Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC Airports (Airport JFK) Sheraton Airport

[pacificboot]

*** Sorry for the confusion, this is a priceline bid, not a hotwire bid, please feel free to move this to the appropriate thread ***

First, I just wanted to say how extremely useful this forum is, and thanks to all the moderators and whoever this started this.

Before today, I have never considered priceline, as I just hate the feeling of uncertainty. But one thing changed my mind. I was trying to look for airport hotels near JFK for a short layover before a morning flight. Looking at reviews, I was shocked to find out that the quality of hotels near JFK is very dismal and disappointing, except for the few good ones. The good ones are the 3 star listed on priceline, but they are all quite expensive, ranging from $215-300 per night. I sure am not going to pay that much for a layover hotel, so I decided to research the option of bidding, came across priceline and hotwire.

So here the the story of my first ever priceline booking! I hope everything turns out to be fine afterwards.

Bid 3 star for JFK hotel one night on 16 Dec for $90 - Reject

Did the same thing 24 hours later @ $100 - Reject, but ask to increase offer $22 - thank god I read the posts and tips on this forum that told me to not accept the counter offer and boy that was great advice.. see the following

Did the same thing, but added Elmhurst for $105 - Reject, but counter offer given, so I know that I would be close.

Final: Did the same thing, but added Flushing for $110 - ACCEPTED!!!! for the Sheraton JFK, which isn't even on the priceline list.

Final was $138 (include tax), compared that the the hotel rate of 305 (include tax).. it is like 55% off!

Some questions:

1) How come priceline hotels are better than hotwire for the same star rating

2) Why the specific $22, and usually for most people, how dare do you have to go up during the counter offer for a successful rebid

3) I was shocked to see 2.5 star for Ramada Plaza JFK, which Tripadvisor members gave it the worst ever ratings, even worst than Comfort Inn/Days Inn, but yet it has such high ratings. Even though that hotel is not on the priceline list, I was so close to specifying 2.5 star, before I saw Ramada Plaza JFK on the hotel list in this forum. It would really suck if I got that hotel, as I probably would book another one and forfeit that amount.

[dahammer]

welcome, and thanks for reporting your first win, hopefully its the first of many more PRICELINE wins to come! Once you've had a taste of success, its difficult to go back to paying full price again. Given the tough economy right now, I am seeing some of my lower bids accepted for midweek stays where in the past, these hotels were typically close to being full, and it would take higher bids to get a win.

although this is not scientific, I typically use HOTWIRE to gauge my starting bids, then use the "search" function on this board to research reported wins for the zone that I'm bidding. With HOTWIRE, you can pick out specific amenities and request a room for up to 4, so I suppose that the revenue manager of the participating hotel feels that this information is worth a premimum. With PRICELINE, you are taking more of a risk by not knowing all of the amenties upfront, so typically, the reward is a lower accepted bid. In rare circumstances, HOTWIRE is less than PRICELINE.

As far as the $22 counteroffer, this is sometimes $17, although I have not seen this in awhile. Can't say why PRICELINE selected this figure, but I have had counteroffers accepted for as little as a $5 raise, and rejected for a $15 raise. There is no rhyme or reason for this, so if you are doing a same day bid and are out of rebid zones, you might just want to accept the counteroffer. If time is on your side, you can re-bid within 24 hours, but understand that inventory changes and what is here today could be pulled off the table tomorrow and re-priced with a higer "offer" minimum price.....but in a day or so, it could also be put back on the "shelf" at a lower price too!

With regards to the Ramada JFK, I stayed here about 4 years ago and it was kind of worn out and the staff was probably the most indifferent that I've encountered, but this probably the closest and busiest hotel to the airport and it gets tons of traffic, room turnover is tremendous so it gets beat quickly. Its your call, but I would never forfeit any room without looking at it first, how bad can it be for a one night stay? It would really stink if you paid rack rate (around $200) for the Ramada.