Priceline Hotel: Vegas Oct 16-19

[Nasir]

Hey everyone, 1st time poster and had a few questions. I have read over all the tips and tricks ( love the $20 trick idea)

Here is my plan

Driving from Southern CA to Vegas Friday 16th - 4ish hour drive.

I want to stay in Vegas from Friday Oct. 16th ( night ) - Monday Oct. 19th (Afternoon) and drive back.

I want to stay in a 5* hotel for about 100.00 - 125.00 per night, I am starting early to see if I can get that type of deal. I read over the re-bid strategy for priceline and I am confused a bit, yes I did read over all 3 pages but I still don't understand how it will apply to a 5* in Vegas.

If I start my bid at 100.00 and check zone 6 ( it has everything from 1-5*) and I get denied, can I bid in zone 5 ( same as 6 1-5* ) and get a bid attempt in? Is my price even rational for that type of hotel? My total budget just for a hotel room would be around 400 inc. tax. + fees. maybe a bit more if I get a 5*.

From what I understand on the re-bid process I would have to bid for a 5* get denied then add a zone that ONLY has a 4* as its top hotel then re-bid with the same price or a slightly higher price. Is that correct? Does that mean that I might get a 4* and not a 5* ( I assume so ) if accepted.

Some of the zones I would try out:

Zone 5 - 1-4*

Zone 6 - 1-5*

Zone 7 - 1-5*

Zone 9 - 1-4*

I don't need a car, I will be driving as stated, and I don't need a flight well since I will be driving. I don't mean to be repetitive just putting all the information down I can.

Some of the hotels I wanted into are:

Venetian

Trump

Palazzo

Thanks in advance.

-Nasir

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

I'm guessing your budget will fall a little short considering your dates include weekends, but perhaps if you increased your maximum budget to $120-$125 you'd stand a better chance, imo. However, before the particulars of a bidding strategy, let's get you up to speed with re-bidding...

First, it's easier to follow if you use the names (as labeled by PRICELINE) of the zones instread of the zone numbers... off hand "zone 6" doesn't mean anything to me, but if you mention that it's Strip North, Strip South, West of Strip, etc. i know exactly what we're talking about.

I think you're about hafl way there wil re-biddig... usually if you place a bid and it's rejected, you have to wait 24 hours until you're able to make that same bid again, unless you're willing to lower your star rating (usually not desirable), change your check-in or check-out date (often not possible), or add another zone. So if you're bidding for a 5* hote and it's rejected, you can keep your bidding at the 5* level, add another zone that doesn't have 5* hotels (since you know you can't win a hotel in this new zone, since there are no hotels there which meet your minimum star rating threshold), and increase your bid a little... essentially bidding the same zone as your original bid, at a slightly higher price, but not having to wait 24 hours to do so.

For example:

ZoneA = has 1* - 5* hotels

ZoneB = has 1* - 4* hotels

Let's assume you select ZoneA, bid $100 and are rejected.

You then add ZoneB (so now your bidding ZoneA and ZoneB, keep your minimum star rating at 5*, and increase your bid slightly. If you are successful you know it will be in ZoneA since there are no hotels in ZoneB that are rated 5* or higher... so essentially it's like bidding ZoneA again, but at a slightly higher bid. You would want to increase your bid slightly, since if you were rejected at $100 in ZoneA a few minutes prior, you'd also ceratinly be rejected again 2 minutes later if you simply tried $100 (the same bid) again.

Let us know if this makes it any clearer and if you have any additional questions... we'll take it from there.

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

[Nasir]

Thereuare,

Thank you very much for clearing it up for me. I will adjust my price range from 100 to to 150 + fee + tax, max per night, and see if that helps me out. I will def use the sites links just because the amount of information that I have gotten. I am going to start my bidding of a 5 start hotel at 125 and see what that gets me if not I will add an additional area and see if i can increase my bit a bit, what do you suggest my next "step" should be? Should I increase my bid by $5.00 / $10.00 ect? I want to be able to make sure its still in my budget yet still pay for the rest of my plans, ( I plan on asking my girl friends parents over dinner if I can have my girlfriends hand in marriage). I will keep you guys updated with my bid history and win when I complete it on friday!

Thanks!!!

Nasir

[thereuare]

To confirm, you're ok with the Trump as an outcome, located slightly off-strip and has no casino. (Note there is a $15 resort fee per nite at this property, so consider this witih your budget as well) Assuming you're fine with this, i would bid as follows:

At the 5* level you have NINE re-bid zones. If you're not familiar with re-bidding please read Priceline Re-Bidding Explained and feel free to ask questions and/or confirm your re-bid zones with the board before proceeding.

Select 5* Strip North...

Bid $90, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $110, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $130, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone...

Bid $140.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck (with the bidding and with the girlfriend's parents) and let us know how it goes.