Priceline Hotel: London 5* in Mayfair rejected

[Fred DeGrandis]

I went to Priceline today to try and bid on a hotel in the Mayfair/Soho in London.

I will be in London from September 7th-16th. I started @ 110, then used the rebid technique that I learned from this wonderful forum 4 times. I had my bid up to $145(before taxes), and still nothing.

Is it too early to bid for this?

I have seen others land 5* hotels in this area for less than 145, and the dates were in the same month!

Any advice or possible stratagy you can share?

Thanks,

Fred

[WillTravel]

There could be any number of reasons, but the fact you have a 9-night stay will make it a lot more difficult to win a bid. I can't say for sure it would help, but I'd consider splitting it into two stays. It's hard to know when the inventory will open up. If you do decide to split the stay, you could bid again right away.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

When bidding 9 consecutive days like this Priceline must have availability at that price for every nite of your stay... otherwise your bid will be rejected. So if there is just one nite within that time period with higher rates than you're bidding, you'll be rejected. Priceline doesn't look at the average nightly rate... so if rates are $90 every nite except one nite is $125... bids of $120 will be rejected (even though that should be enough if the nites were averaged).

Would you consider SPLITTING YOUR BID.

[Fred DeGrandis]

Any advice on how I should split my stay up?

Every 3 days or 5 & 4 etc.

Thanks again,

Fred

[thereuare]

I think you're going to have a tough time with this as the least expensive nites are in the middle of your stay (9/10-9/13) and i wouldn't bid those inclusive dates until i had secured the 'outside' dates first. Hopefully rates will come down as your check-in date approaches.

Once 9/7-9/16 is rejected, you want to bid by removing one nite off the beginning and if that is rejected remove one nite off the end. If that's rejected (think in terms of the original dates) try removing 2 nites at the beinning and if rejected try removing 2 nites from the end. Repeat this process until you are bidding for the first 3 nites or the last 3 nites. Here is the beginning of the sequence for your dates:

9/7-9/15 (one nite off the end)

9/8-9/16 (one nite off the beginning)

9/7-9/14 (two nites off the end)

9/9-9/16 (two nites off the beginning)

9/7-9/13 (three nites off the end)

9/10-9/16 (three nites off the beginning)

etc

etc

etc

If you have any questions regarding the above feel free to ask and i'll try to explain it further.

[tinnub]

I have been trying to snag a 5* Aug. 13-15 and have been rejected up to $120. As I have learned just be patient and inventory opens up. Once stay is broken up, you should be successful. Good luck.

[bridge2000]

I've been bidding for 9/14-9/16 and have been rejected up to $117. Received Priceline counter offer of $173.