Bidding strategy
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 55,189
Bidding strategy
I just found out that I am definitely going to Portland, ME for the 3-day Labor Day weekend and I want to use Priceline for my hotel and car rental. Now with the hotel, if I get turned down with all of my rebids, can I begin anew with a one night stay bid and then a two-night stay bid? Will this work? Same for car rentals? Thanks.
#2
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: New York City
Posts: 4,002
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Analise:
I just found out that I am definitely going to Portland, ME for the 3-day Labor Day weekend and I want to use Priceline for my hotel and car rental. Now with the hotel, if I get turned down with all of my rebids, can I begin anew with a one night stay bid and then a two-night stay bid? Will this work? Same for car rentals? Thanks.</font>
I just found out that I am definitely going to Portland, ME for the 3-day Labor Day weekend and I want to use Priceline for my hotel and car rental. Now with the hotel, if I get turned down with all of my rebids, can I begin anew with a one night stay bid and then a two-night stay bid? Will this work? Same for car rentals? Thanks.</font>
In general it's quite possible that one hotel might have availability one night at a reasonable price, and another hotel the next night at a reasonable price, but that no single hotel has availability for two nights in a row.
Just make sure that every bid you start is a new one, if there are any rebid zones involved at all.
I've never tried rental cars.
#3
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 290
No problem with breaking up your stay for the bidding, but be advised that you may end up with different hotels. I have done this in the past and have had to change hotels about one-third to one-half of the time. As was suggested, it is possible that no one hotel has availability during the entire stay. Also, if there is a season change or anything of the sort over your stay, the PL rate could change by a large amount, making bidding more tricky.
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 179
You may want to take a look at Hotwire also... they offer packages for car and hotel where they actually tell you the hotel beforehand.
At the very least, it will give you an idea of what availability is like for that weekend and also give you a maximum that you would want to be bidding on Priceline.
At the very least, it will give you an idea of what availability is like for that weekend and also give you a maximum that you would want to be bidding on Priceline.
#5
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by thereuare:
You may want to take a look at Hotwire also... they offer packages for car and hotel where they actually tell you the hotel beforehand.
At the very least, it will give you an idea of what availability is like for that weekend and also give you a maximum that you would want to be bidding on Priceline.</font>
You may want to take a look at Hotwire also... they offer packages for car and hotel where they actually tell you the hotel beforehand.
At the very least, it will give you an idea of what availability is like for that weekend and also give you a maximum that you would want to be bidding on Priceline.</font>
For Friday night, SideStep found me the Days Inn in South Portland for $89.20. That is the best I could find.
#6
Join Date: Jul 2003
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Posts: 2,706
I think you did pretty well for the Labor Day weekend. For my upcoming trip, I broke it up. I needed a room (as you know) for two nights but kept getting rejected as I kept bidding up. I decided to break it into two one-night bids and the first night cleared at $70 for the Doubletree. I'm still bidding for the second night but I figure even if I end up paying, say, $90, it's still lower than two nights at $90.
Also, as you made me aware, it's not that much of a risk for Portland since there are so few 3* properties so the possibility of having to move is less than in other cities.
Also, as you made me aware, it's not that much of a risk for Portland since there are so few 3* properties so the possibility of having to move is less than in other cities.
#7
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by honmani2:
Also, as you made me aware, it's not that much of a risk for Portland since there are so few 3* properties so the possibility of having to move is less than in other cities. </font>
Also, as you made me aware, it's not that much of a risk for Portland since there are so few 3* properties so the possibility of having to move is less than in other cities. </font>