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SEA Bidding


Rimo
By Rimo,
in

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It was 7 days a few years back, then was changed to 72 hours.

Very recently (in the lasst 2 weeks or so) it was chagned to 24 hours... so you can re-bid 24 hours from the time of your last rejected bid.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Hotwire rates for your dates, per day:

Compact $46.34

Midsize $49.17

Standard $55.95

Extremely high!

PRICELINE will usually beat HOTWIRE, but $18 is way too low. Unless you can find something better with a conventional booking I'd suggest trying about $32 or $35 on Priceline next.

I thought your problem might be an 8 day booking so I checked HOTWIRE for 7 days instead of 8. That didn't help. Rates are about the same for 7 days or 8.

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I feel your pain! I'm in the same boat. Trying to get a car from 7/28 - 8/8 in SEA. In the past, I have consistently had bids of $12 - $18 for mid size cars accepted in SEA.

However, I'm getting rejected at $25 for these dates. It's a combination of Summer (high season in SEA), and their big festival - SeaFair, at this time.

When successful, I

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OK now that I am staying DT SEA.. I am cutting my car rental to 5 days.. 7/22 - 7/27. Save on rental and parking. :)

Here are today's bids:

$26 Rejected

$28 Rejected

$30 Rejected

Maybe Colfax knows what he's talking about .. LOL .. just kidding .. Thanks

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Maybe Colfax knows what he's talking about .. LOL
No! Never! :)
Is it possible to bid for cars at off airport locations?
Priceline allows "Name Your Own Price" bidding in Downtown San Francisco now, in addition to at SFO airport. In Seattle it's still Airport only though.

I'm trying to get a car in Sacramento myself next week and the conventional rates there have suddenly shot way up, at least for my dates. I haven't checked other dates. I'm used to getting Priceline bids accepted around $15 for compact in Sacramento and today I'm getting rejected up to $25 for economy, even for the weekend dates only, which are usually the cheapest.

I wonder if the rental companies recently jacked up their Priceline and Hotwire rates across the board?

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Sometimes with longer rental terms like yours....8 days...it's just one or two high demand days that are causing the problem. With HOTWIRE you can sometimes isolate which days are the issue.

In your case checking all 8 nights on Hotwire I find a rate of $49.17/day for midsize. That $49.17 is an average of daily rates all over the place though, from $31 to $95! Checking rates one day at a time, again for midsize, I find this:

7/22 $95

7/23 $95

7/24 $95

7/25 $34

7/26 $31

7/27 $31

7/28 $57

7/29 $57

Your first three days are obviously much more expensive than the rest, and to get accepted your Priceline bid will need to be high enough to win the most expensive days. (PRICELINE doesn't average across multiday stays like HOTWIRE does.)

Two different approaches you could try are:

1) Bid 7/22-7/25 and 7/25-7/30 separately on Priceline. The last five days are probably cheaper. Of course you'll have to drive back to the airport on 7/25 to exchange cars that way, which is a nuisance. And you might get accepted for one set of dates but not the other.

2) From your other hotel thread I know you're staying Downtown your first four nights. Could you take a cab or shutttle to the Westin on 7/22 and go without a car the first three days? You'd be eliminating the most expensive rental days and also the Westin's steep parking charge.

(edited to add: Scratch Approach #2. I see now that you're staying in Downtown Seattle the LAST four days of your trip, not the first four days. You're driving to Portland for the first four days. I don't know what else to suggest now really.)

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Seems as though Priceline will not work for me this time. I have secured a rate at Budget (Bellevue) for the 8 days for $308.38.. factor the $30 cab ride there and 338. At $32 on priceline name ur own price with fees comes to $399. Budget allows airport drop off with no additional fees so I think thats the best I'll be able to find. Thank you both for your time and guidance. I feel much better about using Priceline and have learned much in the process.

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