Priceline Hotel: 4* Paris (Montmarte - Sacre Coeur - Pigalle) Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur

[gstoa]

I am bidding on a 5* in Paris for July 20-26, 2013 and want to make sure my bidding strategy is sound. Here's what I've found for the 5* hotels in the areas I want to stay in Paris:

Area #5: Champs Elysees - Arc De Triomphe (10 hotels)

Area #7: Eiffel Tower (9 hotels)

Area #15: Opera Quarter West - Jardin des Tuileries (6 hotels)

Here's what I've bid so far:

Bid #1: Area #5 for $125 (rejected)

Bid #2: Areas #5 + #7 for $130 (rejected)

Bid #3: Areas #5 + #7 + #15 for $135 (rejected)

Areas #2, 10, 11, 12 and 13 do not have any 5*, but I am feeling a little apprehensive about continuing to increment my bid amount up and extending to these additional areas. Is this a safe bidding strategy?

[thereuare]

The zone numbers will change any time PRICELINE adds, removes, or changes the name of a zone. To avoid any confusion, please use the zone names (as they appear on the PRICELINE bidding page) rather than the zone numbers.

You need to be comfortable with with whatever bidding strategy you use. When bidding 5* in Paris you actually have FIFTEEN re-bid zones. If you're read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and are confused, try the following:

1) Use the PRICELINE search box on the upper right of this page, enter 'Paris, France' 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 there

If you don't follow the above just post back and we'll break it down further.

Also, what is your maximum bid for a 5* hotel for this trip, as at current rates i don't think the low $100's is realistic. Using MAPS and HOTELS.com (where you can easily filter to show only the 5* hotels) what is the best rate you're able to find for a 5* hotel in one of the zones that you're bidding?

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

[gstoa]

Successfully bid my way to a 4* in the Montmatre-Republique area for $126/night from June 20-26 at the Mercure Paris Montmartre Sacre Coeur. I started at $65 (might as well try, right?) then, 20 bids later, achieved success at $126.

Summary of Charges

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $126.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Guests Per Room: 2

Number of Nights: 6

Room Subtotal: $756.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees: $83.22 (USD)

Total Charged to Card: $839.22 (USD)

Out of all of the 19 areas, I specifically wanted something in area 12 (Montmarte - Sacre Coeur - Pigalle) so I bid using a matrix of the following areas:

5 Champs Elysees - Arc De Triomphe

6 Champs Elysees Etoile - Avenue Monceau

8 Gare Du Nord

10 Latin Quarter

12 Montmarte - Sacre Coeur - Pigalle

13 Montparnasse

14 Opera Quarter East - Louvre Museum

15 Opera Quarter West - Jardin des Tuilerie

19 St. Germain

I specifically excluded these areas:

1 Alesia - Orleans Area

2 Bastille - Bercy

3 Batignolles - Clichy

4 Buttes Chaumont - La Villette Area

7 Eiffel Tower

9 La Defense - Neuilly

11 Le Marais - Republique

16 Place D'Italie - Gare de Austerlitz

17 Porte De Versailles

18 Porte de Montreuil - Pere Lachaise

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Nicely done! Glad to see your pleased with the results. Can you confirm that this was a recently completed stay and the dates above of June 20-26 are correct... or is this a stay in the future and the date of July 20-26 in this Priceline Paris thread are correct... or are these two entirely different stays?

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

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

Enjoy your stay.

[gstoa]

Correction -- these dates are for July 20-26, 2013!

[AaronJB]

Thanks - fixed.