectly, I'm open to consider that. The problem is when I think I have a hotel possibly pegged, I check out the reviews and its often old, runned down, noisy, not close or something. Any help would be appreciated. I have other places to book in other cities that week (Nashville TN, Charlottesville VA, Asheville NC, Memphis TN) but I am hesitant to book anything until I get DC figured out. Thanks!

[lowballer]

One obvious alternative is to split your stay so that you spend two consecutive days doing DC things, staying somewhere close to the city, and two consecutive days doing the more suburban/rural things. That way you're not paying for parking the whole time, nor are you stuck with one place for too long if you don't like it. You're also more likely to hit something in one of the closer-in zones at a non-exhorbitant rate when you're only bidding two nights.

Furthermore, this gives you twice as many choices near the city, because you can stay EITHER the first two nights close in OR the second two. And in the more far-flung location a conventional (and therefore changeable) booking might work better.

I realize you might want to do certain activities on certain days, but saving money is all about being flexible and creative. :)

[mikedba]

Thanks for that thought. Was considering it but we are moving around a lot already and one spot for 4 nights would have been good. But in the interest of compromise, splitting 2 nights in-DC and 2 nights outside-DC may have to be the way. I left my bidding at $75 with 1 acceptable outside DC zone left to add.

If I now wanted to start back at square 1 and bid with these 2 strategies....

1) A new bid for 3* hotel in DC max target price $100 (bouncing aournd the zones), then gradually lower my star raiting to 2.5*, then 2* leaving price at $100.

2) A new bid targetting Springfield. Max price of $60 starting at 3* and lower the star rating to 2.5* and 2* at that price.

A) Can these be done regardless of more initial attempt (non of the north of the river city DC zones were used in the 1st attempt, but the Springfield one was)?

:) Are these reasonable price levels or could I do better?

Getting crunch time. Any hand would be appreciated.

[TravelGuy]

Springfield looked interesting, but someone said it was a 45 minute commute to DC which seems a little long.

Springfield is just 10 miles from DC. It's true that it may take up to 45 minutes in rush hour traffic, although you could time your trip to avoid that, or take the Metro.

2) A new bid targetting Springfield. Max price of $60 starting at 3* and lower the star rating to 2.5* and 2* at that price.

There are no 3*'s in this zone, and for a 2* I would start at $50.

[lowballer]

A) Can these be done regardless of more initial attempt (non of the north of the river city DC zones were used in the 1st attempt, but the Springfield one was)?.

If you mean bidding two nights instead of four, the answer is yes. When you change the dates of your stay it's like a completely different bid, and you can start from scratch.

For 3* right around DC, you probably want to leave some bidding room above $100. For the stuff outside of DC, given the list of what you want to do, I don't see how using PL in a DC zone is the best way to go, but maybe I'm missing something.

[mikedba]

In saying 45 minute commute, I was talking about the metro from Springfield into DC as a comment I thought I read. I also read there was a blue line non-stop between the locations. So, if someone has a more precise metro commute time back and forth between these 2 locations (going to DC around 8am), comming back to Springfield around 6pm..that would be good.

[TravelGuy]

36 minutes to Federal Triangle, the closest station to the White House.

From the WMTA Trip Planner:

FRANCONIA SPRINGFIELD METRO

at 8:04am

BLUE LINE towards LARGO TOWN CENTER METRO STATION

FEDERAL TRIANGLE METRO STATION

at 8:40am

The Metro stops at all stations enroute - there are no non-stop or express trains.

Driving in during non-rush hour periods should be about 15.