Priceline Hotel: 4* New York City (Midtown East) The Roosevelt Hotel New York

Or are my bids too low

My stay is for Sat 19th May for 3 nights, would like Chelsea or MSG because flying into JFK and going to Boston after stay via Penn station.

For the past 10 days I've tried the following.

4-Star

Chelsea & ESB

TS & CPS

MW & ME

all with 6 re-bids each.

Started at $145 up to $175 (know that its low for 4* but worth a try)

3.5-Star

Chelsea & MSG

TS & CPS

MW & ESB (previous thread had ME hotels far from subway)

all with 5 re-bids each

Started at $145 up to $170

3-Star

Chelsea & MSG

TS & ESB

MW & CPS

Each with 1 rebid (Coney Is)

Bid $145 Rebid $150

2.5-Star

Bid Chelsea $135, added MSG $140, ESB $145 rebid with coney $150.

(reading wins on tripadvisor, these are the only area I would like a 2.5*)

So are my bids too low or is it difficult to get a Saturday check-in.

Thanks in advance.

At one point in time Saturday check-in used to be difficult in many cities, but with the difficult economy over the last 5 years or so hotels are not as occupied as they were previously and Saturday check-in is usually not an issue in and of itself. Seasonablly this is an expensive time of year in NYC and if Saturday nite is your issue above, i think it is more likely due to this nite being a bit busier than your other nite(s) and therefore requiring a higher bid... rather than simply the fact that it's a Saturday nite.

Is SPLITTING YOUR PRICELINE BID an option? This Saturday does appear to be a bit higher priced than usual and you may be able to get something for 5/20-5/22 at the amounts you have already bid (perhaps even a 4* in the UWS zone)... but then the nite of 5/19 is likely going to cost you quite a bit more and you'll likely need to change hotels.

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

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed and we'll take it from there.

Thanks for your reply thereure.

At the moment we only have flights booked, so our 'land' plans are not entirely finallised.

An alternative could be to spend our last 3 nights in NYC. In this case it would be May 30-31 & June 1st.

Do priceline even out the amount over the days? could I increase my chances by bidding for 4 nights bringing the average price required down.

As for splitting the bid, because its only 3 nights and check-out & check-in times usually have a 4 hour gap, it would take up a good part of our stay.

Please could you recommend a good site for booking a stay that can be canceled.

Do priceline even out the amount over the days?

This is hotel-specific. Most hotels do average the bid needed per nite and then average it over the course of the stay in order to determine the minimum bid needed for a win. However, there are still a few hotels which require a bid to be enough to win the most expensive nite on its own in order to win the complete stay. So for example:

Scenario #1: nighly rates: $100, $125, $150 == requires $125 bid to win

Scenario #2: nighly rates: $100, $125, $150 == requires $150 bid to win

...could I increase my chances by bidding for 4 nights bringing the average price required down.

Yes, assuming the additional nite is lower than the average of the other nites.

You can try BiddingHelper.com and using the HOTWIRE's "retail" rates (after doing a search click the BLUE tab on their page) and Hotels.com... BiddingHelper makes it easy to search both at the same time. As well, you use MAPS and HOTELS.com to easily see how much more/less it will cost to go higher/lower in star rating OR go up/down in star level. These sites include both refundable and non-refundable rates so you'll have to see the terms of anything that is appealing to ensure it's refundable. We also have links in our Support Page to most of the major hotel chains.

Keep us updated on your plans and let us know if we can be of further help along the way.

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

Got the Ramada Plaza New Yorker Hotel- 4.0-star hotel 4 nights for 498.73 (GBP)incl tax etc.

Dates were Tuesday May 29th 2012 to Saturday checkout June 2nd 2012.

Can't find the amenities on my Hotwire account.

Please change the drop down menu on the top right of HOTWIRE's page to United States and the currency dropdown to US Dollars. Then continue to search HOTWIRE and post to the board in US Dollars so that rates are consistent and not subject to interpretation due to future currency fluctuation. Once you're ready to purchase simply change the drop down menu to whatever currency you'd like to use and complete your purchase.

Please remember to follow-up your threads with your wins/decisions as you receive them so that the information can best help others in a timely manner.

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

Thanks.