Priceline Hotel: Need Help bidding 4* on San Fran (SOMA)

[lpennington]

Just tried bidding $75 for 1 room in a 4* hotel in SOMA during the May 14 - May 20 timeframe using the PRICELINE link. Presently, I have a cancellable reservation through the convention organization that I may cancel thru April 6 without any headache (St. Regis at $299/nt).

My wife is in town for a convention at the Moscone center, and will need to be within 6-7 blocks max walking distance. My budget is anywhere up to $150/nt ... anything more than that and I'd just stick with our current reservation since I've never stayed there). Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Colfax]

HOTWIRE has a 4.5* in USE that looks like the Intercontinental, right next to Moscone.

Fitness

Restaurant

Highspeed Internet

It's $179, which is more than your $150 limit, but still quite a bit less than your $299 reservation at the St Regis.

Or would you rather bid higher than $75 for a SOMA-Moscone 4* on Priceline? Maybe you can win something in between $75 and $179.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links for your purchases.

[lpennington]

I'll definitely put that offer in the bank as a safety. My search of recent successful bids showed that $80-90 seemed to be the sweetspot for 4* SOMA hotels with the resulting hotels being the Palomar or Palace, both rated fairly well. So I think I'll get something 4* when I go up with my bids but I wanted a consult here 1st. I tried to search for the rebid zones for this area but could only come up with strategies for USW USE or Fisherman's Wharf.

[Colfax]

Any 4* hotel you win in SOMA-Moscone zone will be walking distance to Moscone.

If it takes more than $90 it's probably because your stay is six nights. Most of the $80-90 wins you see are for shorter stays than that, and longer stays sometimes require a premium. (But sometimes they don't.)

If you'd like help with a 4* bidding strategy please let us know how high you're willing to bid. Is $100 good?

[lpennington]

Yes, I consider $100 very good.

[Colfax]

When bidding for a 4* in SF you have FIVE rebid zones. Those are zones that only have hotels less than 4* quality. If you need help determining your rebid zones please ask before you bid. You can post the zone names here if you want confirmation.

You've already tried $75. If you don't want to wait 24 hours to bid again select SOMA plus any one of your five rebid zones and bid $80.

Then add the four other rebid zones, one at a time, raising your bid $5 with each, up to $100.

Please use this PRICELINE link and good luck!

[thereuare]

As per above, at the 4* level in San Francisco you have FIVE re-bid zones. Priceline Re-Bidding Explained

(NOTE: 're-bid zone1' is not the same as priceline's Zone1, 're-bid zone2' is not the same as priceline's Zone2, etc, etc)

Once you've determined your re-bid zones (or confirmed them with the board) i'd bid as follows:

Select 4* SOMA...

Bid $75, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $80, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $85, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $90, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* SOMA and re-bid zone4...

Bid $95, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $100, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $105, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $110, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* SOMA and re-bid zone5...

Bid $115, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $120, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $125, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $130, if rejected close browser and use our link to re-access PRICELINE

Select 4* SOMA and re-bid zoen4 and re-bid zone5...

Bid $135, if rejected add re-bid zone1...

Bid $140, if rejected add re-bid zone2...

Bid $145, if rejected add re-bid zone3...

Bid $150

Any questions feel free to ask. (especially regarding re-bidding and re-bid zone1, re-bid zone2, etc, etc)

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[lpennington]

I returned to PRICELINE using the forum's link, and tried to the progression using the five rebid zones (thx for the help there), but unfortunately couldn't get anything for $150. I'm guessing it's probably the 6 nights or a heavy conference week?

I've read posts where people inquired about splitting their nights and going for 2 successful bids but I'd hate to risk having to switch hotels. Is that my only option at this point?

[thereuare]

Your options come down to:

-SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID (although if you'd prefer not to stay in two different hotels, i think it's a bit early before your stay to consider this option)

-wait it out and try again every 3-4 days and hope lower priced inventory becomes avaialble

-add other zones

-lower your star rating

-raise your maximum bid price

I haven't checked to see if the $179 HOTWIRE offer is still available, but if it is, i can't imagine you're too far away with your $150 bid, perhaps another $10-15 may do it?

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

Let us know your current thoughts and how you'd like to proceed.

[Colfax]

I haven't checked to see if the $179 HOTWIRE offer is still available, but if it is, i can't imagine you're too far away with your $150 bid, perhaps another $10-15 may do it?

What appears to be the Intercontinental is still on HOTWIRE for $179. IC's regular rate is $296 for your dates.

[lpennington]

... wanted to close the loop on this thread. We ended up staying at the St. Regis at conference-sponsored rate. That week was a heavy volume week around the Moscone Center so the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE deals weren't as low as most other weeks imo.

[thereuare]

Thanks for closing this thread with your decision.

Hope you enjoyed your stay.