Priceline Hotel: Need bidding help with 3* Philadelphia suburb Plymouth

[123slb]

Bidding for 1/5/07 thru 1/7/07 Philadelphia suburbs Plymouth Meeting Norristown, 3-star. After checking out relevant posts, discerned Marriott Philadelphia West (Conshohocken) is the only 3* property, and I want only it. Started bidding last week at $38, adding free rebid zones of Horsham then West Chester, raising by $2 each time. Caught on to bidding A, A+B, A+C, A+B+C to maximize attempts, but am now at $58 without success. That's near my max budget; I'm hoping to get two nights for the price of the one I can afford. Hotel website shows availability for $119 and I've booked a cancellable reservation for 1/6/07 as a backup. Using Savingsbarn for each attempt.

Question: When A fails, I get a screen offering immediate rebid, but after adding B zone, I can't eliminate B to try A+C before A+B+C. I've been starting a separate bid and when it fails, then rebidding all three. Is this the only way to maximize rebids?

Question: Should I try bidding just 1/6/07 since it's the night I must have, and then see if I've enough dough to try a separate bid for 1/5/07 as well?

Question: Is it advisable to resist opening up a profile for the bidding? I've been avoiding it based only upon my inherent distrust of who benefits from registering, but it's time consuming to reenter all my data twice minimum daily.

Thanks muchly for any and all help.

[dahammer]

the Marriott is a great property with close proximity of the city, maybe this hotel has not released inventory to Priceline.

Question: When A fails, I get a screen offering immediate rebid, but after adding B zone, I can't eliminate B to try A+C before A+B+C. I've been starting a separate bid and when it fails, then rebidding all three. Is this the only way to maximize rebids?

yes, you need to close your browser and re-access Priceline (as you have done previously)

Question: Should I try bidding just 1/6/07 since it's the night I must have, and then see if I've enough dough to try a separate bid for 1/5/07 as well?

no harm, no foul in this strategy, but you may have to increase your budget if you want 1/05 with no guarantees that you will be successful in bidding for this one night.

Question: Is it advisable to resist opening up a profile for the bidding? I've been avoiding it based only upon my inherent distrust of who benefits from registering, but it's time consuming to reenter all my data twice minimum daily.

not advisable, Priceline tracks your IP address or something that is beyond my comprehension :) Some folks get a spouse or a friend to bid using a different computer and credit card.

Have you considered dropping down to 2* or 2.5*? Some of these properties are in Plymouth Meeting, maybe 5 mins from the Marriott, but they are all decent properties : Residence Inn, Courtyard, Spring Hill Suites, Summerfield Suites. You might be successful at <$50 per night.

Not sure if your trip involves going into Philly, but the Holiday Inn City Line is maybe 8 miles away towards the city and it was recently added to the list.

Good luck!

[thereuare]

Marriott Philadelphia West (Conshohocken) is the only 3* property, and I want only it

A note of caution... as per the message at the top of every priceline hotel list on the board, this property may be the only reported hotel in this area, but there could be other 3* hotels at this star rating and you could be the one to add a new hotel to the hotel list for this area.

I use a profile to sped up bidding and have no problems/issues with it... you can elect NOT to receive promotional emails from them if you'd like.

[123slb]

Thanks for the help! I definitely forgot that it's a risk to assume Priceline won't add a new 3* in my preferred zone. I do remember to start by making sure my rebid zones haven't added 3*.

dahammer: Because my question was worded poorly, I'm confused. Allow me to try again: Do you use a profile?

Don't think I'll lower the star rating because I like the Marriott brand and the Residence Inn is actually booking for a higher price on their website than the Marriott. No one has reported receiving the Courtyard recently, have they?

I'll keep plugging away and report back! Oh! Nearly forgot to ask: Do I post an accepted bid on this topic or do I start a new one?

[thereuare]

Keep all posts for this stay in this thread... if/when you ultmately succeed we'll adjust the topic title to reflect the win (and if, for example, HOTWIRE is used, we'll also move it to that forum if necessary)

[dahammer]

dahammer: Because my question was worded poorly, I'm confused. Allow me to try again: Do you use a profile?

Absolutely! I have my credit card on file and probably made close to 100 successful bids (and 500 unsuccessful bids) with no unwanted spam and no problems. I have been receiving a survey a day or so after my hotel stays which I usually delete. I could not possibly re-enter all that information for each bid.

PS, your question was fine, after all, thereuare knew what you meant!! :)

I'm not sure if the Courtyard has been reported recently, you may want to use the search feature of this board.

Finally, just because the Residence Inn has higher conventional rates than the Marriott does not mean that they will require higher bids. Just understand that when bidding on Priceline, you must accept any hotel at or above the minimum star rating you have selected. The revenue manager at the Marriott may have decided to not use Priceline to unload room inventory for your dates of travel, but the Residence Inn, for example, may want to fill some rooms with Priceline.

Other than the obvious reasons for wanting to stay one night in a 3* Marriott vs. two nights in a 2.5* or 2* property, why are you focused on this hotel?

[123slb]

Friends recommended this property and may join me there using Marriott points.

Tried again for both nights and quit when $60 failed. I forgot to ask whether people who switch computers and credit cards report success when they were previously denied for the same price. I could try that, too.

Is it a valid strategy to repeat a bid for the dollar amounts that have been denied recently? I'm asking whether there is any hope of success if I keep trying right up to travel time using numbers within my budget.

Thanks again to both of you for the green light on the profile! going to save some major keystrokes. :)

[dahammer]

Friends recommended this property and may join me there using Marriott points

a great reason to target this property, BTW, it has a nice bar/lounge for drinks. :)

OK, so here I go again offering unsolicited advice....this property charges $10 to park and requires 20,000 Reward points for a one night stay :) Personally, I would never burn off this amount of points if I could pay the $119 rack rate or if I could get one of the other ID'd 2.5* or 2* properties for around $50 or so. AGAIN, there are no guarantees that you will get one of these ID'd properties, there could always be a new hotel for the list, and you could be the first to get it.

Is it a valid strategy to repeat a bid for the dollar amounts that have been denied recently? I'm asking whether there is any hope of success if I keep trying right up to travel time using numbers within my budget.

the only way that you will get your $60 bid accepted is if the revenue manager at a 3* hotel in your zone offers room inventory to Priceline at this price or below. As your dates get closer, the Marriott may offer rooms to Priceline, but the hotel could start to fill up with conventional reservations and withhold inventory, you just don't know for sure.

as with every auction, stick to your budget, don't go over it

[123slb]

Thanks for the advice, which I'll pass along. Bid up to $64 for Sat. only and got nowhere, did same for Friday only (what was I thinking?) also failed. :) Should have realized before tonight that I might still save money off the $119 I've reserved, so I'll use greater increases. Tomorrow's a new day.

[123slb]

Since my last post, I continued bidding for the 2-nite stay up to $85 a night but was rejected every time. Tried Friday only, no go. Tried Saturday only, no go. Final bid was placed on 1-4-07 at $95, but rejected. Didn't go any higher since I wanted to keep the flexibility of having three in a room and upgrades to concierge level with the $119 of my reservation. Don't think it would have mattered how high I bid, anyway!

Couldn't believe how empty the Marriott was during my stay! They are renovating the lounge and restaurant (which will reopen late February under a new name). Got to see the Mummers Parade and catch up with old friends, so that's that! It was 72 degrees in Philly on Saturday! :)