Priceline Hotel: New to this and a little nervous

[spazzums]

I've spent the afternoon reading through all of the posts here that I possibly can. I'm a little overwhelmed with all the information that I have come across.

DH and I are thinking of flying in a night early. Airfare would be about the same and there is a late night flight that we could catch. It would be much more relaxed if we could do it this way.

With that being the case, we would like to stay at a nice airport hotel. The Hyatt that is inside the hotel would be wonderful, but I know the chances of getting that are not good. But we would need a shuttle from the airport as we have to pick up the car on Saturday morning (already priced out the car and it would be 50 bucks extra to pick it up Friday night, not worth it to have it parked in a lot).

So I need to start with Priceline, enter my info and my credit card, and select Orlando Airport Area and 3 stars, then enter the amount I wish to bid. I was thinking of starting at $37 as this is for September 30th and I see there there are quite a few rooms available. If not accpeted at $37, then I need to re-bid? Now this is where I get confused. I see that when you re-bid you select another zone, but I am afraid that if I add the Kissimmee zone, then I will end up with a hotel in Kissimmee and be locked into that.

Am I making this more complicated than it has to be?

[byeloe]

If you are looking for 3* at the airport, then your rebid zones will be ones that only have up to 2.5 * bidding available. Kissimmee, Orlando East, Sand Lake, Disney West, Winter Garden and Winter Park are all free rebids for 3* IN oRLANDO So you could bid $37 and if rejected add one of the above zones and bid again with a higher amount. If rejected start over with Airport and another different rebid zone selected.

Keep doing this with Airport and one of the rebid zones selected. If you exhaust all the zones then start over with Airport and 2 rebid zones selected.

If done properly you can make up to 64 bids(you obviously won't need to use all 64) for a 3* in the airport zone and if you are succesful you will be sure to get an airport hotel

Keep us updated on your bids, and feel free to ask for more help

[thereuare]

We'll try to explain it to you one piece at a time. List each zone in the Orlando area and the highest star rating available in each zone. Do not use the hotel lists to determine the highest star level available within each zone, use this technique from Priceline Re-Bidding Explained:

The way to check what star levels are available in each zone is to open a Priceline page, check ONLY the zone you are inquiring about, and then proceed to the next page (as if you were going to select a zone)... this will give you the available star ratings in that area. You can then hit BACK on your browser, uncheck the current box, check the next box, and repeat the process. It is important to do this before EACH attempt at adding a zone that you really don't want, as new hotels can be added and the star ratings can change at any time.

From there we will be able to explain it to you so that you can check your re-bid zones before each bidding cycle... as it's very important to do so.

If you don't understand the above let us know and we'll try to get you thru whatever is confusing to you.

[spazzums]

Ahhhh, I think I understand. I want to select zones that DO NOT have 3*'s in them. So I would select the zones that only go to 2.5 *'s, all the while I keep my specification at 3*'s. Is that right?

I just did a search and found on hotwire a 3* hotel in Orlando International Airport for 64 bucks for the night that I need. I would like to find one for around 50 bucks or less.

I guess my biggest concern is entering my credit card info and messing this up somehow and getting stuck with the wrong thing.

So first step, go to priceline, enter my info, and enter a bid for $37?

[byeloe]

Hi

actually the bid amount gets entered first and your info goes in second, then you confirm your information before the actual bid gets placed. If your bid is accepted then your ccard is charged right away.

You are correct about the zone selection procedure.

good luck

[thereuare]

Are you ready to bid now?

If so, i'd first make a list of all of your re-bid zones, comfirm them with the board, and then we'll suggest a step-by-step bidding strategy for you to follow. This way you will have a gameplan of bidding and now exactly what you will do next if rejected, bidding again and knowing exactly what you will do next if rejected, and so-on. This will be more concise (and less likely to make a mistake) than you making a bid, coming back here for your next move, making the next bid and then returning for your next move, etc, etc.

[spazzums]

I am almost ready to bid. Just waiting for confirmation that I can get that 1/2 day off that day. Should be in a day or two. But I will start working on the list so that I am prepared.

[spazzums]

Okay, so everything is squared away, just need to book the hotel room.

Starting off with a bid of $37 dollars for Airport area. I will rebid for Orlando East on the 1st rebid attempt, then West Disney Area, then Kissimmee, then Sand Lake Corporate, then Winter Garden, then Winter Park.

Does that sound good?

[GM Mike]

Assuming you are bidding 3* and above, then yes, as of this second, that is correct.

(And, obviously, you're raising your bid amount for each rebid. Just be careful to remember your maximum bid so you don't end up spending more than you wanted in the heat of the moment.)

Let us know how it goes.

[spazzums]

How much should I raise each bid by? A couple of dollars? I set my max at $50 because I know that I can get a lesser hotel for that much. And it simply is just for one night.

[GM Mike]

You listed six rebid zones. Using your strategy, then, you get seven bids:

Select 3* Airport, bid $37... if unsuccessful, add first rebid zone and

Bid $39... if unsuccessful, add second rebid zone and

Bid $41... if unsuccessful, add third rebid zone and

Bid $43... if unsuccessful, add fourth rebid zone and

Bid $45... if unsuccessful, add fifth rebid zone and

Bid $47... if unsuccessful, add sixth rebid zone and

Bid $50.

How does that sound?

[spazzums]

sounds good! I'll be working on that this afternoon!

THANKS!!!!

[spazzums]

Well, I just ran through everything and no luck.

Maybe I will try again at another time.

[GM Mike]

You might have better luck at 2.5*.

Have you considered it? How many rebid zones do you have at 2.5*? Or can you raise your maximum bid a little for 3*?

[GM Mike]

The other thing that occurs to me is you're more than 30 days out. This might be a situation where inventory hadn't been released yet. You might just be able to get what you want for the price you want if you wait a week.

That said, make sure you book a fully refundable/cancellable backup reservation somewhere, in case you don't win on priceline. Takes some of the pressure off.

Also, if you haven't already, consider checking HOTWIRE for deals.

[spazzums]

Okay, going to give this a try again......maybe since it is less than 4 weeks away something new will be open?

If not, hotwire has a 3* for 59 or a 2.5* for 38. Anyone know what 2.5 * hotels are around MCO?

[thereuare]

There are a LOT of hotwire 3* and 2.5* hotels around MCO, so we'd need to know the amenities that HOTWIRE associates with each one in order to have an educated guess as to which ones you're seeing. (and isn't the 3* more than you want to spend based upon your previously stated maximum bid?)

But if you intend on bidding first, why dont' you do so and then, if rejected, we can try to identify the properties you're being offered by HOTWIRE.

[spazzums]

Well, thanks everyone for the help, but I talked it over with my husband and we are going to just pick up the rental car a night early and go stay on Disney property at one of the value resorts for the night.

Maybe next time I will better luck with priceline!