Priceline Hotel: looking for hotel in September

[fenway132]

I have used this board once before with some help in getting an Orlando hotel back in December and was hoping I could find some help / advice in looking for a hotel in Las Vegas in September.

I am looking to get away from September 9th to 13th

I would like to spend in the $100 per night range, be on the strip and would ideally like a hotel in the calibur range of the Mirage or above. (I pick $100 and the mirage as a starting point for a discussion as I am staying at the Mirage for $99 a night mid week in June but that is part of a conference package).

Does anybody have any advice on when and where to look?

Is it too soon, should I just book a flight and wait on the hotel?

Is this a good time a year to visit vegas (I see it is the opening week of the NFL season)

Last question, as a Canadian I used the fake address and matercard credit card as suggested on this board. Does this still work.

Thanks in advance for any advise

[thereuare]

Welcome Back!

First recommendation is to book a fully cancellable back-up, then book your flight. Rates in Vegas change more frequently than any other area that i know, so it's to your advantage to make a cancellable reservation. If rates go up your locked in at the lower rate, if rates go down you can change your reservation or cancel and book a lower rate at a different hotel. Most hotels in Vegas allow you to cancel reservations up to 72 hours before check-in date without a penalty (this may differ for web reservations, check the terms of anything you book before)

You're probably too early to book a non-cancellable rate. There are many deals offered thru Vegas but usually don't present themselves until 4-8 weeks before check-in.

One problem you may have is that your date(s) encompass Thursday-Monday. Rates for Friday and Saturday or often 2x-3x the rates for Sun-Thur. With Priceline your bid has to be high enough for each nite of your stay (so if rates for each day are $60, $120, $120, $60... a bid of $90 (the average of all the nites) would get rejected; it would take a bid of $120 to get accepted and you'd end up over-bidding for the Thur and Sun nites of your stay. Hotwire, on the otherhand, is usually bit more expensive than Priceline but may be better in a situation such as this since they average the price of the nites.

Are your dates firm? Ideal situation would be if you could adjust your schedule to be Wed-Sun or Fri-Tues. Doing so would enable you to SPLIT YOUR BID... bidding the less expensive nites together and the more expensive nites together. Of course this also opens the possibility that you'll have to change hotels once during your stay, which some people are willing to do and some people are not.

September is a great time in Vegas... in addition to football season the weather is great. Given both of these events you might expect to see higher rates than some other times.

[fenway132]

Thank you very much for getting back to me. I like the idea of trying to split the stay. My dates are some what flexible, but would ideally be a Friday to Monday.

My biggest concern (and please tell me if I am incorrect) is that there is no 4 1/2 star option with Priceline. So were I willing to stay at the Venetian, Mirage or Ceasars, there is no real way to bid for these. It's the Venetian or a whole host of 4 star hotels, some of which are actaully off the strip (i.e. the Westin).

I looked at the listing of hotels on the pinned list and there were only a few names. Are most Vegas hotels not users of Priceline? Would I be better off just searching the promotions of the individual hotels?

Thank you once again for all your advice and time

Dan

[thereuare]

I often (not always) find that users can often beat Priceline's rates at the 4* properties and the lists are 'thin' in this zone because most either hold out for the 5* Venetian or book thru conventional means for 4* properties since non-Priceline deals can often be had (see my Hotwire comment below)

Hotwire is a good option if you're looking at 4* properties, although many of them 'look' alike. However, if you are a gambler (and you are going to Vegas) Hotwire can often be your best bet at the 4* level if you find an opportunity to take advantage of a "Double the Difference Guarantee".

In light of the above, we actually have more Hotwire datapoints than Priceline in the Las Vegas strip area.