Priceline Hotel: Help in Bidding - First Timer

[varoon]

Need all the help I get from all the experts.

We, couple 36/35 yrs , visiting SF for the 1st time for 4 days. Budget 100-140 USD + tax per night. Looking at Union Square area, between 25May to 29 May. Have pre booked 2 hotels - 2 star for all inclusive 115 USD and 3 star for 160 all inclusive in Union square. Was recommended to try hotwire to better it.

Getting 3.5 Star for 131 USD in Embarcardero area with below ameneties..not sure what to do..which is hotel and whether it would better value /deal than what I already have.

Free Internet

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises; hours and days of operation may vary.

Business Center

Guests have access to business equipment and services; an additional charge may apply.

Laundry Facilities (self-service)

<amenity names only please... not descriptions>

High-Speed Internet Access

Accessible for the blind

Accessible for the deaf

Handicapped parking

<amenity names only please... not descriptions>

Roll-in shower

[varoon]

Need all the help I get from all the experts.

We, couple 36/35 yrs , visiting SF for the 1st time for 4 days. Budget 100-140 USD + tax per night. Looking at Union Square area, between 25May to 29 May. Have pre booked 2 hotels - 2 star for all inclusive 115 USD and 3 star for 160 all inclusive in Union square. Was recommended to try pricewire to better it in terms of hotel quality.

Need help how to go about bidding "name your own price" for 3.5 to 4 star in Union Sq ( east preferable)...with a max budget of 140 USD (ideally around 100 USD). Any tips /suggestion, whether this is realistic?

[AaronJB]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

Please keep all posts regarding this stay within this thread - thanks.

The 3.5* HOTWIRE has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board, but my guess is that it may be a new amenity set vs what has been previously seen with the Club Quarters San Fran.

In terms of PRICELINE, I think you're likely looking at $110-120 required for a 4* in USE. I'd start at $90 and work higher by $5's. Thankfully, as San Fran goes, these date/s are moderately more reasonable than I would expect to see in San Fran in May.

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

[varoon]

Thank you aaronjb

I don't quite understand what you said about Hotwire I'd not reported, assume you mean this perhaps is a new hotel in the list and thus cannot be guessed

So basically I would need to rely solely on Priceline to try and secure a better hotel in the union square area than the "grant" in around 100-120 USD. Will try to start bidding at Priceline for 90 and go upto 120 with incremental of 5 in each bid, I would be happy with a 3.5 star or 4 star. Lets see if I get lucky

Hope I have understood the advice correctly ?

[AaronJB]

The HOTWIRE amenity set has not yet been ID'd/reported to the board, but if I had to guess, I'd say the Club Quarters may be a possibility.

Based on the rates that I'm seeing, I think you're likely looking at $110-120 required for a 4* in USE. I'd start at $90 and work higher by $5's. There is no way to avoid or increase the odds of getting a particular property when bidding - if you bid for 4* in USE, you have to be willing to accept ANY 4* in USE. Please let us know if you have any questions before bidding.

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

[varoon]

Thank you and will try PRICELINE this week

[yellowdog]

varoon

Just post a reply in this thread if you need any help using PRICELINE

Good luck with your stay.

Yellowdog.

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

[varoon]

Please help with the bidding strategy to follow to secure a 4 star or min 3.5 star in USE ideally if not , then I guess USW unless you would recommend any other area besides USW within 100-120 used per night

Looking at places which are safe, have easy access to public transport to see the " must do" , close to night life - bars, street food and shopping area

Basis what I have read USE fit the bill

[thereuare]

Did you want to first bid USE up to your limit, then if rejected try with the USW zone... or is the least expensive hotel in either zone your goal for this trip? Also, are you willing to pay more for a 4* vs. a 3.5* and want to first try 4* up to your limit OR is your goal the least expensive 3.5* or better for this stay?

Let us know the above so we know what you'd like to try first, and we'll take it from there.

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

[varoon]

Objective is to get east expensive 3.5 or 4. Star. I have read USW can be tricky for less than 4 star....so prefer USE..unless my understanding is not correct....would other areas like mission district/ north beach also fit the requirement ? Or it wud be bett for. "First timer" to SF stay in UNion square area....?

Ideally I would be happy with 100 USd and around for a 3.5 star and 120 for 4 star

Thks

[thereuare]

"First timer" to SF stay in UNion square area....?

USE and USW will put your most central, the Financial District can often be used as a less expensive alternative... but at the ~$120 area for these dates it going to come down to cost vs. convenience.

In the USW zone some of the 'known' 3.5* and lower hotels can be in the tenderloin district which can have a bit of homelessness and panhandlers which is bothersome to some people but not to others (i guess it has somewhat to do with how much of this you seen in your home town or city).

Objective is to get east expensive 3.5 or 4. Star.... Ideally I would be happy with 100 USd and around for a 3.5 star and 120 for 4 star

This is contradictory since if you're looking for the least expensive hotel at 3.5* or higher then you would never bid for a 4* hotel. When you select a star rating on PRICELINE it is the minimum that you are willing to accept, so bidding for a 3.5* property also includes all the star ratings above that rating which are offered in the zone.

Let's try to take it one step at a time and will progress further after each failed bidding cycle... what do you want to try first? Do you want to try for:

1) a 4* hotel in USE and USW with a $120 limit

2) a 3.5* hotel with a $100 limit (should we only include USE or also include USW??)

... any other zones we can include with the above bidding?

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

[varoon]

Understand what you are saying , so lets stick to 3.5 star and for around 100 in USE..i won't be comfortable staying in tenderloin - so if there is way to mitigate that risk then we could look at USW - maybe bidding for 4 star in USW helps to secure a good hotel in USW. Also open to financial district if you think that will also help us experience the vibrant nightlife( bars and food) and also be in position where we can access the other must do sites of the city easily via publication transport...

If the wove fails then the bid price increase to 120 usd, again first preference would be USE

Please help with bidding strategy

[thereuare]

When bidding 3.5* in San Francisco you have FIVE 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 3.5* USE...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $98, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100

If the above is rejected i DO think you have a chance for a 4* hotel in the USE or USW zones up to $120, so let us know if you'd like to that first OR try for a 3.5* in the Financial District.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes or if you have any questions regarding the above.

[varoon]

I read about the re bidding link. I think I have understood it. Since I am bidding for 3.5 star, the following are my re bid zones (5 in number) ie civic center south, marina-lombard street,richmond,sfo north & south sanfrancisco. Please confirm if this understanding is correct so that I start bidding ..

I would restrict my bids to max USD 100, so please recommend that if 3.5 star in USE fails, then which zones should i try next USW or Financial district? or Should i be trying 3 star in USE for max 100 ?

[Romelle]

.... for 3.5 star, the following are my re bid zones (5 in number) ie civic center south, marina-lombard street,richmond,sfo north & south sanfrancisco. Please confirm if this understanding is correct so that I start bidding ..

You have the re-bid zones correct. But do please reverify them each day before you start a bidding session. Good luck. San Francisco is an amazing city. You'll love it.

Romelle

[varoon]

Just read in another city forum, that re bidding doesn't always work ie Priceline might add / have a desired star hotel added at the last minuet , which could then be disastrous. Eg what if I get south San Francisco or sfo north or cicv center 3.5 star...then instead of getting a good deal I will be stuck with a vey bad deal indeed. Any way to reduce this risk, besides checking once before the actual bidding?

[thereuare]

In 10+ years of running the board and seeing about 75K-100K winning bids i know of two such examples where a hotel was won where the 'bidding' side indicated that there were no star rating available at that level... in both instances the name your own price side was updated a day or so later to reflect the new star level offered. If you're not comfortable with the risk then make once bid per day for the next 5-6 days.

You need to be comfortable with whatever strategy(s) you use.

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

[Romelle]

When I've been playing with a long complicated strategy that takes quite a while to bid, I've opened a second screen into Priceline. I set it so all the free rebid zones are checked, and it clearly shows none of them contain hotels at or above the level I'm bidding. Then between each bid, or few, bids I unclick and reclick one of the free zones on the second screen. This lets me make sure some hotel hasn't just put in a new offering and changed my free rebid options.

Yes, there is a tiny bit of risk. But the above method reduces even that.

I do though agree with thereuare that if you aren't comfortable with the risk it is better to bid in a 100% safe fashion.

I have to admit that in the rest of my life I also choose to assume quite a bit of risk - maximum deductible on car, house, life, medical, travel, etc. I never buy travel or appliance insurance. As much "self-insured" as I can manage. Other people choose to insure everything. You may well prefer to operate further in that direction.

Romelle

[imsocloey]

I totally agree with the above poster about opening the second window to verify rebid zones. It's a great tip for the faint of heart. As someone who used to live in the beautiful city of SF, I would actually consider including SOMA too because it actually has some of the nicer/trendier hotels included because it's sort of the "artsy" area and really within blocks of Union Square. (See the Priceline Hotel List) Union Square is great for first timers because you have access to mass transit to all the different parts of town. However, it really depends what you like to see, for scenic views and access to the beaches Marina is another great area. It has many restaurants and shops and has more of a local neighborhood feel. Also, great access to GG bridge and Sausalito (just on the other side of the bridge, it's like a different little European world - great if you want to bike the bridge and have lunch on the other side). We miss it dearly and I think you'll really like it. Oh one last thing about rental cars (if you plan to rent one) since most places charge $40-$75/night, especially in Union Square, the other option is just to rent a car for the day and return it the company. That's what many do because a one day rental is typically $30-$40. And the rental places are scattered all over Union, Financial District, and SOMA.

Good luck and just FYI, long ago we were able to land the JW Marriott for under $120 through priceline -- amazing!! Did you know you get your own butler button in the rooms??? LOL!