Priceline Hotel: 4* Las Vegas (South Strip) MGM Grand

[We R PSU]

Hotel rates for this midweek (check-in Tues 10/30 and check-out Fri 11/2) are very high. There is a large convention (SEMA 130,000 people). My wife and I will be traveling with another couple and need two rooms in the central or south strip area. We are looking for a 3* or 4* (Westin okay) and are hoping to spend less than $1000 total (inc tax and fees). I will be booking our back-up at Imperial Palace for $1182 (inc tax and fees). Any help/advice would be appreciated.

[thereuare]

...hoping to spend less than $1000 total (inc tax and fees)

How much is this per room per nite before taxes and fees?

[We R PSU]

On PL this would be about $147 per room per night.

[thereuare]

At the 4* level you have two re-bid zones (NOTE: Summerlin is not one of them). 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* Strip...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $135, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

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

Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $145.

I don't think it's "safe" to try for 3 star properties as you'll then likely end up in a non-central part of the strip. If the above is rejected (which i think is more likely than not) i would suggest raising your limit to the amount of your back-up.. at least then you'll be paying the same price and upgrading the star quality of your hotel (and i think the chances of success increase as well... HOTWIRE has a 4* hotel Central Strip for $193/nite).

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[We R PSU]

Thanks. I agree with not bidding 3* and we are not too unhappy with Imperial Palace (just the price). We will likely earn some comps at Imperial Palace that we won't get at a 4*. I was putting 3* as an option in case anyone knew of non-PL deals at this time.

I have done free re-bids but I'm not sure what you mean by "close your browser and reaccess priceline however you did previously". It looks like this will get me one extra bid. Is that correct?

[thereuare]

Yes... you need to "close the browser and re-access priceline however you did previously" since you can't "uncheck" a zone... so this gives you a clean slate (although duplicate bidding restrictions still apply) to unselect a zone.

[We R PSU]

I understand.

I did bid this last night before I understood how to get the extra bid. My bids were $125, $135 and $140 - all rejected. The first bid was countered with $216 That makes me question if I'm in the ballpark with $147. I wil keep trying and let you know how it goes.

[We R PSU]

I bid to $155 with no luck. I guess we will stay with the IP. I may try closer to the date and hope some convention rooms become available. Thanks for your help.

[We R PSU]

I have bid this upto $155 several times with no success. Each time I have bid my first offer was countered with $216 or $218. The 4* Central Strip on Hotwire was $172 this morning, $1,134 total. Although this would be an upgrade and cost about ~$45 less for the enitre stay at IP, the crew I'm traveling with wants to hold out for a bigger bargin before locking in with PL or Hotwire.

Does it make sense to continue to bid this every few days or is the PL inventory pretty well established? Does the Hotwire price drop make it more likely that PL would have inventory? Does a PL counter offer make it unlikey they have inventory in the $145 range?

Thanks for all the help.

[thereuare]

Does it make sense to continue to bid this every few days or is the PL inventory pretty well established?

Las Vegas inventory/rates probably changes more frequently than any other hotel market in the country... so rates do change frequently.

Does the Hotwire price drop make it more likely that PL would have inventory?

I'm not sure what the price was previously. Since HOTWIRE uses a variable mark-up, small price changes are not significant... larger price changes can be meaningful.

Does a PL counter offer make it unlikey they have inventory in the $145 range?

If they had inventory at the $145 area your bids would have already been accepted.

[We R PSU]

The previous price for the Hotwire 4* Central was $193 - roughly an 11% drop. I will keep bidding every few days. Thanks.

[mrxow]

There is a site called fairfieldgetaways . They are part of a timeshare program. They have an affiliate program, too, and kick back ten bucks to sites that send people. If you are willing to do the usual 2 hour timeshare presentation at some point during your trip, they offer 3 nights midweek in a 3 star, often in that area, for $199 and give you 50 bucks in casino chips, too. The Imperial Palace is a place they set people up in. Tuscany Suites, too, is just a little further off than the Westin and is apparently an option. While that may be a busy week and they might not have availablity, they need new meat every week and they block out rooms to feed their sales machine... If you are willing to deal with the sales BS, you might want to give it a try.

[We R PSU]

I wanted to take one more shot at a 4* for this trip. It looks like PL has changed zones since I last bid. Does that require a different strategy? BTW - I saw this same stay won for $95 at MGM on 10/24.

Thanks

[thereuare]

Plenty of options now available at $150 and under.

Assuming the North and South Strip zones are both still acceptable, and using your two re-bid zones, i would try as follows:

Select 4* South Strip...

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

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

Select 4* South Strip and re-bid zone2...

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

Bid $100.

Select 4* North Strip...

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

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

Select 4* North Strip and re-bid zone2...

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

Bid $100.

Select 4* South Strip and North Strip...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and re-access priceline however you did previously.

Select 4* South Strip and North Strip re-bid zone2...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $120.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[We R PSU]

Followed above advise and bids (through Savings Barn) of $85 to 105 rejected. Accepted at $110.

Mgm Grand Hotel Casino

Las Vegas Strip Vicinity South

Check In 10/30 - Check out 11/2

Your Offer Price Per Room, Per Night: $110.00

Subtotal: $660.00

Taxes & Service Fees: $82.48

Total Charges*: $742.48

Thanks for all your help. Hopefully my beloved Lions will knock OSU down this weekend.

Thanks again!

[dahammer]

Hopefully my beloved Lions will knock OSU down this weekend.

Me too :)

homecoming weekend and home field advantage but you won't see the blue sky at 8:00 pm :)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your win!

Glad we could help and that you're happy with the outcome.

Thank you for sharing your results with the board and for using the SavingsBarn.com PRICELINE links to begin your bidding.

Have you chosen a sportsbook to watch the game at yet? One of my favorite memories in Vegas was spending a College Football Saturday at one of the SportsBooks.

[We R PSU]

Hammer - it is good to see the Lions have some Big 10 support on this page :)

Thereuare - we will not be there over the weekend. Unfortunately my son got chicken pox, so I will not be going to Happy Valley for the game either. :)

Thanks again for all the help.