Priceline Hotel: July 20 - 26 / Zones 7 & 8 - Priceline

[Debbie_SC]

Hi. I'm going to be visiting Chicago from July 20th - July 26th. I've been playing with the Priceline bidding tool for several weeks now, gradually increasing my bid for 3 - 4.5 star hotels in zones 7 & 8. What is a reasonable bid for this area? I'm up to around $115 - $117 per night and still getting rejected. I've never found Priceline bidding to be so difficult! :)

I figured staying in this area would be more convenient for all of the tourist activities, since I'm not sure how long it takes to ride into the city on the train, and I figured transportation costs would eat up any possible savings anyway.

Bid suggestions would be greatly appreciated because I'm running out of time, and I figure the hotels are booking, too!

Thanks!

Debbie

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

To avoid any confusion please use the zone names, and not the numbers as, as the numbers will change in the future any time PRICELINE adds, removes, or renames the zone. I assume you are current bidding the Loop and NMA zones?

The best deal at the moment in my opinion would be a 4* HOTWIRE for $151/nite which i believe to be the Millennium Knickerbocker (Restaurant, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Blind Accessible, Deaf Accessible, Travel Accessible, Room Accessible, Bathroom Accessible, Roll-in Shower)... all the other HOTWIRE offers in the zones you're bidding are not only priced higher but also lower rated. Same goes for PRICELINE EXPRESS.

If you're able to increase your budget I would use $150 as a maximum bid and get to that limit asap (since if the HOTWIRE property disappears the available options drop off quickly) and if that is rejected take the HOTWIRE offer.

Your other option is to SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID. I have begun to look to see if you could benefit by doing so as i'm not sure if your preference is to increase your budget OR possibly (likely) need to change hotels mid-trip.

Let us know your thoughts and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[Debbie_SC]

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I was referring to those areas. I'm really surprised at the $150 a night. One of the reasons I decided on Chicago was because I had done a little research and noticed people getting hotels in the $95 - $115 range. For some reason that particular week seems to be tougher though. Weeks before and after it were better, but we are forced into that week. $150 is not a bad rate for a couple nights, but it gets a little expensive for 6 nights when you add in taxes, fees, etc.

If you add a surrounding area, such as Lincoln Park or McCormick place, does that change the odds of getting back down to the $110 a night rate? I wasn't sure how long it would take by train to hop on and get back to some of the sights if staying in one of those areas. For an extra $50-$60 per day (depending on taxes and fees), I don't think transportation would be that much. Maybe I'm wrong on that, too. :)

I see great prices in the O'Hare area, but that looked like a very long train ride.

Thanks again for the advice. It is much appreciated!!!

Debbie

[Debbie_SC]

Also, THANK YOU for the idea of splitting the stay. I honestly hadn't thought of that for price. I just assumed that they considered the average price per night for the overall stay, but I'm interested in checking that out if it saves me us a few hundred dollars. We always do that when we go to Vegas, but that's just booking direct and choosing a Strip vs downtown hotel. I've never considered that option with PRICELINE. Thanks for the tip!

[thereuare]

... I had done a little research and noticed people getting hotels in the $95 - $115 range. For some reason that particular week seems to be tougher though.

Rates are date specific and there is a 10K person conference being held from 7/19-7/23 and another conference of 25K from 7/20-7/23... that's 35K attendees, most from out of town, that need hotel rooms from 7/20-7/23.

HOTWIRE has what appears to be the Doubletree Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile for $137/nite from 7/21-7/26, leaving you with only the nite of 7/20 to 'fill-in' (maybe if you're flying in your flight arrives late and you stay by the airport for this one nite, leaving early in the morning to get a start on the day ahead... or if driving in stay just outside of the city for the first nite)?

Anything including the nite of 7/20 increases rates... for just the solo nite of 7/20 there is a 3* Grant Park hotel on PRICELINE EXPRESS for $150/nite... but then between this and the $137 3.5* property above i don't think you're really saving much and worth changing hotels vs. just paying the ~$150 for a 4* hotel for the complete stay.

Your thoughts?

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

[Debbie_SC]

Thanks for the information. The large conferences definitely explains why that week seems to be a little tougher. I found a couple pretty good deals with the Priceline Express for the last three days. I was getting frustrated with the first three days, so I hopped over to Last Minute Travel to see what I could find there. I actually came across a 5-star hotel in the NMA area for $137 per night for all 6 nights. The only problem is that there was going to be a 48-hour request hold until they get the hotel to agree to all of the people they had recruited at those prices. I'm going to do a little more work today on the first three nights, or do as you suggested and fill the last five and find something near the airport for the first one. Our flight gets in around 9 PM Saturday night, so it may be crazy to try to make it into the city.

That's actually one step I haven't researched yet because I didn't realize until I read it on here that it can be up to an hour for that commute by train.

Thank you! This forum is a great resource!!

[thereuare]

LMT gets a certain number of rooms at a pre-contracted rate... 'on request' means that they will contact the hotel to see if they can get additional inventory at the same rate. As might be expected, during peak times the hotel is less likely to offer them additional inventory at their contracted rate since there is a great chance that the hotel can sell the rooms on their own at full price.

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

Good luck.

[Debbie_SC]

Thanks for all of the information. It looks like there are a few decent options with the split trip, so I'm going to check them out.

[thereuare]

Do note, as per my previous message, that SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID doesn't necessarily mean half and half... at times it could be more beneficial to split 1nite/5nites, 2nites/4nites, 4nites/2nites, 1nite/5nites (or it's possible that 3/3 is the best split... but don't confine yourelf to just that combination)

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

Good luck and let us know what you come up with and how we can be of further help.