likeladygodiva Posted May 13, 2013 Report Posted May 13, 2013 I'm planning on going to Toronto on 6/12 and staying until 6/14. I have purchased rooms through Priceline before, but I've never used the name your own price feature. This time, however, the cost for a decent hotel in the area I'm looking for (I guess it would be considered Downtown North on Priceline and Downtown East on Hotwire, I want to stay within a good distance of the bus/train station and also the venue for a concert I'm going to) is too high for my budget and I'm planning on either using name your own price or the Hotwire Secret hot Rate hotels. I'm just wondering which would be better to use? I definitely prefer the selection area of Hotwire - it's RIGHT where I want to be, but it seems like you can get better deals through Priceline? Also, should I be looking to book this far in advance, or would it be better to wait until closer to the trip? I'm ideally looking to get a good deal on a 4* hotel, any help would be greatly appreciated! Glad I found this board! :)
thereuare Posted May 13, 2013 Report Posted May 13, 2013 Welcome to BetterBidding!HOTWIRE usually costs a little more than PRICELINE, but with HOTWIRE you have the ability to know the amenities associated with the property (in case anything, such as free breakfast or a pool is important to you for this trip) as well as often see some review information about the hotel (which can give a little comfort in an opaque purchase since you can know if others have generally been happy with the hotel offered). As well, with HOTWIRE you can use this amenity and review information to take a guess as to which hotel you may receive, providing further insight/guess as to where within the zone the hotel may be located (whereas with PRICELINE you need to be willing to accept a hotel anywhere within the shaded boundaries of the zone).So HOTWIRE is a little 'less opaque' since it gives you a few more clues and information about the hotel, where as PRICELINE less is known about the property.... so that is the trade-off. If lowest possible price is the main goal then PRICELINE is usually a better option, but if you it's important to know some amenities that the hotel will and/or be able to take a guess as to the property before purchase, then HOTWIRE can be a better (but slightly more expensive) option.Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 13, 2013 Author Report Posted May 13, 2013 Thank you for your response! That definitely helps. I think I'm going to try and go with HOTWIRE, since it's important I stay in a certain area. My main question is should I book something now, or should I wait until closer to the trip to see if prices go down? The lowest 4* I've seen right now on HOTWIRE is $152, will it get lower?
AaronJB Posted May 14, 2013 Report Posted May 14, 2013 The FAQ discusses timing in more detail - there is no way to know if rates will come down closer to your stay. If it's a busy period, rates could very well climb closer to your stay.Thank you for using the board's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.
thereuare Posted May 14, 2013 Report Posted May 14, 2013 The lowest 4* I've seen right now on HOTWIRE is $152, will it get lower?Have you taken a guess as to the ID of this 4* property? If so, what is the 'regular' rate of booking this hotel? Using MAPS and HOTELS.com what is the best rate you're able to find at an acceptable 4* hotel thru conventional booking channels?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Posted May 14, 2013 HOTWIRE tells me that the regular rate is $263, but there's nothing on MAPS and HOTELS.com that matches that exactly. I know that $152 is a good deal, and if need be, I'll settle for something around that price. :) I'd ideally like to stay around $130-ish. I do have a question about PRICELINE though, if I bid or use the 'name your own price' and put in 4*, will I be guaranteed to get one of the 4* hotels off the list on this board? Or is there a chance it could give me a different hotel? Like say I choose 'downtown North' and 4*, and that I win, will I be guaranteed to get one of those four (Intercontinental Toronto Yorkville, Mariott Toronto Bloor Yorkville, Mariott Toronto Downtown Eaton Centre, or The Sutton Place Hotel - Toronto) or could it give me something completely out of the blue that I'm not expecting? Sorry for all the questions, I'm really new to this and just want to be sure I'm getting it right before committing to anything! Thank you guys so much for your help!
likeladygodiva Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Posted May 14, 2013 Also, I was wondering since I saw it on another part of the board, do you think someone could help me with exactly how to do the rebidding? Again, I'm going from 6/12 - 6/14, I would like a 4* hotel in Downtown North and I'm willing to spend up to $130! I've never done it before, so if you could tell me where to choose for rebid zones, it would be SUPER helpful. Thank you SO much! (Would've edited my last post, but couldn't figure out how to do that.)
thereuare Posted May 15, 2013 Report Posted May 15, 2013 HOTWIRE tells me that the regular rate is $263, but there's nothing on MAPS and HOTELS.com that matches that exactly.The point of looking at MAPS and HOTELS.com wasn't to find a match for the 'retail' rate that HOTWIRE is showing, but rather to compare rates to see if $152 is a good deal or not, helping you make the decision of locking this in now or waiting. I do have a question about PRICELINE though, if I bid or use the 'name your own price' and put in 4*, will I be guaranteed to get one of the 4* hotels off the list on this board? Or is there a chance it could give me a different hotel?You could receive a different hotel, see the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List.Also, I was wondering since I saw it on another part of the board, do you think someone could help me with exactly how to do the rebidding?Given my comment above that you could receive a different property, and that earlier you stated that location is important to you, do you still want to try PRICELINE first for the Downtown North zone with a maximum bid of $130?Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 15, 2013 Author Report Posted May 15, 2013 Ohhhhh okay, that makes sense! Forgive any stupidity on my part, oops. Also, I saw the comments after I had already commented a second time, didn't want to be a burden and comment YET AGAIN! But after researching it a little more, I feel like even the furthest limits of Downtown North would be close enough to the area we need to be close to (for reference, it's the Phoenix Concert Theatre, which is outside the Downtown North area BUT about 11 minutes away at the furthest point, at least according to Google Maps) so I think it should be okay. Thank you so much for your help, and when I do FINALLY actually go to bid, I'll be sure to use the PRICELINE link from here! :)
thereuare Posted May 15, 2013 Report Posted May 15, 2013 Are you ready to bid now or did you decide to wait?Let us know once you're ready to move forward and we'll suggest a strategy to follow at that time based upon your maximum bid and current hotel rates.Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 15, 2013 Author Report Posted May 15, 2013 I think I'll try to bid now, if it's not accepted then I'll wait a little bit, so any strategy would be awesome! Thank you! :)
thereuare Posted May 16, 2013 Report Posted May 16, 2013 When bidding 4* in Toronto you have ELEVEN 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* Toronto North...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $118, if rejected add re-bid zone...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 $130Any 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. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Posted May 16, 2013 Thanks so much for this! Before I actually start bidding, I've been through PRICELINE and I just want to double check that these are my re-bid zones. I counted Brampton, Burlington - Oakville South, Markham, and Scarborough -Pickering for sure. The other areas left are Don Valley, North York East, Oakville - Mississauga South, Toronto Airport East, Toronto Airport West, Toronto East, and Toronto West, which all adds up to 11, so I'm assuming those are the other zones? Please tell me if I've accidentally included one I shouldn't have! Also, in looking up re-bid help, I saw someone talking about 'resort' rated hotels, does Toronto have any of these that I should be wary of? And what about 'unrated hotels'? Thank you for the help!
thereuare Posted May 16, 2013 Report Posted May 16, 2013 The above is not correct, you have at least one zone that has 4* rated hotels.Try this...1) Use the PRICELINE search box on the upper right of this page, enter 'Toronto, Canada' and your dates, and click "GO".2) List each zone that is offered in this region. 3) Next to each zone list the highest star rating offered in the zone. The way to determine the highest star rating offered in the zone is by selecting the first zone i the list, then scrolling down to see the highest star rating selectable (ie- not greyed out). NEXT UNcheck the selected zone, place a checkmark in the next zone, and repeat the process for each zone in the region. Each time you take note of the highest star rating in the zone, make sure that only ONE zone is selected above.4) post your findings and we'll take it from thereIf you don't follow the above just post back and we'll break it down further.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Posted May 16, 2013 Ohhhhh, I see now what I did wrong! Thank you for helping me, wow. I've now got it narrowed down to a different 11 (Brampton, Burlington - Oakville South, Don Valley, Markham, Mississauga, Oakville - Mississauga South, Scarborough - Pickering, Toronto Airport West, Toronto East, Toronto West, and Vaughan - North York) which I believe to be the right 11. I'm so grateful for all your help. Going to try bidding and see what happens! :)
Romelle Posted May 16, 2013 Report Posted May 16, 2013 I just double-checked your 4* re-bidding zones and you've got it right this time. But do check each day just before a bidding session. With all those zones having 3 1/2* hotels, one of them could easily get rated another 1/2 star and you'd find you've won a hotel out in the boonies. Hope it works for you.Romelle
likeladygodiva Posted May 16, 2013 Author Report Posted May 16, 2013 Thanks so much! I ended up starting at $90, kept adding more zones up to $115, at which time I stopped and decided to try another day. I'll make sure to check the zones every day, I truly appreciate everyone's help. :)
thereuare Posted May 17, 2013 Report Posted May 17, 2013 Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.Good luck on the next round of bidding.Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
likeladygodiva Posted June 5, 2013 Author Report Posted June 5, 2013 Just realized I never came back to tell what happened -- I tried bidding for a week up to $120 with no success. In the end, I realized it was better for this particular trip to book a hotel close to the venue and rather not risk bidding. I booked the Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre for $130, using the link through this board. A little disappointed that the bidding didn't turn out, but it's all for the best and I'm thankful I learned all that I did so next time I go back, I'll be able to try again! Thanks everyone for all your help! :)
yellowdog Posted June 5, 2013 Report Posted June 5, 2013 Thanx for the follow-up and closing this thread. Also thanx for using boards links at our Support Page :) Have a nice stay.Yellowdog.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchases and searches.
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