Priceline Hotel: Help needed determing starting bid on Priceline for downtown Reno

[travelgirl2010]

I'm wondering if anyone out there knows what should my starting bid be for downtown Reno for the following dates:

03/01/2010-03/08/2010

My last bid of $54.00 got rejected.

[Romelle]

Technically, you want to be posting in the Nevada area, and the Priceline area within that. You will get more immediate and direct responses from the correct pros.

Meanwhile, as just a member, I'll take a stab for you.

You didn't mention what star level your $54 bid was for? I'm guessing 4*? Also, which of the three Reno areas are acceptable to you?

If you are wanting a 4* hotel in the downtown area, you can continue to bid in that area. But also you can add the Sparks area as it doesn't have any 4*s, and raise your bid. Therefore, you can bid two times in one 24 hour period. You can read all about this if you search on Free Rebidding.

For a bid starting point, one thing to do is look at Hotwire, and then start maybe 10 or 15% below that.

Another way is to look up some of the hotel rack rates and start at 50% or less of the lowest of those. For that matter, it is always a good idea to look up rack rates first since sometimes it can take a higher bid to win, than you could get the hotel for directly from their web site. (I speak from experience on this - a Las Vegas bid several years ago. Won the MGM Grand for about $5 more than I could have gotten it directly from their web site. Sigh. Still pains me.).

So, with rack rates in hand, and Hotwire rates in hand, I suggest you continue on up from you $54 in small increments each day, until you either get a hit or get so close to Hotwire or rack rates that you decide to go that way.

Did you look at the Calendar of Wins for your dates? And just browse the other winning posts for Reno? Both will give you more information as to your likely ending point. Rates are VERY date-specific though, so results on your dates are much more significant.

A week span is pretty long and rates can be different across it. IF you are willing to move hotels, you might consider splitting your bid. Mon-Thur for one and Fri-Mon for the other is a possibility. If the winning level for Priceline is different on different days, and you are bidding several days, your bid has to be equal to or above the highest PL offering. You can see some good examples of different day prices right on the retail side of Priceline.

Hope we hear from you again.

Romelle

[thereuare]

I've moved this thread to the correct forum.

travelgirl2010, what is your maximum bid for this stay? What star level have you been bidding?

Let us know the above and we'll suggest a startegy for you to follow.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[travelgirl2010]

Thank you for the information.

I'm bidding on Priceline for a 4* property in Reno downtown. My last bid of $59 got rejected. I hope to get a room under $60/night. Naturally, the lower the price, the better. Also, I'm bidding for two rooms. I haven't done that before (usually needed just one room), so I'm wondering if this makes a difference.

Let me know if you need any additional info to provide a strategy.

[thereuare]

There is only one "known" 4* hotel at this star level, and if that is the only 4* hotel in this zone, then it could be an availability issue if this one hotel has not offered inventory to PRICELINE for even just one nite of your stay above.

Your weekend dates are much more expensive than your mid-week dates, is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[travelgirl2010]

We ended up booking with the only 4* hotel in Reno directly. It turned out that for our dates, the hotel was running a special that was lower than my last rejected bid of $59. If I remember correctly (it's been a while), the special price that hotel offered was $45/night during that time. So, all you folks our there bidding for Reno, it's a good idea to periodically check with a hotel directly as they might actually have good deals.

[thereuare]

Thanks for closing this thread.

Please remember to follow-up your threads with whatever you end up doing for the stay, even if you choose to book direct, cancel your trip, etc.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.