Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Newark - Meadowlands (Jersey City - Hoboken - Weehawken) Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel

[bnebased]

Beware, this is a long story. All bids and research were done using

BB HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links. Successful bid was on 6/27.

I wanted 11 days in or near NYC in September. I had no idea how best to

go about it. I did not want to split the bid (I have done that before;

too much wasted time.) My top prefs were 4* Hyatt or Westin in Jersey

City with next pref the 3.5* Sheraton Lincoln Harbor Hotel. Sadly the

Sheraton is classified as 4* by Hotwire, so that obscures any hints as

to Hotwire prices for my top prefs.

I have stayed at various Jersey City hotels via Priceline bids

over time, including my top prefs. (That was years ago; bid were

reported way back then, but no longer obvious on BB web site.)

I started bidding on 6/7 for 9/18-9/29. Hotwire told me that a 4* in

(Hoboken - Jersey City - North Bergen) was available for as little

as $143 per night. (Price varied during June, generally $143 to $149,

but spiked to $178 during the month.) Anyway amenities suggested

the Sheraton.

Using a judicious selection of rebids I tried 4* on Priceline ranging

from $100 to $145, with no success or counters. I tried again on 6/8

bidding from $142 to $150 with the same result. Next, on the same day

I tried 3.5* from $120 to $127, with same result again.

Priceline sent me a bonus money offer ($5 per night up to ten nights)

valid for 24 hours on 6/27. I had no clue if I could effectively use

this for an 11 night bid so decided to move my dates to 9/18 to 9/28.

(Hotwire again offered its 4* for $143.)

I tried 4* on Priceline ranging from $130+5 to $155+5, with no success

or counters. Next, on the same day I tried 3.5* starting at $122+5 planning

to go up by $2 twice then $1 to $130+5. Up to $126+5 same result as before.

All these results were effectively instant. At $127+5 it gave me the please

wait message for a while (?5 to 10 mins) before accepting. So I got

it at the best price available on PL that day :)

Next step is five nights in Washington DC straight after this, but

that will be another story.

A quick remark for the mods: the Priceline interface for using bonus

money has changed again (since I last used it). I hope I accessed it

from the BB site correctly to get affiliate benefits. Anyway I did access

both HW and PL a pile of times from BB during this successful adventure.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success.

Definitely a very nice win for this Sheraton property, especially for a longer stay.

The correct way to use bonus money along with the board's links is as follows:

1) click the bonus money link and enter your email to deposit the bonus cash into your account

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

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

Enjoy your stay.