Priceline Hotel: newbie question- how far in advance to book?

[loobylulu]

Hello!!

I'm new here and new to priceline. I've just had to rearrange my holiday, I was supposed to be going to san francisco this month but have broken my leg so am not going anywhere! I've managed to rebook the flights to april 09 and therefore thought this could be a good opportunity to try priceline....

Do you get better deals the later you leave it? Or might I get something bidding now? We'll be staying for five nights, monday to saturday, before heading off to yosemite and las vegas.

I've been looking at 4* SOMA although would consider other areas so long as they were away from the Fisherman' Wharf madness :-)

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Lucy

[slick_gd]

Please read this thread: Should I Bid Early or Close to Arrival Date. Generally there is no consensus on whether bidding earlier or later is better because hotel rooms, rates, and availabilities can change at any moment depending on a number of factors.

One this is for certain though; do not book unless your plans are 100% confirmed as there are no refunds/cancellations.

[loobylulu]

Thank you very much, I'll take a look at that!

Lucy

[loobylulu]

Hi,

After reading the thread yesterday about when to bid i've been putting in some bids but they've all been rejected. I've been bidding on SOMA, USE and Embarcadero (popular areas I know) but I'm now bidding above what everyone seems to be winning for so can't understand why i keep being rejected... thought i'd see if anyone could shed any light.

I'm bidding for April 20th to April 25th 09 (although have tried just doing it up until april 24th in case the friday night is causing problems, we could leave a day before or get another place for one night), 3.5 star and 4star in the above areas. So far my top rejected bid is $133 per night/

[Gallus50]

I think you're probably just bidding too early. Hotels use Priceline to get rid of inventory they might not otherwise - at this point your visit is so far away, they can't possibly be feeling worried about those dates.

You should probably bid casually every week or so without worrying about it seriously until about a month or two before your visit. If you really want to have your reservations set much earlier, you may need to book conventionally.