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Priceline Hotel: Help with 5* Venetian from 10/30/08 - 11/2/08


longshot
By longshot,
in

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Hi there.

I am new to the board too. However, I think just limiting the bid to the Venetian is tough enough, let alone the room type. I would actually like to know how to ensure that your bid is accepted by the Venetian. From what I understand, your bid is for all 5* hotels in that particular zone(North Strip), so you also have the possibility of getting Palazzo or Trump. Chances are that you will get Trump, from what I have read.

I wonder though, and this might help you, if you didn't start the bidding real low and it was acceptable to all three 5* hotels(Venetian, Palazzo, Trump), how is it decided which hotel that you get? Could you start the bidding a little higher to get the Venetian, then try the $20 trick to get your 4 person suite? That is a huge gamble though. You can't base the trip on hoping that the $20 trick will work. I am sure someone more experienced with PriceLine and/or Hotwire will help you out. Hope I gave you some help and some things to consider.

Thanks!

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Big thing is PRICELINE guarantees ONLY a room that will accommodate 2 people. HOTWIRE allows you to specify the # of people (3 will increase per/night price but no hotel will give you 1 king bed to accommodate 3 people so you're assured of 2 beds in a more upscale -- 4 or 5 stars -- hotel). Sometimes you can ask nicely, try the $20 trick or merely pay for the upgrade (often you will be asked if you want to upgrade for "X" dollars/night at check-in). But you're visitking over a popular weekend with Halloween and a national rodeo that will bring in lots of tourists.

As far as getting cute with the price, you are playing with fire. Priceline's business model is to offer you the room at its cost, as long as it makes its money back plus additional fee, so once you hit the minimum pricepoint, you are accepted. So if you prefer to get a 5-star at $125/night and begin at $160/night with hopes of Venetian, that will only work if Venetian's cost to Priceline is under $160 -- and you could get the Trump for $150 just as you might've for $125. And when you get to the Trump, the front-desk person won't have any idea what you paid or that you bid extra in "hopes" of an upgrade -- because Priceline pocketed the overbidding monies.

Again HOTWIRE may be preferable -- business model is different because it marks up its inventory by a set amount/percent (PL will well at cost because overbidders more than offset the at-cost winning bidders). Related to Hotwire, two identifiable Trump amenities are "non-smoking" and its lack of a "casino" icon. So if a Hotwire search shows a 5-star as a casino, it's going to be for sure the Palazzo, Venetian or Bellagio (Hotwire has the Bellagio more than Venetian from what I've observed)...and you won't be at the Trump. Finally, do your homework on the resopective hotels' websites, scour for promotional rates so that you don't overbid/overpay ona room type you could've had cheaper 9and with flexibility of canceling/changing up to 72 hours of arrival date).

Good luck.

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