Priceline Hotel: 3* Pittsburgh (University Center) Wyndham Garden

[travelAlot]

No surprise here given the posting history. 1st clue that this was likely was Hotwire showing a $52 rate yesterday (and amenities matching the Wyndham), with the Wyndham being somewhat cheaper and/or more available vs the Holiday Inn Select on various travel sites (only other 3-star in this zone) and also more frequently a winning property. Got a bit nervous this morning when the HI Select was the Hotwire 3-star showing at $136 or so, so went to work as had a plane ticket that's cancellable by midnight tonight. Preferred the University area because of its centralness (some of the downtown hotels are on the outskirts and Pittsburgh can be desolate on weekends) and the Wyndham's location on the rapid transit line (even from the airport).

Pretty much a textbook bid:

** $39 1st bid (lowest accepted nightly bid amount for this property that I could find in last year or so)

** Rejected but with a $50 counter-offer. My experience has been that success will happen if about 1/3rd of a counter offer is added in a rebid or a bid that's around 85% of the Hotwire price -- so knew that $42-43 was in the ballpark.

** Used all three free rebids at $40, $41, and $43 (coulda gotten greedy at $42, lol, but wanted to nail it down today vs rebid tomorrow).

** Accepted at $43

Went through the SavingsBarn link. Not bad considering that Wyndham's cheapest prepaid rate is $153, cheapest best available/corporate rate is $169 for the dates of my stay -- my winning bid is even 1/3rd of the cheapest $126 AAA rate. Just thought I'd pass this along.

PS Sorry about the headline. I forgot that there are limited # of characters... it cut off "$43, 5/5-5/8"

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win... looks like a great rate.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and for starting your bids with the PRICELINE links at SavingsBarn.com

Enjoy your stay.