moneypit Posted October 12, 2009 Report Posted October 12, 2009 I am a newcomer to this site and am very impressed. I will be visiting the San Francisco area from Dec 8 to Dec 15. We will be flying in from Toronto and will not have a car. While in San Francisco we would like accommodation in the Union Square area, ideally in a 4 star. I gather that since there is a weekend in our stay this will impact the rates I can get. Is this the case? We are thinking of two side trips while we are there. One to Carmel and another to wine country. We thought the Carmel trip could be done by renting a car for a day. The wine country looks like it could be an overnight. I am picking up that while I may book with Priceline or Hotwire I should be doing it through this site. I am a bit of a technopeasant so please bear with me and walk me through the steps. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us.
thereuare Posted October 12, 2009 Report Posted October 12, 2009 Welcome to BetterBidding!For starters, both PRICELINE and HOTWIRE divide the "Union Square" areas into East, West, along with a few other areas (Nob Hill, Embarcadero, etc)... if you look at the zones of each, which ones would you be willing to consider?Let's start with your expected budget per nite for this stay, as this will likely determine how likely a 4* hotel is as well as potentially determine any 'problem' dates within the range which you might be able to use for your sidetrip(s).As far as using our links it's actually quite simple, you just need to click any PRICELINE or HOTWIRE link on the board, you'll be taken to the requested side, and bid or make your purchase as you otherwise would.Give us an idea of your budget and possible zone(s) and we'll take it from there. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
moneypit Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Posted October 12, 2009 I think the area I am interested in is Union Square West/ Nob Hill. I liked what I read about Parc 55 so wherever that is. My budget is in the $80 area.Does this help?
thereuare Posted October 13, 2009 Report Posted October 13, 2009 A few 'warnings' about using PRICELINE (or HOTWIRE)...It's usually not a good idea to pick a zone based upon one hotel that you want. For example, using the Priceline Hotel List you can see that besides the Parc 55, there are at least 9 other hotels in this zone that you could possibly get at the 4* level. You need to be comfortable receiving any 4* hotel in the zone(s) that you select, even if it may not yet have been reported to the board.As well, if you only want to bid this one zone that's fine, but realize that the more zones you include as 'acceptable' the more hotels you give the ability to accept your bid... which can result in a lower/better price. Not that big of an issue in this instance since there are so many 4* hotels in the USW zone, but adding other zones would likely incrase your chances of success (and a better deal)With the above noted, do you still want to bid the USE zone? Is this the only zone you want to bid?Let us know and we'll advise accordingly.Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
moneypit Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 Wow, you certainly provide lots and lots of information. I checked the list of hotels for the two Union Square zones and both would seem to work. So I guess I would now want to bid on Union Square East and West
thereuare Posted October 13, 2009 Report Posted October 13, 2009 Rates don't look too bad for your dates.Were you planning on keeping your room in San Francisco while you made your day trips or pack/unpack again? If the latter, the next step would be to determine which days you'll be heading out of town and don't need a room in San Francisco... perhaps trying to coordinate heading to Napa the day of arrival or the day before depature, trying to provide systematic travel to your plans and avoid unpacking/packing/unpacking again. Of course if you intended to keep the Downtown hotel room and let it sit vacant then it doesn't matter as you could leave your things in the hotel room and just pack a small overnite bag, but due to budget, this isn't feasible for most.Basically, if you're going to start bidding now, you need to determine which nites you need the Downtown hotel for (based upon which nite(s) you will head out and stay out of the city, in Napa or anywhere else you intend to travel)Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
Colfax Posted October 13, 2009 Report Posted October 13, 2009 We are thinking of two side trips while we are there. One to Carmel and another to wine country. We thought the Carmel trip could be done by renting a car for a day. The wine country looks like it could be an overnight.I think you might have Carmel and Wine Country reversed, moneypit. Per Mapquest it's 121 miles from San Francisco to Carmel, but only 46 miles from SF to Napa ("Wine Country"). You can do Napa as a day trip out of SF (if you don't drink too much), but it's a looooong drive from SF to Carmel and back in one day....and the sun sets early in December, so you'll be driving back in the dark.I'll suggest getting a hotel in Carmel or Monterey for the day you spend exploring that area.
moneypit Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 This website is simply wonderful. Thanks for the clarification. Now I will be off the the hotel listing checking out what information you have on hotels in Carmel or Monterey.
moneypit Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Posted October 13, 2009 We have decided that we will book our seven nights in San Francisco. Our first preference is Union Square West but we are open to Union Square East and other areas. In terms of location, access to public transport would be the deciding factor. So that said, I think I am ready to start bidding. What should I do next?
thereuare Posted October 14, 2009 Report Posted October 14, 2009 To clarify... did you want to bid only USW up to your limit, then add USE if that is rejected?Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
moneypit Posted October 14, 2009 Author Report Posted October 14, 2009 Yes, As I understand the process, I thought that would be the best way to go.
thereuare Posted October 14, 2009 Report Posted October 14, 2009 At the 4* level you have FIVE 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 4* USWBid $55, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $60, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $65, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $70, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone...Bid $80.Any questions feel free to ask.Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.Good luck and let us know how it goes. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
moneypit Posted October 14, 2009 Author Report Posted October 14, 2009 Success!!!! I followed the advice on rebidding and was accepted at $80.00 at Hotel Nikko for seven nights. I am just delighted. Thank you so much for your assistance. I used your PRICELINE for this bid. Just for general information for the board, on Oct 9th, (before I discovered this site) a bid of $65 was accepted for Doubletree Hotel, San Francisco Airport for one night. Unfortunately I did not use your Priceline for that bid but will be sure to do so for all future bids. Thanks again.
thereuare Posted October 14, 2009 Report Posted October 14, 2009 Congratulations on your success!Glad to see you received a great deal on this stay and we're happy to have helped!Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding.Enjoy your stay.PS- please pst your previous Doubletree win as a NEW TOPIC so that others will be aware of it when searching the board's topic titles and also so it will appear in the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins. Thanks! Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases
moneypit Posted October 14, 2009 Author Report Posted October 14, 2009 I will post the info on Doubletree as a new topic. Thanks again for all the help.
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