Hotwire Hotel: 3.5*\3*Tucson East 12/27-31 Hotels offered

[blindman]

I'm looking to bid on Hotwire (for the first time) for Tucson (as above) taking the advantage of their $10.00/night offer (expires 25th October)

I've researched the possible hotels from both PL and HW and am ideally looking for the Sheraton (lots of facilites + FREE breakfast)

Yes I know the hotels are not guaranteed but from the data on this excellent site

I am fairly confident with the possible outcomes.

Presently the hotels offered are probably the :-

Hilton (Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Business Centre)

Radisson (Suite, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Golf Nearby, Business Center)

for around the $42.00 rate which, with the $10.00 discount is lower than the 'lowest' PL rate ($33.00)

I'm working on the assumption that if I check HW daily, the list of offered Hotels MIGHT include the Sheraton as it is second lowest in the price range. (The Sheraton is available on the Packages for these dates.)

I'm also assuming that given the rates for the dates then a PL bid would probably result in the Radisson.

Think that's a good strategy??

Cheapest rates for the dates.

Radisson $76.00

Sheraton $99.00

Doubletree $119.00

Hilton $128.00

Lastly :) Do you think there could be a PL bonus money e-mail in the offing, as it's a while since the last one -because that could mess up my strategy !!

[thereuare]

To have the Sheraton appear on your search i think you would either need:

1) Hilton to raise their rates (or pull their inventory)

or

2) Sheraton to lower their rates

Nobody knows for certain when Priceline will offer a round of Bonus Money.

[blindman]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm working on the assumption that if I check HW daily, the list of offered Hotels MIGHT include the Sheraton as it is second lowest in the price range. (The Sheraton is available on the Packages for these dates.)

Think that's a good strategy??

Is it??

I'm confused as to why Sheraton is not being offered as it has LOWER rates than ther Hilton.

I'm also assuming that given the rates for the dates then a PL bid would probably result in the Radisson.

Agree?

Nobody knows for certain when Priceline will offer a round of Bonus Money.

Any chance of an educated guess? Do they have Autumn sales or is their business in need of a boost??

Thanks again for your time.

[thereuare]

Thanks for clarifying.... i didn't get the message from your original post that the Sheraton was less expensive than the Hilton.

The Sheraton has come up in the past in the hotel-product, but it is possible that they no longer do (or choose to not offer inventory for this set of dates for the hotel product but do offer it for the vacation product). Since the costs paid to Hotwire are likely different for the hotel product and the vacation product (as the hotel product is a true opaque purchase, while the vacation product is not opaque at all and more similar to a 'traditional' booking vehicle).

Other possibilities include the hotel already selling their allotment of Hotwire/Priceline rooms OR not releasing inventory to Priceline/Hotwire until closer to check-in date. Lastly, the rates for Sheraton and the Hilton seem to be very close... and although Hotwire's system is designed to show the least expensive hotel available, hotels that are only a few dollars apart from each other in price (it's unknown what the 'few dollar' threshold is) are treated equally for search result purposes and are shown randomly... so there is a chance that after your current 'cookie' expires you may be shown the Sheraton on a similar search.

While receiving the Radisson on a priceline bid would be a likely outcome, i wouldn't make that purchase and expect it. There could always be hotels that don't appear on Hotwire that do appear on Priceline... thus having the 'priceline-only' hotel come in at a lower rate than the Hilton. As well, as you can see with the above hotel vs. vacation package scenario, things are not always clear-cut and 'black and white'.

I have no idea (or guess) regarding if/when the current Priceline bonus money will be offered. Some have speculated that the offers traditionally come at the end of a quarter, but i have never looked into this aspect so i don't know if that's a valid conclusion or not.

[blindman]

Thanks for the time and patience to my question "How long is a piece of string?"

I have learnt a little as to how Hotwire works from this board and your reply.

Thank you again.