Priceline Hotel: Bidding Help NYC 10/11 - 10/14

[Tbud]

Hello again,

You guys were so great with my last one, I'm trying again for a very last minute trip next week.

Would like 4* in

1. MTW - Times Square area

2. MTE

3. UM/CPS

I can do upto $274 (allowed), so hoping I have some flexibility in staying in the Times Square area. Can you offer some suggestions for a strategy?

Thanks!

Tony

[thereuare]

$274 (allowed)

Do you mean that your reimbursed up to $274?

If so, is that a bid amount or "all-in"? Did you then want to try up to your maximum for MTW before moving on to MTE and then UM/CPS... or is it really just the least expensive 4* in any of those three zones?

As i'm sure may have seen already.... rates are high!

[Tbud]

Yep, that's the reimburseable amount - I'd probably go to $274.00 in MTW then start adding MTE, and the CPS. I don't mind going $10-20 above, that just comes out of my pocket. What do you think?

[thereuare]

I think MTW is going to be tough since rates at each of the Hiltons are nearly $500/nite and the Sheraton is $400+

You have two re-bid zones...

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $250, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $274, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and re-bid zone2...

Bid $285, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $295.

If the above is rejected, you can then loop thru once again, using MTE and then again using UM/CPS.

Alternately, if you really don't care about how much your company pays and looking to keep your own out of pocket potential to a minimum (and the $274 re-imbursable is before taxes and fees):

Select 4* MTW...

Bid $274, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $285, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* MTW and re-bid zone2...

Bid $290, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $295.

This second approach just helps your own pocket a bit since if you're successful after the company's reimbursable amount, you're increasing by smaller amounts (after the second bid).

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[Tbud]

Hi,

I need some serious last minute help for october 11 - 14. I think I've tried every combination known on priceline and I'm still getting rejected (even up to $300). I'd like to keep the 4*, but I'm not having much luck.

Preferences in order:

4* MTW

4* UM/CPS

4* MTE

Then I guess I'd have to go down on the star rating. Or try to split the bid and do the last night on its own. I'm thinking the Friday night stay is messing things up.

What strategy would you recommend? I'm reimbursed for up to $274 - if I go above, it comes out of my own pocket so I'd like to keep it within $300.

HELP!

[thereuare]

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread.

I think the 'problem' is reverse of what you think it is... more likely it's the Wed-Fri stay and not the Fri-Sat stay that is preventing your success.

A quick question regarding your company's reimbursement policy... do you get re-imbursed on a per-nite basis or on a per-stay basis (ie- if you book one hotel for $249/nite and another for $299/nite... are you re-imbursed in full since your average stay is $274/nite... or are you only re-imbursed $249/nite for your first nite and $274 for your second nite?)

[Tbud]

Sorry about not keeping it in the same thread. As you can see, I'm in a bit of a panic.

I get reimbursed for a total of $274 per night, so it doesn't matter how much I pay for one night if it averages out to $274 per night total. If I HAVE to, I'll go $25-$30 per night out of my own pocket.

I just got back from the Grand Hyatt NY today, and after staying there, I'm really afraid to add Midtown East - the hotel was a disaster and I don't want to end up there if I possibly help it (and it seems they tend to accept a lot of bids).

I'll bid in the morning and pray that something works out. I don't mind changing hotels during the stay as long as their in the same zone. I need to be near the Javits Center so I'm guessing that MTW is always best, but I could handle UM/CPS all at 4* unless that is totally not going to happen, then I'd do 3* in MTW.

I seriously hope you can help, I'm comitted to meetings and already have my flight. UGH!!!!

Thanks so much for your help and expertise.

Tony

[thereuare]

I'm surprised to hear about your dislike of the Grand Hyatt as that hotel has generally received postive reviews since their renovations a few year ago.

I'm still not sure about your re-imbursement... if you stay at a hotel for $200, do you still get re-imbursed for $274?

I think where i was going with this was i think you can get a great deal on a hotel in Jersey City for the last nite of your stay (like under $100) and then you could have used the savings on this nite to increase the amounts for the other two remaining nites... but this may be a moot point as it appears that the lower Jersey City rate may no longer be available as it was earlier today (if you want to give this a try anyway let us know and we'll advise).

I'm not sure what else you can do other than continue the strategy in the post above as that goes up to your maximum bid. If that fails you can then try again for sub-sets of your stay:

10/11-10/13

10/12-10/14

After that, if you try for a 3*... which zones are you looking for? Maximum bid at the 3* level?

Although it may not be exactly what you're looking for, you can book the Hampton Inn Chelsea for the last two nites of your stay for $225/nite and you can walk from here to the Javitz Center. Then you'd only have one nite to deal with (and i'm still not sure if you could then have 'extra' money to play with in getting re-imbursed for the first nite of your stay and increase your bid)

Unfortunately rates are sky high for the first two nites of your stay and there doesn't appear to be much offered thru a variety of channels that i researched.

[Tbud]

Hey,

Thanks again for getting back to me. I can go up to $822 total for the three nights. Anything above that is not reimburseable - which at this point, doesn't seem to matter that much. I'm going to have to shell out above what my company will reimburse.

For the 3* option, I would go up to $274 (my reimburseable amount), same areas MTW, MTE, UM/CPS.

I'm thinking one night at a time might be the way to go????

This is my project for the day, so I'll be checking regularly.

Thank you so much!

[thereuare]

The nite of 10/11 is the most problematic of these dates... all that i'm finding for this nite is the Novotel for $354/nite. EDIT: just found the Comfort Inn Convention Center for $239/nite and is very close to the Convention Center. I think i would take this, not because it is the best hotel in the city, but because it will be very convenient to your intended destination (Javitz Center) and i don't think you're going to do too much better for this nite (but we're willing to help you try if you're not happy with this property).

You have a few options and i'm not sure which you will feel is your best route, so we'll try to outline them all and then we can proceed with a bidding strategy from there.

For the second nite there is a 3* on HOTWIRE in the Times Square district for just (in italics since it is a tidy sum for a hotel room but appears to be a GREAT deal for this particular stay) $200... believed to be the Crowne Plaza. If you purchase this and it does turn out to be the Crowne Plaza you then have another choice for the last nite....

You can book the Crowne Plaza direct for $329 so that you don't have to change hotels again (and the $200 rate for the first nite, combined with the Comfort Inn above makes this an entirely reimbursable stay) or you could take the Jersey City option discussed below...

The Jersey City Hyatt appears to be available again for the last nite of your stay for sub-$100... taking this will enable you to increase your budget for the remaining nites to ~$354/nite (if you didn't like the above options... although the two nites together at $354 i still think may pose a problem) and still be re-imbursed for the complete stay... plus it's a great hotel. There is a train by the hotel entrance which will take you to Downtown Manhattan in 8 minutes... midtown requires a transfer and is about 15-20 minutes. If this is not an option you can get a 4* hotel within your budget for the last nite of your stay but this leaves less/hardly any excess cash to 'move' to the other nites.

I think the best option is Comfort Inn (Quikbook) for the first nite and then trying the HOTWIRE hotel for the second nite, and then assuming this property is as we expect, book the Crowne Plaza for the last nite so you don't need to change hotels each nite. (if you go this route please use the links in this thread to begin each purchase (ie- if you decide to purchase a HOTWIRE hotel twice, please use the link here to begin each purchase)

Obviously you can try to mix/match... such as going with the Jersey City option for the last nite and then trying higher bids than you already have for the first two nites, but i think the previous paragraph may be your best bet.

Your thoughts?

[Tbud]

$265 per night, Grand Hyatt (near Grand Central).

[thereuare]

Did you buy this direct, use priceline, or HOTWIRE?