Priceline Hotel: 4* San Francisco (USE) Marriott

[mindleftbody]

I will be in town for a conference, with a bit of vacation time built in. This is the first time I've ever pricelined a hotel in SF, so I'm looking for all the help I can get. I am experienced with the process, just not with SF.

Some caveats with this time period:

I believe I saw that there was going to be a large teacher conference (max of 8000 hotel room conference) during the early part of my period. Ugh!

I'm willing to split the bidding into two different periods if it helps my chances. E.g., early period at Fisherman's Warf area, rest of period at USW or USE.

I can also remove the Saturday stay to increase my chances.

I would prefer a 4* (or 3* if need be) in the USW area, but I'm open to anything in the downtown SF area so long as I can get to the conference hotel, which is the San Francisco Hilton on O'Farrell in USW. I am willing to take BART to and fro.

Currently, major hotel website prices in this area are running $200+.

Suggested bidding strategies for the downtown area during this time period?

[thereuare]

Few questions...

What is your budget/maximum bid per nite for this stay?

Do you prefer to try for the entire trip in the USW or USE zone and then only add FW if you have to split the bid? (and if you do split the bid, is the USE or USW zones also acceptable for the first part of your stay... or just FW if you have to split?)

Is the conference accessible from anywhere in the shaded region of priceline's USE and USW zones?

You also mention Cathedral Hill and Civic Center in your topic title... but don't mention them anywhere in your post above. Given there are no 4* hotels currently offered in either of these zones, are these zones only in case you need to lower to 3 stars? (i'm assuming that you would prefer to try up to your limit for a 4* before trying for a 3*, is that correct?)

[mindleftbody]

Maximum bid is $100/night.

I would prefer to stay in USW the entire trip, but I'm open to adding USE and FW to split the bid. I would also be willing to stay in USE the entire time as well, but not FW.

It appears as though my conference (@ SF Hilton) is accessible from anywhere in the USW zone, and only the western parts of USE. Again, I'm not sure about the areas, but looking at the map it appears as thought it would be a long walk from the far east parts of USE to the heart of USW (SF Hilton). FYI, I only need to be at the conference hotel on Wednesday and Thursday of that week so I'm willing to walk a good bit those days if need be.

Yep, I don't know much about the area, so I added CC and CH simply to help in the bidding process. I would prefer to stay 4* and use these zones as rebids at least for the next few weeks of bidding. If 4*s aren't working, then I may seriously consider bidding down to 3*.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Let's just start with USW and we'll take it from there if/when that fails...

At the 4* level you have three 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* USW...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $70, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

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

Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $80, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* USW and re-bid zone3...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $90, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* USW and re-bid zone2 and re-bid zone3...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $100, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Let us know how it goes... if rejected we'll move onto the next step.

[mindleftbody]

thereuare, thanks for your help

What are the rebid zones 1, 2, etc, in SF for a 4*? E.g, is rebid zone 1 in this case CC and rebid 2 CH since they don't contain 4*s. What would be the 3rd rebid zone?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Have you read thru Priceline Re-Bidding Explained?

If so, and you're still confused, list each San Francisco zone and the highest star rating available within each zone as per this technique:

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. (NOTE: for most users Priceline has updated their interface making the above process easier... simply check a zone and note the highest star rating available within each zone, UNcheck that zone and checkmark the next zone, repeating the process)

We want to make sure you know how to figure out your re-bid zones on your own, as they need to be checked before each round of bidding to make sure that nothing has changed.

[mindleftbody]

Yep, figured it out. Thanks.

I tried the strategy for 4/14-21 and 4/15-21 with no luck. I'll keep trying periodically over the next week.

Thanks again.

[mindleftbody]

Since I noticed people were getting the Le Meredien in USE for a good rate, I thought I would give the same USW bidding method described above a try, except incorporating USE.

Bid Strategy for 4/16-21:

USE $65 Failed

USE & CH $75 Failed

USE & CC $75 Failed

USE, CH, & CC $80 Failed

USE & SSF $85 Failed

USE, SSF, & CH $88 ACCEPTED @ Marriott San Francisco Downtown

Your Offer Price: $88.00

Number of Nights: 5

Subtotal: $440.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $75.43

Total Charges*: $515.43

Cheapest rate for this hotel online at Marriott.com is $229/night, which means a savings of $705 on the rate alone for the 5 nights.

This works out nicely since the Marriott is very close to my conference hotel (Hilton near Union Sq.). I haven't bid for Sat or Sunday night yet since we may rent a car and drive up to Napa and areas north of SF.

Should I post this win in a new thread, or can someone change the thread title?

Again, thanks for the help thereuare. BTW, used the savingsbarn link.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win! (we'll edit the topic title accordingly)

Glad to hear of your success and that the hotel received works well for your plans.

Once you decide on your plans for the first two nites of your trip feel free to start a NEW TOPIC for that leg of your stay.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE links at SavingsBarn.com for your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.