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Priceline Hotel: 2 1/2* Pittsburgh East -Monroeville $46


rscima
By rscima,
in

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I wasn't even going to post this out of embarrasment of paying too much but I have gained so much from this site & I want other to benefit from it too. Just a disclaimer before I post the info: I booked this April 20th, before finding this site & becoming an "expert" at bidding!

Priceline 2 1/2*

6/10-6/14 (4 nights)

Holiday Inn Monroeville 2750 Mosside Blvd.

Price per night: $46 (ouch!)

I originally bid $36 & got the "up your bid by $10" screen & jumped on it!

Taxes & fees $20.84 (I know, PL made $$$ on this one)

At least we can add this to the database as one of PL's 2 1/2*s in the Monroeville area.

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Never be embarrassed about posting, it's how we all learn!!

I thought i was going to read about some horrific overbid, but nothing so terrible here.

This is actually a very interesting post, because it's a second Holiday Inn property in the same zone!

Thanks again for posting and realizing the benefits of sharing your info with others.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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This site http://www.bizave.com/cgi-bin/hotelratefromtax.cgi indicates the average rate per night that Priceline paid was $37.21.

That doesn't mean you necessarily overbid by $8 per night, though.

The following is a hypothetical example, which may or may not relate to your bid. It's also my understanding gleaned from reading, and thus is subject to inaccuracy :)

It may be that this hotel has different Priceline rates for different nights. Some do, some don't.

If one night was $44 Priceline rate, and the other 3 nights were $35 Priceline rate, the tax rate would still work out about the same on average. But you'd still have had to bid $44 to win all the nights, since Priceline doesn't average out the nights, but requires you hit the highest value of any night in order to win. In short, there's no way to know that you really did overbid this stay by much, if at all.

And even if it is a slight overbid, you still got a great deal.

(If a tax rate indicates a fractional, rather than a whole dollar amount, I suspect the hotel of having different Priceline rates for different nights in the stay, but I'm not sure if that is true or not. Strictly my guess.)

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I never understood why the above website makes things so complicated. To find out the tax rate, i find the best source to be the hotel's website, as that will have the most up to date information and not be subject to any errors, updates, or omissions. For the newbies that are reading and want to keep it simple:

Bottom Line:

Tax Rate= 14%

Nitely Tax= $5.21

$5.21 / .14 = $37.21

I understand the potential differences in nightly rates, but there is no way to know this for certain. It is quite possible that hotels charge Priceline rates that are not whole dollar amounts.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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It is possible for sure that there are fractional Priceline rates. It just seems that so often one-night stays come up with tax values that indicate a whole-dollar amount. I'd say that happens most of the time, if we look at all the bids.

I mostly like that web site because it compiles all the tax rates in one place, which is very convenient.

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I mostly like that web site because it compiles all the tax rates in one place, which is very convenient.

.... but also prone to errors as hotel tax rates in a given city change (which are harder to keep track of then city tax changes).

I will admit that it may be a personal gripe, as the author of that page is not BetterBidding friendly :)

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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(I guess I'm going off-topic for rscima's post, feel free to move where appropriate - maybe a new tax topic.)

Sorry to hear that. It's definitely best to check the tax rate yourself or ask the hotel to make sure you have the latest figure.

My Seattle bid (posted elsewhere) was interesting re taxes. It was for two nights at $26/night. The hotel told me the tax rate is 15.8%, which is confirmed by other sources I read. With the taxes I paid, this worked out to a Priceline rate of $27/night (just about exactly). So in theory, how did I get the room? Other sources indicate the Seattle tax rate is 15.6%, as did that web page, which would indicate even more of an underbid. I was perplexed by that one :) .

=========

Re the fractional rates - Suppose in one zone with three hotels of equal star value: Hotel A had a rate of $35.01, Hotel B had a rate of $35.02, and Hotel C had a rate of $35.03, that would work out badly for Hotels A and B given Priceline's hotel selection algorithm. One reason, besides the one-night bid values, that I suspect Priceline doesn't have fractional rates on a per-night basis.

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Your Seattle hotel tax rate is a perfect example of why checking the hotel's website is the best source and less likely to contain errors.(i don't have any answers for you regarding how your Seattle stay was accepted, excpept to say that maybe there are a few properties that actually pay Priceline a booking fee (which Priceline is willing to subsidize your bid with) or something else along those lines).

I'm certain the hotels know their competition in the area, which includes knowing their rack rates, discounted rates, Priceline rates, Hotwire rates, etc. and adjust set their own rates accordingly.

My understanding is that Priceline bids are rotated among hotels, so in your example, Hotel A is given first crack at accepting a bid in their zone, if the user's bid isn't high enough, then Priceline will check other hotels in the zone. The next user that places a bid (i suspect not counting re-bids by the same user) is attempted to get filled by Hotel B, and if the bid is too low, then it's checked against other hotels in the area. Next user's bid is first checked against Hotel C, and so-on.

This is getting off topic from the original post, but i didn't move it as it would have made no sense (from a continuity point of view) if any of these were posts were at the beginning of a thread. So let's end dicussion here, but if you'd like to continue it, then start a new thread in the Questions and Suggestions category.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Back to rscima's original post, I don't think you should feel embarassed at all! You are still getting a great deal! And it is terrific that you posted the information so that others now know a bit more about how to bid this region.

Even when we think we know exactly how to do Priceline bidding, it is easy to suddenly look at the screen and go "Oh no! I didn't really want to include that zone!!" or "Oh no! I didn't mean to include that quality level!!" And suddenly you are staying at the Motel 6 for 80% of rack rate! :)

Some people get a bit obsessed with getting the VERY BEST POSSIBLE DEAL and THE LOWEST RATE EVER FOR THIS HOTEL and although I am guilty of this sometimes, I do try to keep it in perspective. Every deal I have received through Priceline has been a GREAT DEAL and a big savings. Even though someone else may get a better rate on a different date, that is ALWAYS related to availability. If my nights are busier, the hotel rates may be higher also. So deals are relative. And your rate looks pretty darn good when you look at the regular booking rates!

Note on Priceline and multiple rates:

It seems to me that if the hotel seems to have lots of availability at consistent rates throughout the dates of your stay, then it is most likely that Priceline is also paying a consistent rate throughout the dates.

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Scorp,

Well said!

Too often we make things MUCH more complicated than they need to be.

I think that Re-bidding is the most difficult part of the process, and even that isn't too difficut once you "get it." We can overanalyze any of this until we're blue in the face (and have no more definitive answers than when we started), but what it all boils down to is "how much should my bid be and what should be my next step if rejected."

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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