Priceline Hotel: Early October Bidding Advice

[Kaskimondo]

We're traveling to SF on 10/2-10/10 and need some solid advice.

From doing research on here and elsewhere, looks like October can be a bit tricky since there are lots of conventions and events around town.

Budget is around $100 a night, hopefully less, but can go higher if pressed.

We'd like to get the Embarcadero area and want to know the free rebid zones for *4 stars. I know about Marina/Cow Hollow and Civic Center, anymore zones?

Also, do you guys think we will be able to get a room for 8 nights consecutively, or will we have to split? I only ask because I don't see many 8 night stays posted.

With the past experiences posted on BB as a guide it seems like a few weeks before our dates is when hotels may release rooms to priceline after all of the rack rate travelers have dwindled. Do you think this trend will continue this year, or should I start bidding now?

Thanks!

[Colfax]

It's true some of the better deals are happening closer to travel dates, like within a week or two, but for select dates we're also seeing good deals booked months in advance.

If your travel dates are firm it's not too early to try for October now and see what's out there.

The only way to find out if $100 will be high enough, or if an eight day stay can get accepted, is by bidding.

You've got three rebid zones for 4* in SF. You named two (Marina-Lombard and Civic Center) and there's one more. Your rebid zones are those that ONLY have hotels of lower quality than you're seeking.

See if you can ID the third zone on your own. Go to Priceline's SF home page. Click the zones one at a time and see which zones ONLY have less than 4*.

If you'll post the third zone's name here and someone will confirm. Ask if you're having a problem.

Then someone will offer a bid strategy.

Please use this PRICELINE link for your purchases.

[Kaskimondo]

Thanks Colfax

From what I can tell it seems like either South San Francisco or Fisherman's Wharf don't have four star choices. Is that right? Please confirm.

[Colfax]

You got it, Kaskimondo!

I wrote above that there are three rebid zones for 4* and I was wrong. There are actually four rebid zones and you've named them all now.

I suggest $80 for a 4* in Embarcadero-Financial District. Then raise $5 per rebid, up to $100.

Please start your bid with this PRICELINE link.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

[Kaskimondo]

Thanks for the confirm and advice, Colfax. Looking forward to our trip and I hope we get some nice accommodations.

Will definitely post details of our win here.

[thereuare]

As far as "when to bid" see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Colfax]

Will definitely post details of our win here.

Have you bid?

[Kaskimondo]

Have you bid?

Yes, I bid up to $105 for the last 3 days with no luck. Tried splitting the bid for the weekend only up to $100 and didn't get anything yet either. I'll keep at it and hopefully we'll get lucky. Thanks.

[thereuare]

Are you bidding only the Embarcadero zone? At what point (in time) would you consider raising your bid and/or adding other nearby zones? What were the subset dates that you tried bidding for?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us updated.

[Colfax]

Yes, I bid up to $105 for the last 3 days with no luck. Tried splitting the bid for the weekend only up to $100 and didn't get anything yet either.

When you say you bid up to $100 "for the weekend" what dates do you mean? Your eight-night stay includes parts of two weekends.

HOTWIRE has a 4* in Embarcadero for 10/2-10/4, your first weekend, at $135. At $100 you might be within $10-15 of a PRICELINE win in Embarcadero for those dates.

HOTWIRE also has a 4* in Embarcadero at $153 for all eight nights, so a PRICELINE win for all eight nights is possible too.

[Kaskimondo]

Are you bidding only the Embarcadero zone? At what point (in time) would you consider raising your bid and/or adding other nearby zones? What were the subset dates that you tried bidding for?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us updated.

Yes, only bidding Embarcadero. Might consider bidding other zones the week before we arrive.

When you say you bid up to $100 "for the weekend" what dates do you mean? Your eight-night stay includes parts of two weekends.

HOTWIRE has a 4* in Embarcadero for 10/2-10/4, your first weekend, at $135. At $100 you might be within $10-15 of a PRICELINE win in Embarcadero for those dates.

HOTWIRE also has a 4* in Embarcadero at $153 for all eight nights, so a PRICELINE win for all eight nights is possible too.

I bid on the first weekend dates to see what would happen. Did 3 & 4 nights with Embarcadero and all the free rebid zones, nada.

Yes, I'm also thinking that I'm very near the price, maybe $10-20 away, but I'd like to pay around $100 if I can help it. As the date gets closer, maybe we''ll up the bids just to make sure we can get a win

Thanks for the help.

I'm using the PRICELINE B link.

[thereuare]

It takes some time to bid, but when trying to split the bid i usually try to get as many nites as possible, rather than splitting arbitrarily. I also make sure i get at least half the nites on the first bid, so applying this to your stay i would be trying the following date combinations:

10/2-10/10

10/2-10/9

10/3-10/10

10/2-10/8

10/4-10/10

10/2-10/8

10/5-10/10

10/2-10/8

10/6-10/10

Keep us updated and let us know if/when you want to change your bidding parametes, zones, etc, or how we can be of further help along the way.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your purchases.

[Kaskimondo]

So...I tried bidding everyday since my last post, weeks of bidding. NADA.

I tried all kinds of combinations to win a room. Bid up to $120, split the dates, added Union Square East and West, SOMA and even lowered the star rating a few times and tried for Fisherman's Wharf, no luck. I kept watching the rates on Hotwire, Priceline and other sites as well as on the hotel sites. I really wanted to get either the Hyatt Regency, Hilton Financial or some other comparable property.

The rates stayed very steady for our dates on Hotwire and Priceline, fluctuating up a bit and then down and then going up again. But unfortunately, never lower enough where I thought I would get a win within the price range we wanted for eight nights. It's basic math. If the price is too high you'll never get the 30-50% off deals if you don't bid the right amount. And the "right" amount was unfortunately, too high.

Luckily we got a room on 1800hotels.com for around $120 an night for the Hilton Union Square and booked it last week. A day later, that rate vanished. Like I said, luckily. I figured we had until Tuesday to bid and cancel if we won a better deal, but that didn't happen. Before securing the Hilton we looked at some VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) properties. Some of them were very attractive but as you would expect for this time of year, BOOKED. And the ones that weren't booked were either slightly above what we wanted to pay or had dates for only a partial stay.

Not wanting to waste a few hours or more checking out of one place and into another to save a few dollars, I figured it would be easier and hassle free to just stay at one property for this trip since we have so much stuff planned everyday. So I am glad that we got the Hilton for our week in the city!

And so...what did I learn from this experience? I learned that if you want to visit San Francisco in October....BID EARLY. It's one of the busiest times of the year for the city as far as events, conventions and for people who like to be in town for Indian summer. I hope my simple experience can at least help a few other people who are looking to come to San Francisco this time of the year and want to get a deal of a hotel.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up and 'closing' this thread with your results.

Glad you found something reasonable what works well for your plans during this busy time of year.

Enjoy your stay.