Priceline Hotel: General Priceline bidding tips?

[badlydrawnboy]

I'm trying to book two nights at the Hilton Del Mar in San Diego on May 15th & 16th. I searched the forum and saw that two different people have placed successful bids for $55 in the past few months.

I put in a bid for $55 today but was rejected.

Do you think it might be too far away from the travel date? I've never used Priceline so I don't really know the strategy.

I'll be sure to make my next bid using the PRICELINE links here.

Thanks.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

To begin, you do realize that you're not bidding on a specific hotel, but rather any 3.5* rated hotel in this zone... are you willing accept ANY hotel in this zone that is rated 3.5* by PRICELINE?

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for your future purchases/searches/bidding.

[badlydrawnboy]

Yes, I do realize I'm not bidding on a specific hotel. I've searched this forum and see that a few different people got the Hilton in Del Mar when they selected 3.5* and Del Mar as the area. Although it appears that the Marriott is also in Del Mar, a search of this forum indicates that it doesn't seem to turn up as often as the Hilton when people use these criteria.

In any event, I'd be just fine if it ended up being the Marriott.

When is the best time to start bidding? If the trip is May 15, is it too soon to start now? The reason I ask is that I've seen that a few different people have had a $55 bid accepted by the Hilton, but my $55 bid was rejected yesterday.

[AaronJB]

It's definitely not too soon to start bidding. Rates do vary by date; what may be enough for a winning bid for one set of dates may not be enough for another set due to higher traffic/higher rates.

[thereuare]

Rates are not too high for your dates, so i'd try to book a cancelable back-up and continue to bid, perhaps using $60 as an upper limit for the next 4-6 weeks, bidding twice a week or so... once you're about a month from check-in, we can start to consider probing some higher bids if you haven't been accepted by that time.

When bidding 3.5* in San Diego you have NINE 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.

If you confirm you're willing to bid up to $60 at this time (if not let us know your maximum bid) we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

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