Priceline Hotel: MIA Hotel booking help

[kevin347]

I am going to take a cruise from Miami. Cruise is from 27th Nov 2009- 30th November 2009. I am going to fly in to FLL on 26th Nov. My plan is to take a rental car from FLL and drop off at MIA. I am looking to book 2 rooms for 1 night from 26th Nov to 27th Nov.

On the day of cruise I am planning to drop off the car at MIA, take a taxi and go to the port for the cruise ( I belive port is very close by to the airpot)..

Can some expert suggest me which areas I should be bidding on and what price range? I am thinking about 3*+ Hotels. Since I have a rental car i guess i could stay little further if i can get a good deal..

Cruise comes back at 8 AM on 30th November and I am going to fly out from FLL on 1st December so I am going to stay 1 more day in Florida and planning to drive to Keywest. I will looking for a room for another night, I am not sure if pricewise it's better to book a hotel in Miami or in Keywest.

Also on a sidenote, I will be trying to book a rental car, picking up at FLL and dropping off at MIA. What are my options? Should I be posting a question on Rental car forums?

Please help..

Thanks

[thereuare]

First a comment on your itinerary...

The Miami Airport and the Cruise port are not that close (~20 minutes)... still about a $25 taxi ride.

How many of you are thre traveling?

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

[kevin347]

We are 4 people travelling..I am ok with the taxi cost.

[thereuare]

For the first leg of your trip, here are the considerations...

You stay Downtown, pack up the car and drive everyone else to the port, drop off luggage (and passengers) then go on your own (or with another person) to return the rental, then take a taxi back to the board. Keep in mind that after you drop off the others at the port you're looking at ~1 hour roundtrip by the time you return the car and get back to the port. At least this saves the hassle of loading the taxi with all your luggage.

You can stay near the airport to be close to returning the rental car on the morning of embarkation, then everyone travels by taxi to the port togethter. Airport hotels are usually cheaper than downtown and the group remains togethter for the entire trip, but depending upon how much luggage you have it may be tight with 4 adults and luggage in one taxi.

You also take a taxi/shuttle for the FLL to Miami leg of your trip for about $90, then just take a taxi from the hotel to the port in the morning (saving the hassle of making the roundtrip from the port to airport back to port). Assuming a car rental will be ~$50-$60 (all-in) plus the $25 from airport to port, you're looking at $75-$85 in transporation costs vs. ~$110 for taking a shuttle. For the extra $25-30 is it worth renting a car given the added hassle or getting back to the aiprort for the return? Also, you have the potential parking expense at the hotel if you rent a car, which could negate any savings.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

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

[kevin347]

Thanks..Valid points..I am arriving at Miami in the morning on 26th around 11 AM. Considering that I will have rest of the day to roam around in miami ( I haven't still figured out what are the places to go in Miami, any suggestions would be appreciated, (we are both recently married couples - just passed 1 yr anniv), do you think it's a good option to rent a car considering there are some hassles involved?? May be I should also decide on where we want to go in miami so then we can decide if car rental makes sense or not.

I searched around a little bit as well and looks like airport area would be cheaper..Do hotels in that area charge for parking as well?? I am sure downtown hotels are going to charge for parking..

Thanks

[thereuare]

Whether to rent a car or not really depends upon what you want to do for this stay... if you want to stay downtown to be near the port in the morning then heading to the Beach would likely require a rental car; heading to Bayside Marketplace (a popular location to kill some time and/or head to dinner pre-cruise) can likely be done by walking, cab, or the peoplemover (all depending upon locaion of your hotel)

If you stay by the Airport not sure what there will be to do in the immediate area. I just chose three hotels in the Miami airport zone at random (3* and above) and self-parking was $10-$15/day.

Let us know how you'd like to proceed and we'll advise accordingly.

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

[kevin347]

I have decided now that I am going to rent a car from FLL at 26th Nov morning and drop it off at MIA on 27th morning and head to port around noon so I can have lunch on the ship.

I believe considering this, it will be best for me to look for a hotel in the MIA Airport zone.

My questions are :

1) A friend of mine who is in hotel business has for now reserved a room for me for 59$ per night at the Wyndham MIA Airport location. As per him, it's a open booking and i can cancel anytime with full refund (he has paid on my behalf). Is this a good rate? Is it worth going through the bidding process to reserve a room? Can i save more money? If so is it too early to bid for it or should I wait till Nov 1st-2nd week?

2) I have also reserved a rental car with Alamo for 1 day with the use of a coupon code and it comes to 50$ including taxes (picking up at FLL and drop off at MIA). I can cancel the reservation ANYTIME. Can I save more money with priceline bidding? I choose alamo because they have free shuttle to miami port. How much would the taxi cost from MIA airport to port?

Please advise..

Thanks

[thereuare]

You may be able to do a little better on the hotel side of things by bidding on PRICELINE, but you'll then receive any hotel in the zone, which may be better/worse than the Wyndham. Do you have two rooms at that rate or one room for quad occupancy? Parking is another fee to consider if you're weighing your total costs.

For the car rental you can probably get a lower rate, but not necessarily with Alamo, and i'm not sure if all the other companies run shuttles to the ship (where a taxi will run you about $25 + tip).

One other option to make things a bit easier is to stay Downtown, drive to the port in the morning to drop off your luggage (easier than unloading the car at the rental counter, loading everything on the shuttle, then unloading the shuttle at the port)... just easier to do when it's only you and only your stuff (and not everyone else on the shuttle).

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

[kevin347]

We have booked 2 rooms. When you said I could do little better, how many $$ per room can I save ?If i look at 3.5 start hotels on priceline in MIA airport zone, even without bidding i m seeing Crown plaza, embassy suites, marriot, wyndham..do you think there is still a possibility of getting anything other than that? I am ok with any of those hotels..

I am assuming Taxi rate is 25$ for one way and it's per taxi and not per person, is that right? do they charge anything extra for luggage? Considering that I think free shuttle with alamo is not a bad deal since i m saving money for taxi. Even if i go bid and get lower price, i might end up with any other car rental comapany who may not have free shuttle to port. But i guess with taxi you have more convenience since in shuttle you will have to wait and all that..so i will give bidding a thought for car for sure as well..

Wyndham at airport charges around 10-12$ for parking for day. For staying in downtown, what will be the parking cost?? are the parking charges much higher? What kind of rate range I could get in downtown hotels?

[Randi66]

Can you rent in FLL and return in MIA with PRICELINE? Thats another thing to consider.

[kevin347]

Yes lowest it's showing me on priceline is economy car with alamo for 96$ including taxes.

[thereuare]

You could receive a different hotel than is currently showing in PRICELINE's "retail" offerings (see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ)

I said you might be able to save a little and i don't think the savings would be that great. Parking Downtown will likely cost you more than at the airport, but the actual rate will be hotel dependent (using the Hyatt as an example, Valet is $29 whereas Self Parking is $13 (no in/out privledges))

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

[kevin347]

Ok then, I might hold off on bidding on the hotel. I am a risk taker but another friend of mine travelling with me is 'chicken'..cannot deal with the uncertainty of which hotel we will get :)

I will be bidding for the car rental for sure. Is it too early to bid ? Should i wait till Nov 1st-2nd week? Can you suggest some strategy for that?

I am also going to rent a car for my second leg of journey to go to keywest. Is it better to pick up car from cruise port or from MIA airport?

so basically I need car rentals for following days..Compact or Intermediate will suite my needs.

Nov 26 -Nov 27 Picking up at FLL - Dropping at MIA

Nov 30- Dec 1 Picking up at MIA - Dropppoing at FLL

Another question, I have is if I have a rental booked for example 10$ per day through priceline bidding. Does the same rate apply for the second day as well if i am not able to return the car on time and they charge me for extra time?

TIA

[thereuare]

For help with your car rental bidding please start NEW TOPIC(s) for each rental in the Priceline Car Rental section of the board.

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