Priceline Hotel: 5* Las Vegas 12/5 - 12/8

[mcremata]

Hello... Looking ideally for Palazzo (but understand the Venetian is possible too with North Strip bid) and like others hoping to avoid Trump. My dates appear to be more expensive than others who have recently posted, such as 11/24 - 11/29 @ $79 (Palazzo win) and the 12/11 - 12/14 Venetian win @ $139...

Any thoughts, strategies you might share with me prior to my bidding would be appreciated. I've never bidded in Vegas, never BEEN to Vegas, so a bidding strategy would be great. Thanks!

[slick_gd]

Unfortunately there is no way to minimize your chance of getting any particular hotel with PRICELINE. There is always a chance that you may get the Trump regardless of what other people have won, so before you start bidding you have to consider this.

Is staying at the Trump a deal breaker?

What is your maximum bid per night (excluding taxes and fees)? There are seven re-bid zones for a 5* in Vegas so there are many chances to get the best price.

[mcremata]

thanks for the reply... i understand fully that there is no guarantee that i won't get Trump. i'm an experienced betterbidding.com participant, just not in vegas ;-)

the rack rate is $219 for a room at the palazzo, so my max would probably be $150. anything above that and i wouldn't want to risk not getting what i ideally want. what do you think my chances are? what would be the best strategy? thanks!

[slick_gd]

Are you familiar with the permutation approach on the third page of this thread Priceline Re-Bidding Explained posted by Skeet?

I don't know the exact number as I haven't worked it all out, but with 7 re-bid zones I would assume there are well over 40 combinations to bid Vegas within 24hrs, which would allow you to start from around $70 (which is a little lower than the lowest price I see for a 5*) up to your $150.

[mcremata]

yes, i'm familiar... after checking the hotwire site though, i see that trump is the only 5* that comes up and the price is $155 for my dates. my feeling therefore, is that i would likely wind up w/ trump if i bid north zone. do you agree?

[slick_gd]

I wouldn't make that assumption. HOTWIRE and PRICELINE are separate sites and hotels may use each differently and sometimes one and not the other, so I would not try to compare what is available on one to the other.

Also, HOTWIRE only lists 1 hotel per star rating in each zone at a time, so while the Trump may be showing now, it is very likely that it could be a different hotel tomorrow, or even in a couple hours.

The one thing that I would assume is that since HOTWIRE is listing the Trump for $155, you are likely to win a 5* hotel on PRICELINE for less than that since the deals are typically better on PRICELINE than on HOTWIRE.

[mcremata]

ok. thanks for your thoughts... question... since the rack rate at trump is less than palazzo and venetian for my dates, and keeping in mind that trump does participate in priceline in the same zone as palazzo and venetian, is it not true that more likely than not trump would be the priceline win. i know there are no guarantees, just looking for what you think is probable.

[slick_gd]

Then that would be assuming a correlation between the rack rate and the rate that the hotels put into PRICELINE. Rationally I could see how that would make sense, and I would probably think that way too. But then if you look at what has previously been won in the zone, the Palazzo comes up a little more often than the Trump, and I would think that the Palazzo is more often more expensive than the Trump, so that negates that fact.

Too many possibilities and too many ways to rationalize.

[thereuare]

There is no correlation between the hotel with the lowest retail price and the hotel you will receive thru PRICELINE.

I haven't seen the Venetian or Palazzo appear on a HOTWIRE search for a few weeks, even when searching for dates where the Venetian and Palazzo has been won on PRICELINE. This isn't to say that you won't received the Trump, but in the last few weeks i haven't seen the correlation that you're trying to see between the two services.

With this said, for a first time trip to Vegas, i dont' think i would want to stay at the Trump with it's off-strip location. I've been to Vegas a few times so wouldn't mind the location so much, but for a first trim trip, i would want to be located directly on the strip.

You could book the Venetian or Palazzo thru HERE for $232/nite and $225/nite respectively, and it includes:

*$50 Gaming Credit per suite/per stay

*$50 Beverage Credit per suite/per stay

*Complimentary Line Pass and Admission to Lavo Nightclub per suite/per stay (max 4 guests)

Personally, i would either make the decision to pay the price for the Venetian or Palazzo (please use our i4Vegas link if you go that route) or go for a 4* hotel which you can identify on HOTWIRE... in Vegas, especially for a first trip, location is just too important. Of course if you could get a steal for a 5* and it ends up being the Trump then it would be acceptable, but i would be cautious bidding up to some figure such as $150 as the savings woudln't be worth it (to me) to stay off the strip like that.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. (or our i4Vegas link)

Let us know your thoughts and decision and we'll advise accordingly.

[mcremata]

Thanks Thereuare for the help. I actually took your advice and booked the Palazzo directly. The price actually went down a bit in the past couple of days to $193 per night + the $100 voucher. FYI, the Veneitian is even a bit cheaper by $50. Would have bid, but too scared to wind up w/ Trump. Hope the place is nice...