Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Upper West Side) The Empire Hotel

[Meirp]

Hi,

First time here and first time trying priceline.

My wife and I are going to come to NY in the above dates and I would like to get a 4* hotel in the CPS or MTW zones.

Can someone help with the stragedy should I use + expected rate +-?

Thanks,

Meir

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding. :)

Please confirm your desired max bid per night and we would be happy to offer suggestions on how to proceed.

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

[Meirp]

$130-$140

If it's too low, can you please advise what is the bid ehich might win in your opinion?

[thereuare]

PRICELINE EXPRESS has a 4* hotel offered for your dates in the MTW zone at $138/nite, so why don't we try bidding up to $135 and if rejected you can take the MTW property? If this sounds like a good plan, you can bid as follows:

When bidding 4* in NYC you have SIX re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $108, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $113, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $118, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* CPS...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $108, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $113, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $118, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* MTW and CPS...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $123, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $128, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $133, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $135

If the above is rejected go to PRICELINE EXPRESS and take the 4* MTW offer with Pet Friendly, Restaurant, Business Center for $138/nite.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Meirp]

just to make sure I understood the Priceline Re-Bidding:

I saw that in NYC there are 4 zpnes without 4* hotels (in Priceline) -

LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

Kennedy Airport (JFK)

Long Island City - Astoria

Bronx

how come you wrote for each zone 7 attempts?

[Meirp]

understood my mistake.

[thereuare]

If you're unsure feel free to confirm your re-bid zones before bidding... and always double check your re-bid zones just before bidding to make sure that nothing has changed since you last looked. (and NOTE that none of the airport zones are in the same 'New York City' region that you're bidding, so these are not part of your re-bid zones)

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Meirp]

good idea, I'll confirm.

for trying 4* hotel in the CPS zone, I can try to re-bis with the following zones:

Queensborough Bridge

Morningside Heights - Harlem

Coney Island

Lower East Side

Upper East Side

and Long Island City.

Am I right?

is this stragedy is safe (for not getting a hotel in those area)?

thanks,

Meir

[thereuare]

Yes, you have your re-bid zones correct, but again, always double check just before bidding to make sure that nothing has changed since you last looked... hotels can be added, removed, upgraded, downgraded at any time.

We have used this strategy on the board for over 10 years, but ultimately you have to be comfortable with and are responsible for any bids you make.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Meirp]

Hi,

I tries 2 times (2 dats ago) for CPS, $100 and $105 with no success.

wondering will it be easier to get a good price for only 3 nights and then try 2 times - once for the first 3 days and once for the second?

of course the I might get a different hotel but I don't mind.

what do you think? does hotels look for the loger stay or prefer the shorter ones?

[thereuare]

I tries 2 times (2 dats ago) for CPS, $100 and $105 with no success.

You're not going to win a 4* hotel in the CPS zone for $100/nite.

What happened to the MTW zone which you previously stated was acceptable? What about your $130 maximum bid and the bidding strategy above?

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

[Meirp]

I changed the zone yesterday and tried to TS zone.

tried yesterday (by using the PRICELINE link ) from $100-$125 (5 times, $5 steps) with no success.

dates 28/2-3/3 (3 nights).

will continue today.

but what do you think about "wondering will it be easier to get a good price for only 3 nights and then try 2 times - once for the first 3 days and once for the second?"?

thanks,

Meir

[thereuare]

I think the issue is that at the 4* level you're bidding for two of the most expensive zones in the city. I think there are two options that would improve your chances:

1) include other nearby zones that at the 4* level are also generally considered centrally located. For the average user, at the 4* level, MTE, MTW, TS, CPS, and ESB are all generally considered centrally located (and MSG sometimes too) and work well for the average user.

2) if you SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID i would try 2/28-3/4 and then if success try 3/4-3/6. As a reference point, for 2/28-3/4 HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel in the Times Square zone for $132/nite... then for the next two nites a 4* hotel in the Times Square zone for $153/nite. These are both slightly over your $130/nite budget, but you have a better chance then by bidding for this complete stay, imo.

As another reference point, to show you how much more the Times Square zone will cost you vs. something nearby but still likely centrally located... for the first 4 nites there is a 4* hotel in the ESB zone on both HOTWIRE and PRICELINE EXPRESS for $109/nite... that's over $80+ to stay in the TS zone over the 4 nites.

For your complete stay there is a 4* hotel in the MSG zone for $116/nite.

Also, i would use a complete bidding strategy as we had previously posted above... not bid only CPS and fall short of your $130 budget, then bid higher than your previous bids and only bid the TS zone. You want to think about your stay before you begin bidding, consider all zones that are acceptable (even if just CPS and TS), and then develop a plan to bid strategically. It then just becomes a matter of following the plan as you should know your next step of your current bid is rejected... rather than piecemeal a plan on the fly and only bid one zone at a time.

Ultimately it's your stay so you need to be comfortable with whatever zones you include in your bidding, but with NYC being so compact and the zone so close together, i wouldn't restrict your bidding to only TS and CPS (unless there are specific hotels in those zones that you're trying to avoid)

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

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

[Meirp]

Hi,

after readind a few posts, I started looking also in hotwire in different zones (and higher budeget).

I found this property for $157, 4.5*, MTE, dates 2/28-3/4:

Amenities:

Fitness Center, Restaurant(s), Business Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Spa Service

is it the Benajamin?

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

The above matches previous reports for the Benjamin so that would be my best guess for this one.

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

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[Meirp]

tried today, 21/2/2013 as follows:

1. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 100$, rejected

2. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 105$, rejected

3. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 110$, rejected

4. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 115$, rejected

5. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 120$, rejected

6. NY - New York City (Upper west side) - 125$, won.

Now looking for the next 3 days stay.

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Nice win for this property - hope the hotel will work well for your travel plans.

Please post a new thread for the additional dates.

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

Enjoy your stay.