Priceline Hotel: 3* Orlando Airport

[suejmj]

Hi

I am trying to bid for three rooms - 3* Orlando Airport in January 2006. Have not had luck.

Does bidding for three rooms limit my chances of a match?

Should I use the same name for all rooms or different names or does this make no difference?

What price seens reasonable for 3* Orlando Airport? I am bidding $35-40. Is this too low?

Am I too early? Should I wait until we are closer to January?

I have many chances each time I bid as there are areas that do not have 3* accomodations.

Thank you so much for any help you can offer.

[Blueskies]

Have a look at the Priceline MAPS page for Orlando and you will see what hotels in the airport area which are 3* and have recent wins and also their win price, mostly just over $40. From there you could look at the rate paid on a recent win for say Hyatt Regency and compare it to hotel website rate then look to see if Jan rate ifs higher or lower for your stay date. Also check availability when your are on their website just in case there is another reason that there are not rooms available.

Do all rooms need to be at the same hotel? Is it only for one night?

Name used to book the room does not matter unless the person is unable to attend for any reason and you still want the room.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I usually recommend putting the room names in the people that will be using them. If you put in one name and that person can't make the trip for whatever reason, you're stuck. Having the rooms in each person's name also eliminates the need for the one person to be there when checking in (if traveling separately).

As for your bids... what are the actual dates of your stay?

[suejmj]

Thanks to both for your help. To answer your questions, we are staying January 20 for one night. We do need to stay at the same hotel.

I will look on the MAPS page

[thereuare]

If you'd like help with a bidding strategy let us know your maximum bid.

[suejmj]

It's hard to answer as I am looking to get the best bargain and not sure what that is but with that said,

initially I had started at $35 since this is what I had read elsewhere that people were winning bids for 3* in Orlando but not sure of their dates.

I would not want to go above $47 if that makes sense - if you think I am crazy, I will accept what you consider the highest reasonable bid.

How is that for a round about answer.

I tried bidding last night - started at $42 and went to $47 - there are many areas of Orlando that do not offer 3* allowing many bids. No luck!

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[thereuare]

So to confirm, you have already bid your maxium budget and were rejected?

Rates may come down between now and your stay (or they can stay at current levels and/or eventually sell-out), but i just checked three 3* rated hotels and their direct rates are higher for your dates than when we typically see bids accepted at the amounts you have bid.

[suejmj]

Maybe I need to clarify. I actually don't have a maximum - my concern is to not overbid for a room that I can get lower. It is more an issue of principle vs. budget. NOt that budget is not important.

So, to answer your question, I bid the maximum that I thought was appropriate but if you suggest that I should bid higher, I can raise my maximum

I can try again after my 72 hrs are up - Do you have any suggestions as to how high I should go? I was thinking $50 - $55. But your recommendations will be most appreciated.

[thereuare]

Please explain:

I would not want to go above $47...

[suejmj]

Based on information I had received on a Disney board, I had heard that many people have won bids under $40, therefore, I felt that $47 was my high limit.

Based on information that you have given me, it sounds like January is a more expensive time and $47 is not unreasonable. I am ok with going over $47 for a 3* hotel if this is the average winning bid for January.

So, to clarify, I don't really have a high because I don't know what is reasonable. I was posting on this site to ask for advise as to an appropriate amount to bid for this accomodation.

Does this help?

[thereuare]

You have four re-bid zones and i would bid as follows:

Select 3* MCO...

Bid $45, if rejected add re-bid zone....

Bid $50, if rejected add re-bid zone....

Bid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone....

Bid $58, if rejected add re-bid zone....

Bid $60.

This early i would cap my bidding at $60 as there is plenty of time before your stay. If the above is rejected, i would wait 2-3 weeks before trying again as i'll likely just get frustrated with rejections if you bid this every 72 hours.

Any questions feel free to ask... good luck and let us know how it goes.

[suejmj]

Just to clarify:

Did you mean 3*?

Should $48 read $58?

Also, when you say cap at $60 because this is early, is this because you think it will go down as we get closer or it will go up?

Thanks and I promise to make this my last post - the next one should be to let you know the results -

[thereuare]

Yes on the star rating and price... i have edited accordingly.

I don't know if prices will go down... or up... for this stay. But i would cap at $60 as that seems to be a reasonable bid and there is still plenty of time before this stay that i wouldn't try to 'chase' it... a lot can happen between now and January, but i'm sure it would also be nice to 'get this done' so you can focus on other aspects of planning your trip.

Don't worry about asking questions... we'd rather you ask questions until you were comfortable rather than do something you didn't understand or weren't comfortable with :)

[suejmj]

Glad you said not to worry about the many questions, cause here I go again...

If I understand the rebidding, it looks like I have 5 rebid zones -

First bid airport

Then rebid Florida Mall

Then rebid Kissimee

Then rebid Orlando East

Then rebid West Disney

Then rebid Winter Park

Is this correct?

[thereuare]

Yes, you are correct... i'm just riddled with mistakes in this post! (i do recall being really tired last nite, much as i am now at 1am local time)

Don't forget to doublecheck your re-bid zones just before you bid :)

[suejmj]

I have followed your strategy for bidding and seem to have no luck.

I have capped my bid at $60 without any success.

As you mentioned below, I am at the "frustrated" point. Any suggestions?

I am thinking that I may need to increase my Cap. Your thoughts?

Thanks

[thereuare]

Use THIS LINK to book the Orlando Marriott Airport for $76/nite.

The above is cancellable up until 72 hours before your check-in date, so you can continue to try Priceline as per above OR you can simply choose to keep this deal (as it is a great rate for this property)

Does that work and put your mind at ease a little about not yet having a hotel room?

[suejmj]

Thanks for the suggestion...I think I may try that.

I am not sure that I am worried as much as it has now become a game to win! I was hoping to

win a bid at the Hyatt.

I will look into the Marriott but will continue to bid.(actually have family employed at Marriott - maybe I can get friends and family discount...hadn't thought about that).

I will let you know if priceline does work out!!

[nerdy_grrl_t]

I'm trying to get 2 rooms near MCO for Feb. 8th (one night) and having the exact same problem with PL... I went up as high as $52 for a 2.5* and got nothing.... very frustrating! :)

[byeloe]

It might be a bit early to bid. Don't get frustrated be patient. Last year I just wanted to complete my travel plans, so I bid up to $70(accepted) for a 3 * at Tampa Airport. This was in December for a March stay. I know that I overbid by about $20 as I saw $50 bids accepted in the new year.

Patience usually pays off.