Priceline Hotel: San Diego Questions

[ccgolden]

I just have a couple general questions. I have used priceline before for trips to Pittsburgh and Providence and been very happy. My husband and I are planning a trip to San Diego and neither of us has been to California before. Our primary reason to visit is to go Petco Park to cross another ballpark off the list. We are planning on being in town June 1-June 6, 2008.

When is a good time to start bidding? I guess what I am asking, does it make a difference if you bid early or wait until closer to June? All of my priceline stays have been for one night. Can you bid for 6 nights?

What can we realistically expect as in pricing? I am not really sure of the area. We will be flying in. I am basically looking for a hotel that is convenient to downtown, but it doesnt necessarily have to be downtown. I dont need anything fancy, I am planning on spending this vacation seeing the area because I am sure we wont ever be back. We would probably like at least a 2 star hotel. What is the best price that anyone would think we could get?

Thanks so much for your ideas and help. I really appreciate. I just stumbled upon this website and LOVE it. I am so excited to try it for hotels close to home in Indiana too.

[Colfax]

Welcome to BetterBidding, ccgolden.

Here's a thread that discusses when is the best time to bid. If your travel dates are 100% firm you can bid now. If there's any uncertainty to your plans you should wait as Priceline and Hotwire reservations are noncancellable and nonrefundable.

When Should I Bid on Priceline?

Can you bid for 6 nights?

You can bid for up to 21 nights at once. (Your dates indicate a 5 night stay, not 6.)

Petco Park is in Priceline's Downtown zone Do you want to stay in the same hotel all five or six nights? Would you be willing to split your stay between two hotels if that meant getting a better price? Will you have a car? Hotwire usually costs more than Priceline but on Hotwire you can often identify which hotel it will be in advance and you might be able to identify a hotel within walking distance of Petco.

Offhand I'll say you might get a 3* Downtown on Priceline in the $65-100 range, but that's just an educated guess. I haven't actually checked rates for your dates yet and there might not be rooms available on Priceline this far ahead.

[ccgolden]

sorry about that...6 nights..June 1-June 7

Thanks for your ideas. I appreciate it

[thereuare]

Once you determine which zone(s) you want to bid, your minimum star rating (i'd recommend higher than 2 stars), and your maximum bid we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

[ccgolden]

Okay I think we have finally picked where we want to stay. We would like to check into a San Diego Hotel on 06/01/08 and check out on 06/06/08. I thought the Del Mar Area looked nice, especially since we are planning on going to LA one afternoon. I know you suggested to start at three stars. Any idea on price? I saw where someone got the doubletree for $52 a night? Can I expect that for a stay in June or is that unreasonable? Thanks so much for your help! Will you please add the link to use at the bottom also? I think it was savingsbarn.com, but I want to make sure.

[grram1]

We've bid San Diego successfully dozens of times over the last 6 years (it's one of our favorite quick get-aways... we're about 110 miles or so North of there). We've traveled the country the last 6 years using Priceline and Hotwire, and San Diego offers some great bargains on a fairly regular basis. If you book direct though, it can be an expensive town to lodge in (we've often times passed a Motel 6 advertising $80+/night on our way to a legit 3* that we won for $50-$75)! If you're primary purpose is the downtown/Petco park area I would suggest targeting a 4* downtown. One potential draw back to a downtown booking is that it most certainly will come with a $20+/night parking fee attached (which I USED to think was bad... until enduring parking rates in NYC and Chicago!!!). If your major concern is getting a deep discount you may want to focus on a 3* in the Mission Valley area (normally parking is free, some hotels charge a small fee there, this area is mostly used as a base for the amusement parks in the area)... there are tons of hotels there, so there's lots of competition for your dollar, and it's still reasonably close to downtown. On some of our trips we've targeted the Del Mar area (about 15-20 miles North of where you want to be) as it is beautiful, reasonably close, and offers consistently good savings on very solid 3* properties (Doubletree, Hilton, Marriott... all nice). As for timing... it really depends on the inventory at the time... we've bid successfully both early and late (bottom line is don't be impatient and bid more than you actually want to pay, maybe book a plan "B" direct and then bid patiently). The last couple of times that we bid the downtown or Mission Valley we found the deals got better as the dates closed in... in fact the last Mission Valley win we had I had bid up to $80 on a 3* (starting at $49 and going up from there) 8 days before our trip with no luck... with only 3 days to go before our potential trip I tried again (again starting at $49) and ended up hitting a nice Hilton for $60... so it appears that sometimes the hotels may not release their inventory until they're fairly certain they won't be able to fill the rooms. I've personally had good luck further out bidding the Del Mar area (they must have more rooms available on a more regular basis, thus release rooms to Priceline / Hotwire a little earlier). The entire San Diego area is wonderful... if you don't have to be downtown you may also want to flirt with the coastal zone... has some good 4* bargains and is breathtaking. Good luck!

[Colfax]

Great post, grram1! That will be useful info to many.

ccgolden,

In your first post you mentioned going to Petco Park. Are you going to a Padres game? If so you might enjoy staying at a Downtown hotel and walking to the ballgame, at least that one night. On HOTWIRE sometimes you can identify hotels near the ballpark from their icons, before you purchase.

Also, are you committed to staying at one hotel all five nights? Or would you split your bid, staying at two hotels, if that meant getting a lower total price? Your destinations are fairly spread out, from Petco to LA, and staying at two hotels might be more convenient, along with easier to win. But if you want five nights in DelMar we'll try to help with that too.