Priceline Hotel: Bidding Strategy for Intercontinental-Downtown Miami

[kpet]

Does anyone have any bidding tricks to get the Intercontinental in Downtown Miami? I would like to stay there for 1 night this Friday, the 19th (going on a cruise the next day). The going rate on every sight I have seen is $199 for that time. I was just afraid that since you never see many wins for the Intercontinental, and usually wins for the Hyatt, that I might end up with the Hyatt.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[slick_gd]

There are no tricks with PRICELINE to get a specific hotel. It's purely 100% chance. You may be able to identify the hotel on HOTWIRE based on the amenities but even that is no guarantee.

If you really want the IC and are not open to other possibilities, you are better off booking directly through the hotel.

[thereuare]

Have you tried searching HOTWIRE for your dates?

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

[kpet]

I have been checking HOTWIRE (going through the links on this site) and the only 4 * that comes up appears to be the Hyatt (downtown- with amenities of fitness ctr, pool, restaurant, business center and hi speed internet), for $104/night.

I know someone who bid on PRICELINE for a one night stay for a last minute cruise over the 4th of July weekend (don't know if they went through this site), but he bid $65 for a 4 * Downtown Miami area and was accepted, on the first bid.

The Hyatt is showing rooms for $129/night on most other sites, so I was afraid that if I started my bidding in the $60-70 range, I would most likely get the Hyatt. When I saw someone post a win for the Intercontinental, this past weekend for $105 (even though their dates are different than mine), it made me wonder if I started my bid at $105, if I would be more likely to get the Intercontinental?? Of course, my luck would be, I would still get the Hyatt, and have paid more money than necessary! Has anyone had any experience with this?? I know it's all a gamble and there are no guarantees...just wondering.

[slick_gd]

Personally, I would advise against bidding higher to get a specific hotel. This is something that has been discussed on the board and you should probably read this topic: Don't Bid Higher for a Specific Hotel.

Generally you are taking your chances and there is a high chance that you may end up bidding that extra $40 for nothing. Is the minute chance of getting the IC really worth that risk? And what if you get a completely different hotel all together?

If you are dead set on the IC, really, the best way is to book directly through the hotel. You may want to do this so that you have it as a backup (which you can cancel at a later date) and then periodically check HOTWIRE to see if the amenities that show up match the IC.

[kpet]

Thanks for your advice slick gd. After reading Don't Bid Higher For A Specific Hotel, I decided not to bid on PRICELINE with the hopes of getting the Intercontinental. I did as you suggested, called the hotel direct but could not get a better rate than the $199, even being a Priority Club member. I did however, take a chance on LastMinuteTravel.com. One of the OFF THE RECORD properties description fit the Intercontinental to a tee, with the exception of they had it listed as a 5 star property. The rate was listed as $141.82, and with tax and fees totaled $164.51, and my gamble paid off, and I got the Intercontinental Miami! So, I am happy to have gotten the hotel I wanted and although I am not saving as much as I could have bidding on PRICELINE, I am saving about $60 over what all the other sites offered.

By the way, I did try to access LastMinuteTravel from the link provided on this site on the Support/Travel Links page, but it would not connect for me. I checked on every link on that page and didn't have a problem connecting except with that one. I don't know if anyone else has had that problem or if it is just my computer? But I tried! :)

[thereuare]

Glad you found the hotel you were looking for and at a discount.

Sorry about the LastMinuteTravel and EasyClickTravel links... they've suspended their affiliate program but we're trying to contact them regarding a work-around which is why we haven't take the links down yet.

Thanks for the update and have a great stay.