Priceline Hotel: No luck w/ bidding 4* Embarcadero week of Nov 14

[OceanMist]

Hello BetterBidding,

I've used this site with great succe$$ for Hotwire! Thank you for running it!

Yesterday I finally mustered the courage to try the Priceline route, but no luck.

Perhaps the problem is my travel date (week of Nov 15) is too soon?

I read your excellent re-bidding tutorial*, and believe I did that correctly.

For a 4* in Embarcadero, week of Nov 15 (all week), I tried bidding/rebidding via expanding zones w/out 4*'s at:

$97

$137

$157

$171

$219

All were rejected.

I eventually booked the Hyatt Regency for that week directly via their website cancellable 24 hrs before arrival with rates @

13-Nov-2009= 255.10 USD

14-Nov-2009= 255.10 USD

15-Nov-2009= 282.10 USD

16-Nov-2009= 282.10 USD

17-Nov-2009= 291.10 USD

18-Nov-2009= 327.10 USD

Oddly enough, the least expensive Hotwire rate I see now for 4* Embarcadero is $289 / night. Not much of a differential for a non-cancellable booking.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again for running this website!

Ocean Mist

================== Rebidding tutorial suggestion

Suggestion: Change

"Rebid zone 1"

"Rebid zone 2"

"Rebid zone 3"

etc...

to

"Rebid zone x"

"Rebid zone y"

"Rebid zone z"

You do have a note that rebid zone 1 is not the same as Priceline zone 1. But for us speedreaders, it would eliminate the risk of confusion if you just use x, y, z instead of numbers. (unless Priceline uses that of course. They definitely use 1, 2, 3 as zone descriptors.)

[Colfax]

Were 11/13-11/19 the dates you bid on Priceline, OceanMist? I'm not clear what "week of Nov 15" means.

In order to get a lower rate are you willing to split your six-night stay in two and possibly switch hotels once?

Is a 3.5* in Embarcadero zone (probably the Club Quarters) an option?

[slruud]

Lastminute travel has what appears to be the Hyatt Embarcadero for $138/nite. Maybe some one could verify because it comes up in Downtown/Union Square area, but description matches Hyatt as does number of rooms.

[Colfax]

Nice find, slruud.

The Lastminutetravel looks like Hyatt Embarcadero to me too. It's the 4.5* "Undercover" hotel in LMT's Downtown/Union Square/Nob Hill zone for $138.50 per night.

The description notes 1) 802 rooms, 2) one block from California Street cable car, and 3) one block from Embarcadero shopping center. I don't think this could be anything but the Hyatt.

$138.50 is much less than your already rejected Priceline bids, OceanMist, and Hyatt is showing sold out on Hyatt's website. If the Hyatt's what you want I would jump on this.

(note to thereuare: the board's LastMinuteTravel link doesn't seem to work now.)

[OceanMist]

Thanks for the new news!

I am so confused why my bids weren't accepted even at such a high rate just last weekend,

and now really cheap bids ARE being accepted!

[AaronJB]

Not exactly the same dates, possibly, or new availability coming on-line for your dates.

[OceanMist]

that last minute travel rate seems to be gone

re: Colfax,

>> Were 11/13-11/19 the dates you bid on Priceline, OceanMist?

The dates I'm looking at now are 11/13 - 11/21 (I wanted a 2'nd Saturday)

Hotwire has $162 for a 4* in that area now, but there are several 4* that fit that category and I really love the idea of

being so close to Ferry Building for quick runs out

>> In order to get a lower rate are you willing to split your six-night stay in two and possibly switch hotels once?

hmmm probably not

My first reaction is staying put has a high value to me, esp since I'll be working part of the time while there, but trying to get in as much play time as possible.

factors

- moving from 1 hotel to another, for me probably a 4 hr transaction cost in terms of time lost

- on the 20'th I have a critical presentation on the phone conference mostly where I'll also need the internet situation working well. Shouldn't be a problem in SF I guess...

If I were to change, experiencing a totally different area in SF would be interesting....

[AaronJB]

Orbitz has the very well-reviewed Orchard Hotel (4.5/5 on tripadvisor) for $159, plus 10% off via the FABSAVE10 coupon code (which you can use for other Orbitz hotels.)

Orbitz link: Orbitz.com.

[slruud]

The 4* on Hotwire in Embarcadero seems to be the Hyatt Embarcadero, so still a lot cheaper than your cancellable booking. The Hilton usually has a Spa amenity and the other 4*s, the Omni or Le Meridien are rated 4.5/5.0 stars. But of course try a round of bidding first and see what happens.

[OceanMist]

OK I think I understand what is happening

When I try to book at any rate the Hyatt Regency during 13-21 Nov, even on their website rate just now, they are sold out:

"The hotel is sold out during your requested travel dates. Go back to select alternate dates at the same hotel or to enter an alternate hotel using the location search."

Q:

If I were to "win" the Hyatt for part of that stay, would they allow the booking given that I'm already booked?

[yellowdog]

If I were to "win" the Hyatt for part of that stay, would they allow the booking given that I'm already booked?

Yes, it's a PRICELINE booking. And there's nothing that says that you can't have two separate bookings in the same name.

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

Yellowdog.

[Colfax]

Hotwire has $162 for a 4* in that area now, but there are several 4* that fit that category and I really love the idea of

being so close to Ferry Building for quick runs out

OceanMist,

Are you willing to accept any 4* Priceline hotel in the zone, not just the Hyatt? If you only want the Hyatt I don't recommend using Priceline, as some other hotel is likely to come up if Hyatt's showing sold out for your dates.

And yes, you can book a portion of your stay via Hotwire or Lastminutetravel, and book the reamaining dates directly through Hyatt, as long as they're not sold out for those dates.

[paperposter]

theres a convention for part of your stay some of those dates are sold out im haveing the same problem the bigest is the 18th and the 19th for me