Priceline Hotel: 4* Miami (Airport MIA) Sofitel

[fvandewouwer]

Hi,

I have posted this question also in the Miami section but still, hope to reach someone who can clear this for me.

Have bit on a 4* hotel for Miami March next year

added a couple of zones which were ok just to do aother bidding and my

offer was accepted but I can not see this hotel in their list

neither on their website.

I called them and they told me that this hotel ( sofitel miami airport ) is on their list and does not appear on the website but that is perfectly ok ? Is it ? so they will and cannot cancel.

it is possible that I bid on a 4* category and receives a hotel that is not published so

I find this very upsetting because if I use a rebit zone in which for ex there is no 4* hotel just to have another chance I can get stuck in this zone ? I really need to know this for sure because I need another hotel for another date and do not want to get stuck in a part of Miami I just added to do a now bidding.

I hope someone understands my question, so sorry for explaining this badly but english is not my first language.

Thank you so much for helping me

have a great day

Frieda

[Romelle]

Frieda,

Your English is fine.

TWO SIDES ON PRICELINE:

Priceline has two completely different sides. One is the bidding side, and the other is the retail or direct buy side (where you don't do any bidding, but pick your specific hotel).

Hotels available on one of the sides may or may not be available on the other side.

If you look at the retail side, it will give you a pretty good idea of the types of hotels you might get from bidding, but all of them do not show up in the bidding. And hotels you win from bidding may well NOT show up on the retail side.

FREE REBID AREAS:

When bidding, you need to check to see which areas are "free" before you start. There is more discussion on this in the Frequently Asked Questions area. It actually is pretty simple. Just mark (check) one area (ONLY one) and see which star levels are grey(not biddable), and which change to white (biddable). If a star level, OR ANY HIGHER STAR LEVEL, is white (biddable) that means there IS a hotel in that area at that star level that you could get. You don't want to use this one unless you are willing to accept a hotel in the area. Do each area, one at a time, and take notes of the ones are "free rebids". Then first bid the areas you actually want, and then add the "free" ones as you increase your bid.

The Miami Airport area does have 4* hotels available for bidding so is NOT a "free rebid". You are stuck with it. But Miami does have a really fine public transportation network so you probably can make it work for yourself.

If you'd like to check which areas you figure are "free rebids" and post them back, I'd be happy to double check your understanding and make sure you have it all figured out correctly now.

I hope I've made it clear for you. Frankly, I'm in awe of anybody trying to converse or do business in a language other than their native language. I've studied several, and know the basics like "Please" and "Thank you" and "Yes" and "No", but rarely try more than that .

Romelle

[tilepusher]

If you search for hotels through Priceline's retail service, Priceline will almost never show everything that's available; it's not uncommon for hotels to disappear and reappear if you perform the same search on different days. In my experience, every hotel sold through Name Your Own Price can be found somewhere on Priceline's website if you look carefully (for example, here's the listing for the Sofitel Miami). Priceline's Travel Guides and BB's own Maps and Hotels are useful tools for finding hotels that are available through Priceline and checking their current star levels.

As Romelle already explained, finding out what star levels are available in a given zone is no mystery; Priceline will tell you when you select the zone.

[thereuare]

As well, here is our own link regarding re-bidding: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

Can you please add your purchase to the board in the PRICELINE Florida section of the board. Thanks.

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

[fvandewouwer]

Hi Romelle

This is all so clear to me now ! I used the bidding part of Priceline in the past but I must have always been lucky because I never checked / saw the start level returning grey. What I did was going to the normal webside of Priceline wrote every hotel on a paper with their star rate and zone and noted which area I wanted and which I did not want so this was not the best thing to do but now this is perfectly clear and for your explanation I really can not thank you enough !

I hope one day I can help you with something, return a favour !

Thank you so much for your time and I will post on this board how I did on my new bidding for another hotel in Miami.

Have a great day

Frieda

[fvandewouwer]

Thank you all for your time.

It is not easy for a non US citizen to understand how things work and through websides and forums like this I have already learned a lot ( and am still learning )

I hope one day I can help someone with some advise !

greetings from rainy Belgium

Frieda

[fvandewouwer]

hello,

date : March 13 2010

1 night pre-cruise ( arriving 7.30 pm )

hotel : Sofitel Miami aiport

rating : 4*

site : priceline

paid 95 $ taxes 20.88 $

total : 115,88 $

tried couple of times after 3 days my offer was exepted

was looking for South Beach but added also the airport zone because we are arriving very late

and need only a nice bed to sleep ( prehotel for a cruise )

added zones for reebidding and finally it was accepted

Maybe it is too soon to start bidding for March but I feel very comfortable if everything is arranged so

I am glad I won the Sofitel for 95 $ with taxes it will be 115,88 $ and they have a free airport shuttle so

need no taxi which saves us also some money

Need another hotel for 1 night after cruise. Will post our results on the board

Have a great day

Frieda

[Romelle]

Frieda,

Well, it is snowing here in Minnesota right now, so Belgium rain sounds pretty good to me.

I appreciate your offer to return the favor. What I hope for is that you will pass the favor on with your postings here? And maybe answer a question on Belgium for somebody else if you see one someday?

You might also like the Forums on www.flyertalk.com. Lots of jargon and abbreviations, so it will not be easy for you (it was hard for me and it is my language). But a ton of information on the other half of traveling - those air tickets. Start with "Travel and Dining" - (blue at top of first page).

Romelle

[fvandewouwer]

Yes If I see a Belgian question and I can answer it I wil do so!

Thanks for the flyertalk forum, need to search it and spend some time on that one !

We still need another hotel after our cruise, but I think I am gone wait a little bit more, it is such a long time ahead but still if I succeed I will post my bidding.

at this time we enjoy a bit of a sun here in Belgium so we can not complain

have a great day

Frieda

As well, here is our own link regarding re-bidding: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

Can you please add your purchase to the board in the PRICELINE Florida section of the board. Thanks.

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

yes I have done that

and I will use those links

thanks

Frie