Priceline Hotel: 4* NYC (MTE) InterContinental The Barclay

[balrogget]

Hi,

After searching on flight+hotel sites for the above dates, then checking the reviews on tripadvisor et al., I was a bit concerned at some of the reviews of hotels at the cheaper end of things. I then came across Priceline and this forum and I've regained some hope of getting a decent place to stay at an afforable price!

I haven't been to New York before so I don't have any specific requirements, so some advice would be greatly appreciated. The kind of place I would like would be convenient to the usual tourist attractions, subway, etc. and handy for getting home after a night on the town. I had worked out a maximum budget of $170 a night for seven nights, including all charges etc. However any savings on this would leave more for spending on having fun! I'd be looking for a double room for two people. I'm not very strict about star ratings, so long as the place isn't a roach motel and the room has a private bath I'm happy. Mind you, the other half would probably be delighted to get a more luxurious and famous place, so if it were possible to get a 4* at or below this amount it would be fantastic.

I've only just discovered these hotel bidding sites, so I have only a vague idea of how it works. Any advice on how to translate the above into a bidding strategy would be a great help.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

We'll be glad to help... in addition to the information you've already provided we will need to know your date(s) of stay in order to begin researching this.

[balrogget]

Whoops, just had the date in the subject only.

The dates are 22nd to 29th October.

[thereuare]

Sorry 'bout the dates... i missed it in the title.

With NYC hotel tax being almost 14%, and Priceline/Hotwire fee adding a few dollars per nite to your nightly cost, i think your maximum bid is going to be about $145/nite. I think it will be tough to have success at that rate, but we'll be happy to provide a strategy if your parameters are firm.

Some suggestions:

-Would you consider SPLITTING YOUR BID? Priceline requires your bid to be high enough to win each nite individually, regardless of the averge cost. Since this is a 7 nite stay and most hotels will likely have multiple rates over that time frame, it will make things tougher if you require a seven nite consecutive stay. You may have better luck trying to piece-meal this together, staying at 2 or 3 different hotels throughout your stay. If this is an acceptable plan, how many times are you willing to change hotels?

-Stay in Jersey City (NJ). It will likely cost you half as much of a NYC hotel room and is only a 15 minute train ride away. The train runs 24/7, although less frequently in the wee hours of the morning, so if you plan on staying out until 2am-3am you'll need to keep an eye on the train schedule as just missing a train and having to wait on the platform for the next one gets old real fast. This is a great alternative to NYC but you do lose that intangable feel of "NYC non-stop action".

-Stay in Jersey City for part of the stay and in NYC the other part. Save some money by staying in Jersey City a few nites and then increase your budget for the remaining nites in which you stay in NYC.

Let us know how you want to proceed and we'll supply an appropriate strategy.

[balrogget]

I hadn't considered staying in Jersey City before, but if it's that accessible round the clock it sounds like a good idea. I'd prefer to stay put in one hotel as long as we can get back easily enough at night. Looking at the Jersey transport web page, the PATH train is at 1/2 hour intervals at night, is that correct?

I looked at the info for the Hyatt and being beside the PATH station makes it sound ideal.

What is the likelyhood of being able to get that particular hotel, or could you end up with one that's far from a station?

[thereuare]

The zone is larger than PATH-proximity, although all hotels that have thus far been reported are very close to PATH stations (either the Newport station or the Exchange Place station).

The PATH does run 24/7, but as i said above, if you stay out until the wee hours of the morning a 5-10 minute wait seems much longer. During the day it runs every 10 minutes or so, late at nite it runs every 15 minutes, and at 2am it begins to run every 30 minutes (there should be a link to the schedule in the other thread on the board).

Since you have never been to NYC before, i would recommend staying in Manhattan for at least part of your stay... you will get a different experience than staying in NJ for the entire time. However, if budget is more of a concern and staying in Jersey City the entire time will enable you to do more things in NYC, then it is worth it.... but you may be disappointed having to leave the city every nite to get back to your hotel (especially since it sounds as if you will be staying out late).

We'll supply the best approach to whatever you decide is the best for you, but i had to give my thoughts once more that, in my opinion, you should stay directly in Manhattan for at least a couple of nites.

No matter what you decide, we will include a strategy to try to stay in NYC for the entire stay, but if the less expensive alternative of Jersey City is more appealing to you (due to the price) let us know and we won't bother with a bidding strategy for Manhattan first.

What airport are you flying into (and where are you coming from?)

[balrogget]

I suppose then that splitting it might be a good idea, best of both worlds so to speak. From what I read before, weekends are cheaper? If so, then maybe the Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th/Monday 25th might be best for Manhattan?

I'm flying into JFK, from Ireland.

[thereuare]

OK, i have done a lot of checking on this one....

This is what i think you're 'fall back' should be via Hotwire (don't book this yet!):

10/22-10/25 in NYC

4* MTE @ $225/nite (believed to be the Inter-Continental The Barclay: REVIEWS)

or

3* MTC @$197/nite (believed to be the Park Central: REVIEWS)

10/25-10/29 in NJ

2.5* Jersey City @65/nite (believed to be Candlewood Suites)

I believe that even after taxes and fees the above will bring you below your average of $170/nite.

If the above makes sense you to as a 'back-up' we'll take the next step and provide the Priceline strategy in order to try to beat the above figures for the similarly rated class hotels.

[balrogget]

That sounds brilliant.. Thanks.

[thereuare]

Given the above scenario, would you rather go with the 3* or the 4* hotel for the beginning of your stay... this will give us a bidding limit to use in a Priceline strategy.

Let us know and we'll post a strategy.

[balrogget]

Well, the 4* if I could get it. Is it possible to drop down to a 3* if unsuccessful?

[thereuare]

Yes, i just didn't know if you prefered the 3* since it was a little less expensive then the 4*, so here is what i would do:

First, search Hotwire for 10/25-10/29 to make sure that a 2.5* property shows up at $65/nite... but don't buy it yet! We're just making sure that it is offered to you so that we can be reasonably assured of getting it after the you're successful with the NYC portion of the stay. This is important since we're bidding over your budget in the assumption that we can get the less expensive Jersey City hotel for later in the stay.

Next i would proceed as follows with Priceline:

When bidding 4* in NYC you have two re-bid zones, when bidding 3* you only have one, if you're not familiar with re-bidding please read PRICELINE REBIDDING EXPLAINED and ask any questions that you may have.

This is how i would bid:

Select 4* MTE for 10/22-10/25 and...

Bid $160, if rejected add MTW and....

Bid $170, if rejected add UM/CPS and...

Bid $180, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $190, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $200.

If the above is rejected close that browser and re-access Priceline however you did previously.

Select 3* UM/CPS for 10/22-10/25 and...

Bid $140, if rejected add MTW and...

Bid $150, if rejected add MTE and...

Bid $160, if rejected add re-bid zone and...

Bid $175.

If the above is rejected you can then either wait 72 hours and try bidding a bit higher OR you can go with one of the 3* or 4* Hotwire offerings mentioned above.

Let us know how the above goes and then we'll take the next step for the Jersey City part of the stay.

[balrogget]

When you say "add re-bid zone", what are you adding there?

[balrogget]

I opened the list in Hotwire for Jersey, is Hoboken - Jersey City the area I'm looking for? If so there is a 2 1/2 star there.

[thereuare]

Re-bidding is adding a zone that only has hotels that are rated lower (and not equal to) the star rating you are bidding. You should read PRICELINE RE-BIDDING EXPLAINED which also explains how to determine the highest star rated hotel in each zone.

If this is your first time using priceline or the re-bidding technique, confirm i recommend you confirm your re-bid zones with the board before bidding. If you're confused about re-bidding just say so and i'll walk you thru an exercise that will make it clearer.

Is the Jersey City 2.5* offered at $65/nite?

[balrogget]

If I understand this correctly then, I would work as follows:

Select 4* MTE for 10/22-10/25 and...

Bid $160, if rejected add MTW and....

Bid $170, if rejected add UM/CPS and...

Bid $180, if rejected add *another zone with 3* or less maximum* and...

Bid $190, if rejected add *another zone with 3* or less maximum* and...

Bid $200.

I would check the *other zones* above with priceline by starting over as if creating a new bid, listing what star level a particular area has, even if I have no interest in staying there and bidding in the original screen with a 3* or less area?

Have I got this right? Sorry for being pedantic but I don't want to make a mistake!

The Jersey City 2.5* thru hotline was:

Hoboken - Jersey City - See map

Selected amenities include: Fitness Center, Kitchenette, Laundry Facilities (self-service). View complete amenity list and description

$73 per room, per night.

[thereuare]

You got the re-bidding correct, but i would suggest going thru the exercise now of seeing what star levels are available at each zone... you can post here which zones qualify as your re-bid zones and we'll confirm it to make sure that you have it right. Then, right before you bid, you should double check your re-bid zones just to make sure that no new hotels have been added or upgraded (and this is why want to make sure users know how to do it themselves, rather than just say 'add zone XYZ', because the 'status' of the re-bid zone can change from the time we type to the you bid... it's not common, but it can/does happen).

[balrogget]

I got:

MTE: 5*

MTW: 4*

MTS: 4*

SoHo: 4*

UE: 3*

CPS: 4*

UW: 2.5*

So if I were to go for 4*, the zones I can re-bid on are UE and UW. Is this right?

[thereuare]

You got it :)

So as far as i can tell you're ready to go for the NYC portion of your stay, if there are any other questions feel free to ask.

Let us know how it goes.

[balrogget]

I hit a bit of a snag - when trying to register my address, it requires me to pick a state. The problem is I don't live in the states! Most sites have an "international address" option but I can't find one on Priceline. I wonder what other people did to get around this? I'll try mailing priceline support as well.

[balrogget]

Oh no! I found the following in Priceline's help pages!

Can I place a request if I am not a U.S. resident?

You do not have to reside in the U.S. to place a request; however, the credit card you use to purchase your tickets must have a U.S. billing address. Travel requests may be placed using an American Express, Discover, MasterCard or Visa credit card.

My card isn't to a US billing address! Am I totally lost?

[WillTravel]

Look here:

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?act...T&f=174&t=6243&

It seems American Express cards have the best track records with this.

Mastercard usually works, but some people have reported problems.

I have problems with my Canadian VISA, but someone else reported success with their German one (I think).

If worst comes to worst, you can bid through Priceline.co.uk .

[balrogget]

> If worst comes to worst, you can bid through Priceline.co.uk .

This would work, but is there an advantage to tweaking your details to get the US site to accept it?

[WillTravel]

Two advantages to using the US site:

You can use affiliate links. (E.g. SavingsBarn.com supports the board.)

US hotels enter their rates in the database in US dollars, so you can be more precise in your bids and not worry about exchange rates.

[balrogget]

Ok, I put in the details to the US site and started bidding.

Sure enough I was offered Intercontinental The Barclay, at $190 a night.

But as soon as the screen appeared, my PC bluescreened and rebooted! I didn't know if I could retrieve the booking again - this didn't help my stress levels any!

But when I reconnected, I found the bid details were emailed to me so I got it back again. Phew!

Ok, so how do you think I should proceed with the NJ part of it?