Priceline Hotel: Help with Niaga Falls, ON 8/12-8/15

[Stan]

Hi,

I would like help in bidding for a 4* or 3* hotels in Niagara Falls, ON or St Catherines. Bidding dates: Aug. 12 through Aug. 15. First bid at $55 for 4* Niagara Falls area was rejected. How much should I start my bidding for 4* and for 3*? What brand hotels are listed for 4* and 3*? The alternate dates: Aug 19 through Aug. 22.

Thanks.

Stan

[thereuare]

Before adding a bidding strategy... is the NY side of Niagara Falls an option as well? You can see a map of the NY Niagara Falls zone by entering 'Buffalo, NY' into the Priceline city text box.

The hotels that we're aware of can be found in the PRICELINE CANADA HOTEL LIST or if the NY side is an option as well you can also look at the NEW YORK PRICELINE HOTELS list.

[Stan]

Hi,

Thank you for you quick reply. Yes, Niagara Falls, NY can be an option ( PL areas: Niagara Falls, NY or East Niagara Falls, NY).

Thanks.

Stan

[thereuare]

I think that the NY side will be less expensive than the Candadian side so i would start there.

East Niagara Falls' highest rated hotel available is 2* so i'm thinking that's probably not going to be an option for you. When bidding 3* Niagara Falls (NY) you have two re-bid zones available. I would start with

3* Niagara Falls (NY)....

Bid $40, if rejected add re-bid zone and....

Bid $45, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $50.

If that's rejected i would the turn to Niagara Falls Canada where you have one re-bid at each the 3* and 4* levels.

4* Niagar Falls Canada...

Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $75.

If rejected try for 3*...

Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $73.

Some board members know this area pretty well and i'll open it up for them to reply also (not that they need an invitation from me to do so).

[Stan]

Hi,

Firts bid at $65 Niagara Falls, On 4*. Bid rejected. Next selected 3* at $60. Rejected.

Used back button to first page, selected St Catherines (Thorod) 3* at $65. PL said it was duplicate request.

Used back button to first page. Selected Niagara Falls, NY. Fist bid $40 3*. Rejected. Button for Niagara Falls, NY was greyed out. I used the back button to go back to first page and selected East Niagara Falls, selected 3* bid $40. I got the following statement from PL " Your request has already been submitted & received. It is not possible to make any changes to a request after it has been submitted."

In your reply, you said to "re-bid zone". How do you do that? After my first bid was rejected, the selected area was greyed out. The only option available was to select a lower star rating. Am I missing something?

Thanks.

Stan

[thereuare]

Using the back button is not a good idea on any website that you make a purchase as it can very easily mess up any session id's that are hidden in your browser... my guess is that's what happened in your instance. You may be able to go to Priceline now and select both the Niagara Falls area and the St. Catherines area and have the bid go thru (it appears to me that a bid for both zones was never actually submitted as it was rejected as a duplicate).

On the rejection screen near the bottom Priceline gives you the option of adding zones and/or lowering your star quality and/or changing your dates of travel. If you're unfamiliar with re-bidding you should give this thread a read: BIDDING AGAIN BEFORE 72 HOURS. Ask any questions that you may have and/or confirm your re-bid zones.

[thereuare]

Based upon a recent post i've taken another look at this stay and before you bid it... are you willing to SPLIT THE BID?

I think it's the Saturday nite that is holding you up. By splitting the bid i think you may be able to get the first two nites cheaper and then pay more for the last nite (but keep in mind you may get a different hotel for the last nite which would involve you changing hotels).

[Stan]

I tried bidding on different dates (Sunday 8/15 through Wed 8/18 and Wed 8/11 through Sat 8/14)) without any success. But I only bidded up to $67 for 3* or 4*.

During the rebid, the Niagara Falls area was greyed out, if I rebidded by just changing the dates and price, was I still rebidding for the Niagara Falls area? Is this true for the star also (rebid by just changing the dates)? I noticed that I rebidded for St. Catherines even though I did not select that area.

If I selected 2 areas at the same time (Niagara Falls & St. Catherines), and St. Catherines' highest star is 3, if I selected 4*, does that mean I only bid in Niagara Falls area only?

Thanks.

Stan

[thereuare]

I tried bidding on different dates (Sunday 8/15 through Wed 8/18 and Wed 8/11 through Sat 8/14)) without any success. But I only bidded up to $67 for 3* or 4*.

Was this for Niagara Falls NY or Niagara Falls Canada... or both?

During the rebid, the Niagara Falls area was greyed out, if I rebidded by just changing the dates and price, was I still rebidding for the Niagara Falls area? Is this true for the star also (rebid by just changing the dates)? I noticed that I rebidded for St. Catherines even though I did not select that area

It depends if the box is only greyed out OR if the box is greyed out and there is a checkmark in it. Priceline wants you to add a zone to increase your chances... not add a zone and remove an existing zone, so they grey it out which does not allow you de-select a zone (although you can close the browser, re-access Priceline however you did previously, and then start over essentially de-selecting the zones you don't want to bid). You're only bidding for the zones that have a checkmark next to them. Are you sure you were bidding for St. Catherines also? The official name of the region is St. Catherines-Niagara Falls and the zone within that region that you were bidding is Niagara Falls. You may have seen St. Catherines-Niagara Falls listed as the region and thought that you were bidding on both.

If I selected 2 areas at the same time (Niagara Falls & St. Catherines), and St. Catherines' highest star is 3, if I selected 4*, does that mean I only bid in Niagara Falls area only?

That's exactly what re-bidding is all about! :) However, i don't think the following applies to your bid but you (and others reading) should be aware that Priceline has the option of upgrading you to a higer star quality. So for example, if you are bidding 3* you should not add a zone that only has 2* and 4* hotels (no 3*) because Priceline could upgrade you to the 4* hotel which would be in a zone that you really dont' want and only added so that you could immediately bid again.

Please let me know if the $67 that you bid up to for various dates was only for Canada or if it was for the NY side also.

If you are still having some trouble navigating the bidding process and have AOL Instant Messenger or Yahoo Messenger i can work out a time with you to walk you thru the process on your next bid, inputting the same thing on my screen as you are on yours (up to the point of actually placing the bid) in 'real time'. If you'd like to do that send me a PM.

[Stan]

Hi Thereuare,

Sorry for taking so long to reply.

To answer your first question, the bid price of $67 was for Niagara Falls, Canada only. My bid price for Niagara Falls NY was in the $40's as you suggested.

Priceline only showed 3 areas for Niagara Falls, Canada: Niagara Falls; St. Catherines - Torold; and West Niagara Falls (the last area was not an option).

Because of schedule change, I am no longer planning to go to Niagara Falls. I sincerely want to thank you for your offer to help me in the bidding process. I will definetely need your help to get a hotel room in Charleston, SC (between Sep 15 and Sep 18). I will post my question in the appropriate area.

Thanks again.

Stan