Jon052 Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 Trying for a 4* Chicago hotel in either {Millenium Park - The Loop - Grant Park} or {North Michigan Ave - River North Area} for the weekend of 7/26-7/28, 2013.I clicked through from the link above and ran through all 11 bids on the 5* and 4.5* properties just to see what would happen - starting $70, increasing by $4 to $110. All rejected, not surprisingly.Then I submitted the 7 bids for the 4* properties from $70 to $98 in $4 increments. These were all rejected as well - which did surprise me. 60% less than the $226 avg retail price is $90, so I assumed something would turn up between $70 and $98.I will wait 24 hours and start again. Can you please offer some advice on what might be win-able for this weekend in July? Or a different bidding strategy?I'd like to be under $100, but I could go as high as $120 if necessary.Thank you!Jon
thereuare Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 At current rates you're likely looking at $100-$120 for a 4* hotel property... are you willing to increase your bid at this point in time? Do you favor the NMA or Loop zone or is your goal the least expensive in either zone?Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Jon052 Posted June 24, 2013 Author Report Posted June 24, 2013 Thanks for your reply and good info!$100-$120 will work. I tried lower based on bidding history of others here, but it seems this weekend is a little more expensive.Both the NMA and Loop zones will be convenient for us, so I don't really have a preference.When bidding, I started with the Loop for the first bid, then added NMA for the 2nd bid. Then all 6 subsequent bids adding zones 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 11 included both desired zones. Is this the best way to do it?I think I exhausted all my bidding opportunities for today - please correct me if there is a way around this - so I will need to try again tomorrow.Is it worth cycling through the 5* and 4.5* properties again, or is that just a waste of time at these prices?What would you suggest for a strategy for tomorrow?Thanks again for your help!
thereuare Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 Please use the zone names, and not the zone numbers, when referring to the zones as the numbers will change any time that PRICELINE adds, removes, or changes the name of a zone. However, as of this writing your re-bid zones are correct, always double check them before bidding to make sure that nothing has changed since you last bid.I think 5* bidding would be a waste of time, and 4.5* not very likely, but if you want to give it a try before bidding 4* you can do so. However, instead of making very small increments i would just bid:5* - $100, $105, $110, $115, $1204.5* - $100, $105, $110, $115, $120Tomorrow i would try as follows (backtracking the bids a bit just in case lower rates have been entered into the system since your last bidding):Select 4* NMA...Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $93, 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 rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $103, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* Loop...Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $93, 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 rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $103, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINESelect 4* NMA and Loop...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 add re-bid zone...Bid $120Any 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
Jon052 Posted June 25, 2013 Author Report Posted June 25, 2013 4* Chicago (Millenium Park - The Loop - Grant Park) Hard Rock Chicago @ $130 for 7/26 - 7/28/2013 Thanks again for your help! Today I clicked through from the link on this page and did the following:1. Cycled through the 5* and 4.5* properties with the bids suggested, closing the browser between and clicking through from the PRICELINE link here again. All rejected.2. Cycled through all the 4* NMA and 4* Loop bids as suggested, in the same manner. All rejected.3. While bidding, I noticed the SUMMER 5% promo code, so I revised my final set of bids to start at $105 and end at $130. Everything through $123 was rejected.My last available bid at $130 was accepted for the Hard Rock Chicago. After applying the promo code, $298 all in for 2 nights. More than I'd prefer to spend, but much better than the Jetsetter rate ($431) or most of the other OTA sites ($584) for this property.I'm not sure how to revise the title of this thread, so I put the info at the top of this post. If you can modify, please do.Thank you for your great assistance!
AaronJB Posted June 25, 2013 Report Posted June 25, 2013 Congrats on your success. :)Terrific deal for this well-located property in a very historic building.There are a number of breakfast options within decent walking distance, some particularly close. The trio that come to mind would be Wildberry (newer and very popular - http://www.yelp.com/biz/wildberry-cafe-chicago), the Pittsfield Cafe (an old-school Chicago diner in the Pittsfield building - cash only http://www.yelp.com/biz/pittsfield-cafe-chicago) or the Rick Bayless casual offering Xoco (http://www.yelp.com/biz/xoco-chicago).If you are looking for a breakfast treat, a trek N/NW (although not that terrible of a walk) is the Doughnut Vault (http://thedoughnutvault.tumblr.com/), but that is cash only and they sell until they run out. Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.Enjoy your stay.
Jon052 Posted June 25, 2013 Author Report Posted June 25, 2013 Wow, that was a direct copy and paste into my itinerary for this trip! Great info - thanks, Aaron!
AaronJB Posted June 25, 2013 Report Posted June 25, 2013 Happy to help! Please let me know if you have any other city questions.
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