Priceline Hotel: 3* Philadelphia (Downtown) Hilton Garden Inn

[boots66]

::Newbie here::

We needed a room in Philly for the coming weekend. I'd seen some good prices on Hotwire a week or 2 ago, but our plans weren't final yet. When I tried to book yesterday, the cheapest price I could find on any site was about $108 (and not for a hotel I wanted).

I found your site while googling, scanned the boards for a bit, then tried Priceline (via savingsbarn.com).

1st bid for $78 / 4* / downtown area was rejected. I upped it to $81 & expanded to 3* (same area) and got the Hilton. Not my 1st choice (we stayed once before & didn't love it, but I guess we can't always get the Hyatt!), but it's just a mile from the event we're attending and a good price (especially for last minute).

Two day total w/ taxes & fees: $193.93

This is a great resource. Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Congratulations on your win... a little less than half price and a great rate for a last minute stay.

For a bit more advanced bidding, you should learn about Priceline Re-Bidding, as it's usually recommended to Lower Your Bid When You Lower Your Star Rating. When you have time read thru the previous two links and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Thanks for using the links at SavingsBarn.com to begin your bidding.

Have a great trip and enjoy the event you're attending.

[boots66]

For a bit more advanced bidding, you should learn about Priceline Re-Bidding, as it's usually recommended to Lower Your Bid When You Lower Your Star Rating.

If I had lowered my bid when going down to 3*, and I was rejected, would I have had to change something (area, star rating) in order to rebid at a higher rate?

[thereuare]

If rejected at the 3* level you would have had two re-bid zones available.

Did you read thru the Priceline Re-Bidding Explained thread?

[boots66]

"If rejected at the 3* level you would have had two re-bid zones available.:

As I understand it, I could rebid if I added zones that only had _lower_ * ratings than I selected in order to insure I wouldn't actually get anything in those undesired zones. Is that right? How foolproof is that method? Has anyone ever gotten stuck winning in a location they didn't want?

ps - I realized this wasn't the same Hilton we'd stayed at before (that was the "Inn at Penn"). We liked this one better, and the location was quite good.

[thereuare]

When it backfires it has always been to "user error"... either not understanding re-bid zones or not doublechecking to see that a re-bid zone still qualifies as such.

This is why we try to make sure that users understand re-bidding and know how to check it for themselves (so that they do so before each round of bidding)

[boots66]

"When it backfires it has always been to "user error"... either not understanding re-bid zones or not doublechecking to see that a re-bid zone still qualifies as such."

The PEBKAC error. :)

Thanks for all the info!