priceline help

[cruiser2053]

I have not used PL much but I have been trying to book a room for Fort Lauderdale on Feb 17th beach or downtown and I am up to 95.00 I'm starting at beach hoping to get Pier 66 and then add downtown after I get rejected. After that it won't let me bid anymore unless I add a different option like location or star level (I'm doing 4 star). So I guess my question is is there something on this date going on thats making it hard to get a room or is it just bad luck and how can I keep bidding without waiting 24 hrs and keep my same options and just increase the price.

From previuos post here it seems like people are getting the Pier 66 for 70.00 at dates that are close to when we are going.

 

Thanks

Jeff

 

We sail on the Crown Princess Feb 18th

[eandj]

Glad you started a new thread. You can get a bit more help here.

 

First of all with all the mega ships in Ft. L now, Friday nights as well as Sat.s are $$$$ much higher than the past. Law of supply and demand. You can't really look at anyone else's dates to see what's happening. Mid week, a Sunday night, date booked...all totally different in terms of demand and comparisons. PLUS, you are looking at the weekend around Presidents Day and Valentines Day. BUSY.

If you look at the going rates of the standard rooms at the 4 stars....like W, Westin, IlLugano, Marriott, B, they are well over $200. You won't get a room for more than half off during a weekend in a peak month. Some people DID find decent pricing for that date, but they bought earlier when apparently a few rooms were listed. But rates are holding high this year as compared to other years. More travelers are willing to bite the bullet and pay higher rates with the hotels' sites or generic sites like expedia etc.

 

Now, what you could do is check on lastminutetravel and hotwire everyday for a couple weeks and see if anything shows up. Personally if you can find something around $130-140 I'd take it.

 

To get a free bid on PL, add downtown to your Four star beach area. The only hotel is Renasissance. You won't get it. Some of the other areas also do not have 4 stars, so you could add those. Use betterbidding.com to learn about free bids and do the research for the hotels list. I forget what they are.

 

Another thing is try 3 star Beach. That would give you Bahia Mar, Courtyard or Gallery One. All decent places.

 

Try to find something you could live with and is cancelable and book it. Then come mid-late Jan. , start hunting for a bargain.

[umieesa]

Definitely agree with the PP about betterbidding...I don't use PL without referring to their list first. You can add several zones that don't have the star category you're looking for, and this in effect allows you "free bids" without waiting 24 hours. Another easy way to check is click on a zone and see which star levels show up...I know some zones only have 2* so I would add those.

 

Good luck!

[debr]

FYI

 

Date - Sat., Jan. 21

Hotel - Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six

Site - Priceline

Bid - 4*, Beach, $78 + $17.04 = $95.04 (accepted on first bid)

 

Very pleased, got same hotel pre-cruise (Jan 5-6) for $79:)

 

Debr

 

[eandj]

FYI

 

Date - Sat., Jan. 21

Hotel - Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty Six

Site - Priceline

Bid - 4*, Beach, $78 + $17.04 = $95.04 (accepted on first bid)

 

 

 

This information, altho helpful to someone looking for Jan. 21, 2012 is of little help to someone looking for a super busy February weekend date. Newbies to bidding or opaque/blind sites like Hotwire or LMT are often misled to believe their dates should reap the same discounts as everyone else. :o That's not how things work.

[debr]

This information, altho helpful to someone looking for Jan. 21, 2012 is of little help to someone looking for a super busy February weekend date. Newbies to bidding or opaque/blind sites like Hotwire or LMT are often misled to believe their dates should reap the same discounts as everyone else. :o That's not how things work.

 

Just posting my win as an FYI, in case someone is looking for the same

date:o

 

Debr

[startwin]

Just posting my win as an FYI, in case someone is looking for the same

date:o

 

Debr

 

Thanks for the info, it's always useful no matter where you post it!

[BillyJen]

I've used Priceline many times and was never disappointed. However, having said that, Priceline does have some restrictions such as no money back cancellations, room for two only, don't know if breakfast is included, not sure which hotel you will get, etc. You only know you will get a certain number of stars hotel. If you're happy with that, good.

 

This year, we're driving and want to park our car for 8 days. I booked through: www.stay123reservations.com.

 

We know which hotel we're going to get before paying, cancellation fee is very minimal, parking & breakfast are included + we're sharing the room with my wife sister & husband at no extra cost.

 

To top it off, they offer a shuttle to the pier. Not a bad deal.

[umieesa]

Just to clarify...You can no longer guarantee the star level when you bid on Priceline. After bidding on a 2.5* I was "upgraded" to a 3* by PL. I was actually really upset about the upgrade since I was hoping for a specific hotel in that category (obviously you can never guarantee the hotel with PL, but usually you can narrow down the choices based on previous wins in a specific star category). After many hours and after speaking to many people at PL I was told that this is in fact their policy. I'm sure many times this would be appreciated, but as I tried to explain to the people at PL that it may not always be welcomed. For ex., if someone's trying to bid on a 3* in NYC and then gets upgraded to a 4*...it may not be welcomed if this person now has to pay $$$ for parking, $$$ internet, etc.

 

I suggested they have a box you check that says you don't want to be upgraded, but unfortunately since they don't make sure you are ok with the higher star options in any category you're bidding on beforehand.

[eandj]

Just to clarify...You can no longer guarantee the star level when you bid on Priceline. After bidding on a 2.5* I was "upgraded" to a 3* by PL.

 

.

 

 

Actually this has always been the policy. And PL states you will get at minimum that star level. It is always a good idea if using PL to check hotel lists on betterbidding.com and see if there are ANY hotels in the desired level or next highest level that you would definitely not want. If so, then use a different site. That's why hotwire and LMT are becoming more popular. You pay a bit more than PL, but you are more likely to know the hotel aheasd of purchasing at the given cost. :)

[swigso]

Try adding Hollywood 4* you will probably get the Westin Diplomat or the

Crown Plaza

[eandj]

Try adding Hollywood 4* you will probably get the Westin Diplomat or the

Crown Plaza

 

 

Nice hotels, But... if you do get these, you are adding to your cab fare. (About $35-40 to/from port from the Crowne. ) So for one night, the room rate has to be a pretty nice deal to make the cab fare a non-issue.

[swigso]

Nice hotels, But... if you do get these, you are adding to your cab fare. (About $35-40 to/from port from the Crowne. ) So for one night, the room rate has to be a pretty nice deal to make the cab fare a non-issue.

We got it for $125 a night including tax in March after our Connie cruise

And it is the beach location, $35 for a cab still makes it a great deal,

Should be on the golf course by 11am.

[eandj]

We got it for $125 a night including tax in March after our Connie cruise

And it is the beach location, $35 for a cab still makes it a great deal,

Should be on the golf course by 11am.

 

Yep. That's what I mean. We will be there and the Westin ( across the street) in late Jan. for 4 nights. Definitely a good value for us. We'll make a res. for 18 for you;)

[BlueHerons]

Actually this has always been the policy. And PL states you will get at minimum that star level. :)

 

Yep, that's always been the policy. So you are not upgraded you are just not given a hotel below the level you pick.

[RVRoadie]

Also, check out Bidding For Travel. Lots of tips for smart bidding, and people post what they are getting.

[gelo7]

Glad you started a new thread. You can get a bit more help here.

 

First of all with all the mega ships in Ft. L now, Friday nights as well as Sat.s are $$$$ much higher than the past. Law of supply and demand. You can't really look at anyone else's dates to see what's happening. Mid week, a Sunday night, date booked...all totally different in terms of demand and comparisons. PLUS, you are looking at the weekend around Presidents Day and Valentines Day. BUSY.

If you look at the going rates of the standard rooms at the 4 stars....like W, Westin, IlLugano, Marriott, B, they are well over $200. You won't get a room for more than half off during a weekend in a peak month. Some people DID find decent pricing for that date, but they bought earlier when apparently a few rooms were listed. But rates are holding high this year as compared to other years. More travelers are willing to bite the bullet and pay higher rates with the hotels' sites or generic sites like expedia etc.

 

Now, what you could do is check on lastminutetravel and hotwire everyday for a couple weeks and see if anything shows up. Personally if you can find something around $130-140 I'd take it.

 

To get a free bid on PL, add downtown to your Four star beach area. The only hotel is Renasissance. You won't get it. Some of the other areas also do not have 4 stars, so you could add those. Use betterbidding.com to learn about free bids and do the research for the hotels list. I forget what they are.

 

Another thing is try 3 star Beach. That would give you Bahia Mar, Courtyard or Gallery One. All decent places.

 

Try to find something you could live with and is cancelable and book it. Then come mid-late Jan. , start hunting for a bargain.

Very insightful........

[renech]

Another site to consider for assistance with Priceline is BiddingTraveler.com. It's fairly new-ish, but it will actually calculate the bidding strategy for you. I have used Priceline quite a few times, but this just makes it that much easier when I don't have to figure out how to maximize my re-bids myself!

[cruiser2053]

Another site to consider for assistance with Priceline is BiddingTraveler.com. It's fairly new-ish, but it will actually calculate the bidding strategy for you. I have used Priceline quite a few times, but this just makes it that much easier when I don't have to figure out how to maximize my re-bids myself!

 

This site was very interesting I went thru most of the steps but when it transfered me over to what the site said was PL and was asking for CC# the sit was not secure it was http and not https so I did not feel comfortable entering my CC#. The page did appear to be PL's own site but when I went to PL site and went thru the bidding process directly thru PL and sure enough when I got to the page where they ask for CC# it was https which is a secure page. So I think if you plan on using bidding traveler.com you should reconcider until they get their site secure. I'm actually wondering if its even a legit site or would I find my CC charged to the max. So has enybody used BiddingTraveler.com successfully/

Jeff

[cruiser2053]

I just wanted to thank everybody for the responses so far I look everyday at the advise given and I do appreciate it very much

Jeff

[renech]

The designer of the site has a thread on flyer talk.com to get feedback from all the frequent travelers there. That's where I first heard of it. There's a lot information in that thread about it. You could certainly just use the site to show you the bidding strategy and then use Priceline without going through them. There is a "show me" option.

 

I have NO affiliation with this site. Promise! :). I just find it very useful. Btw, there is a $5 Holiday Bonus being offered by Priceline today.

 

Flyer talk thread LINK

[melligene]

I have not used PL much but I have been trying to book a room for Fort Lauderdale on Feb 17th beach or downtown and I am up to 95.00 I'm starting at beach hoping to get Pier 66 and then add downtown after I get rejected. After that it won't let me bid anymore unless I add a different option like location or star level (I'm doing 4 star). So I guess my question is is there something on this date going on thats making it hard to get a room or is it just bad luck and how can I keep bidding without waiting 24 hrs and keep my same options and just increase the price.

From previuos post here it seems like people are getting the Pier 66 for 70.00 at dates that are close to when we are going.

 

Thanks

Jeff

 

We sail on the Crown Princess Feb 18th

 

 

Just my $.02 worth. If you can afford a flight from your location and a cruise too....wouldn't it be less stressfull to just book a hotel at about $100.00 per night and know what your getting...? Guaranteed...? Kinda like stepping over a dollar bill to pick up a dime.....isn't it..? Just sayin.......:cool:

[BlueHerons]

Just my $.02 worth. If you can afford a flight from your location and a cruise too....wouldn't it be less stressfull to just book a hotel at about $100.00 per night and know what your getting...? Guaranteed...? Kinda like stepping over a dollar bill to pick up a dime.....isn't it..? Just sayin.......:cool:

 

A lot of times the posters are getting the Hyatt Pier 66 for $100 when the rack rate is $279 so no, it isn't like stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime.

 

Posters are saving more than half on hotel rooms using these discount sites.

[renech]

Just my $.02 worth. If you can afford a flight from your location and a cruise too....wouldn't it be less stressfull to just book a hotel at about $100.00 per night and know what your getting...? Guaranteed...? Kinda like stepping over a dollar bill to pick up a dime.....isn't it..? Just sayin.......:cool:

 

Maybe if I found it stressful, I would agree with you. Honestly, I enjoy working out all the details of my trips, and if I can save a few bucks, even better. :)

 

For a 1-night pre-cruise stay I'm fine with an unknown hotel as long as it's 3-4 star and in the area I want. For our longer family trips, I am a lot more particular and don't use the bidding sites.

[debr]

Just my $.02 worth. If you can afford a flight from your location and a cruise too....wouldn't it be less stressfull to just book a hotel at about $100.00 per night and know what your getting...? Guaranteed...? Kinda like stepping over a dollar bill to pick up a dime.....isn't it..? Just sayin.......:cool:

 

No stress involved at all, great fun, especially when you get Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty for $78. Any 4* hotel on the beach is just fine with me:) If no win, then I'll stay at that full priced hotel I reserved at the beginning of the planning process.:D

 

Debr