Priceline Hotel: 4* San Diego (Coastal) Hilton San Diego Resort

[tway]

First of All great SITE!!.... I wish I had known about it earlier

2ndly I need some help

so I bid... I won....4*Hilton San Diego at 91$ a night.... GREAT DEAL......... UNTIL.... I realize it was only for 2 and through googling found out that there is a 30 dollar or so Parking fee...... didn't notice that before.... Im confused.... I come across you guys in need of help

We are a party of 3 and I just want to know how I can upgrade the room from Hilton and get the best offer possible (without spending too much of course) for the room and parking... any (realistic) tips and techniques would be appreciated

Hope you guys can help...

and if I am posting in the wrong forum... please be gentle... and correct me as I am new to this.

Thank You for you help in advance

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

First thing I would call the Hilton and request a room with two beds and you'll like get one of three answers:

1) "OK" - at which point you're all set and just pay for parking

2) "No" - see comments to #3 below

3) "I'll make a note in the system but nothing is guaranteed and your room will be assigned at check-in" - with this answer i would ask if you're willing to pay extra now can you upgrade to a nicer room with two beds (if you wish you can add that you have a friend who wants to come along but you don't want any problems at check-in). You may be offered an upgrade rate or the clerk may not be able to offer one until check-in. If an upgrade is offered you can then add "if you can include parking at that rate i'll take and pay for the upgrade now". Depending upon the cost of the upgrade you may or may not be able to get the parking included, but i'd say chances of that are low (especially if the hotel isn't the one who owns/operates the garage, which is sometimes the case) but no harm in asking.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Now that you've found us, we look forward to helping with, and hearing about, your future travel plans.

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

[tway]

Thanks for the great advice... I will put into use but before doing so I had one question:

While waiting for the reply I did some more research and I came across a suggestion that said to enroll in the hotel's Honor/points program and use that. So I enrolled but I'm not sure how to use that to my advantage?? Should I purchase like minimum points maybe??

By the way I wanted to add that there are 3 adult (myself,mywife and her mother) and an Infant (1 mo).... would playing the family with a baby "card" work

Any advice would help.

Thanks

T

[thereuare]

Joining the hotel's loyalty program doesn't hurt, but it's not much of an advantage when you don't have any card to show at check-in, and you're not likely to get one in the next 3 days.

At check-in it may help if they see you have a baby with you, but on the phone less so, you can 'feel them out' when you talk on the phone. Maybe you can mention when trying to negotiate the upgrade fee (if you get that far) that you're a new family, never traveled with your infant who is just one month old, in town to visit family so everyone can see the new addition to your family, etc, etc.)