The Official Tiki Bidding Strategy

[Tiki]

This requires a lot of time and research so it is probably only useful to those who enjoy the game/challenge/strategy aspect of Priceline as I do. I can't be the only one who gets a rush while waiting for the PL computer to search hotels and give their answer! If you are in a hurry and just want to book something and go, it is not for you. But at least it is a game everyone can win by the money they save!

1. Know the purpose of your trip and your bottom line. If you are going to be out sightseeing all the time, maybe all you need is a place to crash at night. A 2* or 3* would be enough. If this is your 2nd or 3rd trip and you have already seen the sights and want to relax and be pampered you will be happier with a 4 or 5* or resort. Look at the average of other people's bids in your city for each star level. For example in Waikiki, people are currently getting 4* for $90-95, 3* for $52-60 and 2* for $42. Big gap between 3 and 4*, BTW-a 3.5* category would be nice! Consider incidentals such as parking and if the commonly used hotels are near public transport or do you need to hire a car/taxi? In Waikiki, the only 3* in a suitable location for us was booked by a convention so we knew we wouldn't get it. The others were some distance from the main bus terminal. The 4* Prince was only 5 min from the bus terminal but at current rates would have cost $329 with taxes and fees. Although 2*s are not commonly sought after, someone had gotten the Ohana Maile Sky Court for $42 and that came to $148 including taxes and fees. For an extra $181 in pocket I am prepared to walk a little bit further to the bus station.

2. Research past history on this board at the time your are travelling to determine seasonal fluctuations. When do prices tend to be high and when do they start to drop? Still looking at Waikiki, I noticed that last year the Prince went from $85 before Easter to $75 plus $10 PL bonus then to just $75 about a week after Easter. So I held off bidding until after Easter, then started bidding at $70 up to $82 with free rebids-no luck. It could be the nearby conference affecting my particular dates, others may still get it for less on different dates. Even if I had gotten it for $75 that is $261 incl taxes and fees so I had to decide do I want a posher hotel or more money to spend on activities? In this case $261 - $148 came to $113. To put that into perspective-if you use Entertainiment Book you can get admission to Polynesian Culture Center and Alii Luau for 2 people for $131. I chose to spend on activites for this trip.

3. Start monitoring both hotel websites and online agencies like Expedia for hotel prices as far in advance as possible. I have noticed that in Hawaii, rates tend to be seasonal and don't fluctuate too much. They set their rates at the beginning of the year and have an "internet special" which they will pull if the hotel books up early. This is what happened with Rennaissance Ilikai-a 3* Waikiki north used by PL and my original preferred target. If they don't have an internet special, they probably won't be giving inventory to PL on those dates. You can also use Hotwire as a gauge if you are able to identify hotels by amenites offered. But PL is always cheaper in the end than HW so I don't know why HW doesn't get a clue and lower their prices! If hotel rates seem really high for the season, check if there is a conference or major sports event in town for your dates.

4. Use PL vacations to determine which hotels participate with PL and where they rank in relation to each other in their * levels. I have noticed that for Waikiki, PL almost always assigns the cheapest hotel showing in vacations for hotel bids. The few times that didn't happen, (someone got Beachcomber instead of the usual Radisson for 3* south zone), the Radisson wasn't in the vacation package list for that day so either it was sold out or their website was down. Beachcomber is a wildcard for Waikiki since it doesn't seem to participate in vacations. Before I bid, I checked vacations to see which hotels were cheapest and got 4* north-Prince, 4* south-Marriott, 3* north-Ohana Waikiki Village, 3* south-Radisson Prince Kuhio, 2* north-Ohana Maile Sky Court, 2* south-Park Shore, 1* north-Polo Inn, 1* south-Aston Honolulu Prince. These 1* hotels cost more than the 2 stars so I knew if I bid 1* I would get upgraded. The Radisson location didn't suit me, couldn't afford 4*. Ohana Waikiki Village location was OK, but it didn't have a spa pool, Maile Sky Court did and location wise was equal to the Village but cheaper so I set my target at 2* Ohana Maile Sky Court.

5. To determine my bid and get rock bottom price. OK, target set and previus bidder got OMSC for $42. I have plenty of time so last Sunday started at $38-reject, added Ihilani and tried $40-reject. No more rebids so wait 72 hours. Last night tried $41-reject, added Ihilani and bid $42 and got it! Target-Bullseye! And I can be absolutely sure I didn't over bid even by a dollar!

6. Thoughts on rebids-I did have a few tries at the 4* Prince before changing my mind and going cheaper. Don't just bid what everyone else gets it for-in this case $95. If you have 3 free rebids and you are bidding 4*--3 x 4 = 12 so you would be pretty safe to start your bid at $12 less than the "going rate" and raise your bid by 1$ per star level for each free rebid. So if you want the Prince, start at $83 and raise each rebid by $4-you may get lucky! If you have heaps of time before your trip it doesn't hurt to throw some real lowballs in-you may really get lucky and if you don't you have time to wait out the 72 hour lockouts and try again. I tried this with bids between $68-82-wasn't lucky. You win some, you lose some and in the end I was happy with what I got.

So there it is, I hope this will be of some help to others looking for hotel bargains and thanks to all the administrators who provide this forum so we can all learn from each other!