Priceline Hotel: 3* NYC (UM/CPS) Park Central

[GPS]

I've been bidding for MTW and UM-CPS for the last couple weeks with no success. I've tried 3* in UM-CPS up to $95, and 4* in both zones up to $125 so far. There is availability for my dates in all of the hotels that have come up for others in the past week, with rates similar or even lower than others with successful bids. I realize my bids have not been really high, but I'm surprised I can't get a hotel while others did so easily and for lower amounts.

I've noticed that when broken up, rates for Mon - Thurs are substantially higher than weekends, but my average hotel website rate still is usually in line with others who have won at Priceline.

Is it more difficult getting an entire week through Priceline? Should I split my bid into two in order to get a better average price?

Here is an example of rates for my dates, through hotel websites:

3* Park Central - 1/28 $139, 1/29 $179, 1/30 $109, 1/31-2/3 $139 (many others have won this hotel for weekends at $80-87 with dates at higher rates than mine)

4* Le Park Meridien - 1/28-1/30 $215, 1/31-2/3 $285

4* Hilton NY - 1/28-2/4 avg rate $249 or 1/28-1/30 $239, 1/31-2/3 $269 (depending on various date ranges, the avg price varies quite a bit, with no distinguishable logic as I can see, except that adding Mon Jan 31 into the date-range seems to increase the rate a lot)

I have made over a dozen successful bids on Priceline in the past, so I am familiar with bidding strategy. This time, I just can't see a relation between rates for my dates and a successful bid.

I'd really appreciate some advice from others who are familiar with New York hotels, as this is my first time trying for this city. Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

my average hotel website rate still is usually in line with others who have won at Priceline.

Averages don't matter too much, as your bid must be high enough to win on a nite-by-nite basis, not on a total stay basis. This is explained further in the following thread: SHOULD I SPLIT MY PRICELINE BID?

If you'd like us to suggest a strategy for you let us know your maximum bid and if you want to split the bid or not (i take it from your post you're not interested in the MTE zone?)

Whether you would like further help from us or not, please follow-up this post with whatever you ultimately do for this stay... perhaps you could even add some of your previous wins as new posts as well.

[GPS]

I got Park Central for $80 when I split my bid! The most days I could get at this rate was 4. Now I just have to find a hotel for 2/1-2/4. Funny thing is that the Saturday had a rate of $179 (highest day rate), which is within my winning bid, but the dates not included only have rate of $139. I can book Park Central off of Priceline for the $139 but I'm going to try to do better in the meantime.

[thereuare]

Congratualations on your win.

Glad our suggestion of splitting the bid helped.

So to clarify you won 1/28-2/1 at $80 for the Park Central hotel? Was this your first bid in the UM/CPS zone or were you rejected at lower levels previously (for these dates).

Can you confirm i have the above correct?

Please post a new thread to continue for your 2/1-2/4 dates.

Enjoy your stay.

[GPS]

My first bid for these dates was at $80. I had was not confident they would even accept this as they rejected me up to $95 with my entire date range. Had I known, I would have started lower and used my free rebid to up my amount.