x2wenty6 Posted September 28, 2015 Report Posted September 28, 2015 I am currently shopping for a hotel room checking-in on Friday, December 11th, 2015 and checking out Monday, December 14th, 2015. My wife and I will be celebrating our two year wedding anniversary and we have both decided that we will like to stay in zone 2, Central Park South. Our first preference is a 5* hotel, or a 4.5 star hotel in the same region. Our budget is up to $300 per night after taxes and fees. from my research, this appears to be a stretch. So I am hoping to gain guidance and a more realistic ballpark figure to start my bid.Last year we booked a great deal at the Hyatt in Times Square including airfare for under $1600 for the same amount of nights on the same dates. We checked the prices recently and they have gone up higher compared to last year. We are hoping to snag a deal in the south Central Park area, and this will be the first time that I attempt to bid on Priceline. Thank you very much! I am happy that I stumbled onto your site :-)
AaronJB Posted September 28, 2015 Report Posted September 28, 2015 Welcome to Betterbidding and Happy 2nd Anniversary! :) The issue with these dates is that it's right near the border of when rates come down in the second half of the month. Rates may come down closer to your stay, but there is no guarantee and rates can easily also go up. Is CPS the only acceptable zone? Unfortunately, with the way that rates are for these dates, for a 4.5* in Midtown in general you are likely looking at at least $260-275+ (which, with taxes/fees per night is going to be over $300), with some zones likely going to take over $300 + taxes/fees. 5* is going to take $325-375+, although more likely towards the top end of that range. I think the other issue becomes if you bid you have to be willing to accept any hotel at the star rating chosen. Hot.wire or PRICELINE EXPRESS may be better options in terms of being able to have an educated guess as to which listing may be which hotel. If you haven't booked airfare, I'll note that Chicago is really reasonable this time of year. A 4.5* in Chicago downtown is as low as $110 for these dates, which would be around $415 total for 3 nights w/taxes and fees. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.
x2wenty6 Posted September 28, 2015 Author Report Posted September 28, 2015 You are very helpful! Thank you so much. CPS is the only area we are interested in staying this time. After discussing with my wife, we are more than happy to stay in a 4* hotel as well. We were just very hopeful before. What will be a good starting bid for a 4* hotel in CPS in your opinion?
thereuare Posted September 28, 2015 Report Posted September 28, 2015 We would be happy to suggest a strategy for you to bid in the CPS, but note that the Hudson Hotel is an option at the 4* level in this zone and they have notoriously small rooms (even by NYC standards)... would this be an acceptable outcome? I will also add that seasonally this is one of the most expensive weekends of the holiday high-season, if you could delay your trip by one week i think you will see significantly lower prices. Lastly, it's your trip so you know your needs best, but i would also recommend including other nearby zones in your search. For instance, the difference between staying in the CPS vs. the TS and/or MTW zones is negligible and i don't think you will find much difference between any of these three zones as all are centrally located. I can't think of anything that you could do in one of these zones that would be difficult to do in one of these alternate zones. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases. Let us know your thoughts on the above and how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
x2wenty6 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Posted November 5, 2015 In order of preference: Times Square theatre district, midtown west, Central Park south (zones 18, 14, 2)Checking-in: Friday, December 11th, 2015Checking-out: Tuesday, December 15th, 2015.My wife and I will be celebrating our 2nd year wedding anniversary. We had so much fun last year when we stayed at the Hyatt in Times Square, that we want to visit the city again! Can you please help us develop a strategy to save big on a nice hotel in these zones? Can you also provide us insight on what seems to be an average rate for these star value hotels within the areas I provided above. "Worst case scenario" I'd like for us to know what we may get ourselves into. So, which hotels usually accept bids in these zones? To be completely honest, Priceline bidding will be a first for us. My fear is that we end up with a hotel that we do not like for our anniversary trip. However, we have both agreed to be adventurous and bid. After all, for the right price, we could use the savings to enjoy another Broadway show or a gift for the Mrs. ;-) You can probably read my nervousness thru my text! Thanks for your help in advance. Of course I will be more than happy to use your links to bid. I've read some of the other threads on this forum, and you guys rock! I posted a month ago asking for your help, but after a busy stressful month, we are finally ready to book our travels. I appreciate your time.Xavier
x2wenty6 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Posted November 5, 2015 By the way, we hope to spend no more than $250 per night. We will still need to book our flights. If we must increase our budget to stay in a better hotel, then we will.
AaronJB Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 Welcome Back. :) There's really no way to know what hotel may accept and while some hotels are commonly seen at times, that can suddenly change. You really have to be willing to accept any of the possibilities for the star rating and zone picked. I'll really suggest that there are occasions where HOTWIRE and PRICELINE EXPRESS may be a better option and given the nature of the trip, I think it may be worth considering either service - both are slightly to moderately more than bidding, but you can make an educated guess as to which hotel you may get. If you still want to go forward with bidding, let us know; a 5* is unfortunately unlikely but you may be able to get a 4.5* at the top end of your budget. I'd agree that if there's any way you could slightly push the trip forward a little bit you would likely get cheaper rates. This is really the last portion of what is the prime period of holiday shopping/festivities. The back half of the month is traditionally cheaper/much cheaper. If you could do 18th-22nd instead of 11th-15th, a 5* would be possible and there would be 4.5*'s well within your budget. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.
thereuare Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 If you could do 18th-22nd...This would be significantly cheaper than the previous week. Let us know if you want to look at changing the dates OR if you're firm on 12/11-12/15. Are you going to book airfare before committing to the hotel? Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
x2wenty6 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Posted November 5, 2015 Unfortunately, due to work schedule we cannot change our vacation dates. So our trip will have to be for the 11th-15ty this year.After a flight search on jetblue's website, round trip tickets will cost us approximately $452.40 after taxes. We'd like to say we booked hotel and flight for $1,000 total after taxes. We agreed that for that price, we will be happy to stay in any 4* hotel no matter how small it is. But we are definitely fixed on staying in the zones I've listed in my post above.The express deals (I used your PRICELINE link) are offering between $250-264 for a 4* hotel in the zones that we would like to stay in.A hotel search this morning showed me Hudson: $210/night and Row: $215/night.A vacation package search including flight + hotel this morning showed me Hudson: $639.81/per person and Row NYC: $716.25/per person with the same JetBlue flights that I mentioned above.So, are we being unrealistic to max our budget at $1,000 after taxes including flight and hotel? Can we book a 4* hotel in our desired zones for under $170 after taxes? I say $170 max because it doesn't seem like the risk of not knowing which hotel is worth the reward of savings if the rates are higher than $170 when you start comparing to the vacation package pricing I mentioned above. At least we will know which hotel we will stay in. What do you think is a good starting bid for a 4* hotel in these zones?My plan was to book the hotel, then the flight. Unless there is a better way to save more. I'm all ears! Thank you to you both!
thereuare Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 We can suggest a strategy for whatever amount you'd like, but at current rates my guess is that $170 all-in is likely going to fall short for a 4* hotel in the CPS, MTW, or TS zones. To avoid any confusion, please let us know your maximum bid amount and we will suggest a strategy for you to follow. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
x2wenty6 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Posted November 5, 2015 $170 is our max bidding price :-)
thereuare Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 When bidding 4* in NYC you have TWO 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* TS... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $150, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* MTW... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $150, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* CPS... Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $150, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* TS and MTW... Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $163, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* TS and CPS... Bid $155, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $163, if rejected close browser and use this link to re-access PRICELINE... Select 4* TS, MTW, CPS... Bid $165, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $168, if rejected add re-bid zone... Bid $170 Any questions feel free to ask. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate 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
x2wenty6 Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Posted November 5, 2015 Great! We'll be trying your strategy tonight after work. Around 10pm. We will let you know how it goes. We'll make sure to use your links. Again thank you for continued support and this amazing site.
AaronJB Posted November 5, 2015 Report Posted November 5, 2015 Thank you for keeping us updated and for your compliments on Betterbidding! Definitely let us know if you have additional questions and good luck bidding. Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.
x2wenty6 Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Posted November 6, 2015 So I read your thread on bidding and I have a question. In order to avoid being upgraded from a 4* to anything higher in a zone that I do not wish to stay in, I need to make sure that there is nothing 4* and above available in the re-bid zones, right? I am going to start the bidding process this morning, but I want to make sure I understand the re-bid concept first.
x2wenty6 Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Posted November 6, 2015 I also listed all of the zones as you suggested, and I discovered that the two re-bid zones are Coney Island and Morning Side Heights-Harlem. Can you please confirm that this is correct? Also when I go to re-bid, should I keep theatre district selected, then also select coney island and that will allow me to re-bid at a 4* entry? I'm so sorry for asking these simple questions, but I just want to be sure before proceeding. My wife would kill me if we end up in harlem lol.
thereuare Posted November 6, 2015 Report Posted November 6, 2015 ...I discovered that the two re-bid zones are Coney Island and Morning Side Heights-Harlem.Correct, but always double check just before starting a bidding cycle to make sure that nothing has changed since you last checked. Also when I go to re-bid, should I keep theatre district selected, then also select coney island and that will allow me to re-bid at a 4* entry?Correct, since if (your next bid) includes Times Square and Coney Isand at the 4* level, if your bid is accepted, it would have to be in the Times Square zone, since there are not 4* (or higher) hotels in the Coney Island zone. I'm so sorry for asking these simple questions, but I just want to be sure before proceeding.No problem... we'd rather you ask questions then make a mistake. ;) Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board. 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
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