Priceline Hotel: Bidding in NYC

[cmf]

I am a beginner here, and wonder if you can help. I have been bidding for a 3* and/or 4* hotel in NYC for about 2 weeks and no bids have been accepted. I notice that some of the hotels in Midtown West require a 2-night stay, but surely not all have that rule. What am I doing wrong? I am up to $130 for a Sat. night's stay. I've seen reg. advertised prices at around $250 for 2 people. Am I bidding too low? P/L advertises about a 40% - 50% discount, which at $250 adv. prices I am in the ballpark. Thanks for any guidance you want to share.

[Welldone Rumproast]

Hi cmf, and welcome!

What Saturday date are you looking at?

A couple of factors that might explain high demand (and therefore less PL availability) are:

1) An event being held at the Javits Center (even though the Javits Center is technically in MT South, many attendees prefer to stay above 42nd street)

2) A Fashion Week-type event in Bryant Park

3) Another high-demand week such as a Saturday in December (many hotels are already sold out for December weekends - some shoppers come every year and reserved their Dec. 2003 stay when they checked out in Dec. 2002)

[thereuare]

CMF,

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Just off the cuff, i don't think you're bidding too low, but 'something else could be up'.

Please post your dates along with your rejected bid history and i'll try to figure out what's going on and will suggest a recommended strategy.

PS-after you reply i'm going to move this thread to the NY>> PRICELINE forum, so you'll know to look for it there

[cmf]

Thanks to the two repliers to my query. I am looking for Oct. 18th, leaving the 19th. I started the bid at $120 I believe, and have been increasing it by $5. I can only stay in MTW and, not knowing that much about the lower valued hotels, am hesitant to go below 3*'s.

Should I be posting this somewhere else?

Thanks for your help.

[thereuare]

I can only stay in MTW

I'm sure you have your reasons (and i don't question them), but NYC is one place where you don't need to be too concerned about location, as long as you stay in the mid-town area. Everything is a cab ride away, and often something you need to do in one Priceline zone is easily walkable to an attraction in another Priceline zone. Then there's always the subway which is fast and convenient to just about anywhere.

Assuming you do actually need MTW, i think you're bidding too high and i wouldn't be bidding so high this early before arrival. It seems to me to be more of an access to inventory issue than anything else.

I would also be sticking with 4* hotels at this early stage (not bidding 3*) as we often don't see too much difference in price between these two star levels in this area.

You do have one free re-bid zone available, and this is how i would proceed:

4* MTW:

Bid $88, if rejected, add re-bid zone and....

Bid $95.

If you receive a counter offer at anytime, let us know and we can use that information to gain some additional insight as to price.

Unless i learn otherwise of a special event in town (ie- big convention) then i would think you'll ultimately be successful with the above, but it may not be a for a few weeks. In the meantime, book a cancellable back-up and try to be patient.

Please consider starting your bid by using the link at SavingsBarn.com

[cmf]

Your advice is well-taken. Thanks. I will post when offer is accepted. :)

[cmf]

Decided to try another bidding session tonight. Here's what transpired:

5* in MTE, $110 bid rejected

On rebid added MTW, $115 rejected

2nd rebid added UMT-CPS, 4*, $88 rejected

Stopped at this point because I think it is still too early - inventory probably not released for Oct. 18th yet. :)

Any feedback? Thanks.

[thereuare]

I merged your two topics as i believe they are for the same stay, if not, let me know and i will split them.

Are you now open to more than just MTW?

It may be an access to inventory problem, but i also don't think that your bids are high enough for the zones you've bid. The 5* MTE often goes well in excess of $120, and the CPS/UMT is one of the most expensive and i've never seen a 4* accepted in that zone for under $100 ($120 is even considered low in this area).

My opinion is that you need to be a bit more systematic in your bidding. Did you have all of your bids played out in your mind beforehand, knowing that you would after each rejected bid, or did you wait for the rejection and then think, 'what should i do now'?

If you post your thoughts with what zones you'd like and at what prices i'll try to post an appropriate strategy.

Any questions regarding the above comments, feel free to ask.

[cmf]

Thereuare

Thanks for teaching me how to do this. It is my first attempt and believe, at your suggestion, that it is an access to inventory problem for Oct. 18th reservations. Perhaps waiting a week or two would be advisable??

Yes, I am able to expand my zones, thus the rebidding twice on original bid on the 5* in MTE. I believe I read that another bidder in same area bid the 5* at $105, so that's where I got my que to open at $110. It does seem low, but the Waldorf Towers was accepted at $105 - encouragement that miracles can happen.

By adding other zones and 4* I continued to bid, but reduced my bid to $88 as you suggested for MTW. I'm not familiar with amounts to bid in any given zones. It is definitely a shot in the dark for me at this point.

The zones I would be OK with are: Midtown East, Midtown West, Upper Midtown-Central Park S., or Midtown South.

I could go between $90 and $150, but for a 4* I'd expect less than $150. Would that be correct?

Strategies/tips for this scenario greatly appreciated. I've only got one night in the big city, so a fabulous hotel would be icing on the cake. :)

[thereuare]

It may very well still be an access to inventory problem (based upon the information in your first bid), but i wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion based upon your second round of bidding because the bids were low for the zones/star levels that you selected. The previous acceptance at $105 for the 5* in MTW is an 'outlier' from the standpoint that a 5* in MTE won't typically accept at that price. Certainly no harm in trying and i don't fault you for trying (i probably would have done the same thing just to 'give it a shot' :) ), but since those bids wouldn't typically be accepted in those zones, i don't think a conclusion can be made that it's an inventory problem (although that very well may still be the case, but that conclusion comes from your first round of bidding, not the second).

First i want to make sure that you understand re-bidding which is explained HERE. This can be a little confusing at first, but it's the most important 'tip' to use when using Priceline, so make sure you fully understand this concept first. If you have any questions about this concept or how to check to see which zones are re-bid zones, please ask.

If you still want to go for a 5*, bid for that and then add re-bid zones up until your maximum 5* bid amount. (as of this writing, you have 6 re-bid zones so you can make a total of 7 bids for 5*, but you should check the zones yourself to make sure they are still re-bid zones as hotels can be added/upgraded at any time). If you don't understand how you can have 7 bids for 5*, post back and i'll expalin further.

If you're unsuccessful with your 5* attempt and want to try 4*, i would proceed as follows (you have one re-bid zone when bidding 4*, feel free to confirm what you think it is before bidding):

Select 4*....

MTE bid $75, if rejected....

add MTW and bid $88, if rejected

add re-bid zone and bid $95, if rejected

add MTS and bid $105

add MTC and bid $115 (or $120 if you're feeling desperate)

I would stick with the above approach until the end of the month at which point i would consider altering the strategy. Always a good idea to book a fully cancellable back-up in the meantime. I wouldn't drop to 3* at this time as i don't think you need to until you get closer to your travel date.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

As always, if you find this information and board useful it would be appreciated if you started your bid at SavingsBarn.com

[cmf]

Tried another bid tonight with no success.

Selected 4* in MTW @ $136 - rejected

Rebid adding MTE @ $138 - rejected

Rebid adding CPS @ $140 - rejected

Has anyone seen any bids accepted for October? I think it is still too early. Inventory may not be released for bidding in Oct. yet.

[thereuare]

I would agree that inventory (the cheap kind we want) has not yet been released, but if you make an opening bid in the $130's i think it will result in an over-bid once inventory is indeed released. It's up to you, but i wouldn't be bidding that high at this point (if you disagree, that's fine).

There is a 3.5* hotel thru Hotwire (suspected to the Roosevelt) which may serve your purposes well for $118. Click on the HOTWIRE link at SavingsBarn.com in order to see this offering.

[cmf]

Thanks for the input. I bid in the $130's based on bids I read on the boards that were accepted recently. These were for the higher end hotels I believe.

My goal is to get the best hotel for the lowest price (DUH :) ), but at this point no price is being accepted for my Oct. dates. I will certainly start with a lower bid next time I bid. I'm not giving up yet! Still plenty of time for me to experiment and learn.

I haven't done anything on Hotwire, but your suggestion sounds good. Is the Roosevelt nice?

[WillTravel]

TripAdvisor has some reviews of the Roosevelt:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g6...y_New_York.html

[thereuare]

No guarantees it's The Roosevelt, but the amenities match and it's the same price as a recently accepted hotel.

REVIEWS from TripAdvisor seem favorable as do the Travelocity.com/Vacations/Reviews/Hotel/Read/0,,TRAVELOCITY_34605_0,00.html"]REVIEWS at Travelocity. Some comments state that the rooms are small, but i say to expect that at just about every NYC hotel (ie- think of a small hotel room, and it will be half that size you're thinking!)

FYI, Priceline rates this hotel 3*. You could choose to wait, but i get the sense that you like to have things 'set' and not wait to the last minute to have your plans secure.

[cmf]

October bids still rejected.

Bids placed August 21st:

4* MTW - $89

4* MTE - $115

4*5* UMCPS - $135

:) Still patient, but have back up hotel reservations at the Edison at $155 I think. A friend in DC is making this for us just in case.

[thereuare]

CMF,

Just to clarify, did you last bid contain MTW, MTE, and UM/CPS OR was the last bid placed just for UM/CPS?

[cmf]

Thereuare - glad you're back. Thanks for response.

The last bid INCLUDED all previous zones, so there was a petty high bid ($135) for the 4*'s in other zones. Since all were rejected, I don't think Oct. bidding was open yet. I will try again this weekend. Maybe Sept. 1 opens up the mid- Oct. inventory.

[NovaScotiaGirl]

I was successful for dates a few days earlier than yours - Oct 9th - 14th, bid MTW @ $95 on Aug 25th, was accepted on first bid at Hilton Towers.

Could be my weekend is a slow time and yours is busier, or I just got lucky and was in the right place at the right time. Anyway - don't give up, especially as you have a back up plan!

[cmf]

I'm still getting all bids rejected for Saturday night Oct. 18.

Bids placed tonight:

MTW 4* $120

Added CPS $123

Added MTE $125

I know bids have been accepted for these areas and prices recently. My only guess is that it is still too early for one night (Saturday) acceptances. Not ready to give up yet. Perhaps I get the prize for longest running tries/rejections? :)

Any ideas from the "experts"?

[thereuare]

You can certainly wait, but my guess is that right now (based upon your rejected bids) it will take a bid closer to $135-$145.

If you're losing patience, via Hotwire there is:

4.5* MTE $146 believed to be The Inter-Continental Barclay

3.5* MTE $118 believed to be The Roosevelt

4* Financial Dist/Wall St $145 believed to be the Embassy Suites (which is a new hotel and includes breakfast... not a bad idea for one nite if you only plan on sleeping in the room and not using it as a 'home base', but for that rate you may sooner want the MTE 4.5* mentioned above, depending upon your needs)

[cmf]

Yes, Priceline is certainly giving me practice ..... I am actually enjoying the exercise and learning a lot. The only way to lose is to "get out of the race". I'll try again in72 hrs. Thanks for your input.

[cmf]

:)

Oct. 18 bids still rejected. Bids last night were:

First tried the 5* route: MTE plus three rebids up to $147. No luck.

Then got out and started over with 4*:

MTW - $97, added

MTE - $105, added

Upper MT CP - $127

Still trying, as I have another hotel booked just in case. Any ideas as to why no bids for that night are being accepted? Maybe for one night's stay I need to be closer to the date?

[Welldone Rumproast]

Interesting - on 9/22, a TOBB poster reported an accepted Priceline 4* bid of USD 160 (at the Westin Times Square - Midtown West). The poster related that he/she was rejected at USD 150.

But, I went to the Westin site just now and it says 10/18 is sold out now (the remaining rooms could have gone in a block between 9/22 and today).

BTW the Conrad site still shows availability at the Waldorf Towers at the "standard" high rates (USD 383/425).

[thereuare]

I once again took a look at Hotwire and what i believe to be (of course i could be wrong) the Sheraton Russel is showing up in the MTC zone for $135. I took a look at the reviews and they seem to be quite favorable... maybe it's worth a few extra dollars to try to target this hotel via Hotwire (i'm not saying it is, only you can decide if it's worth it or not)

Where is your back-up reservation (and how much)?