Help with Priceline

Hi....I posted a message on bidding for travel like you NY experts recommended yesterday but I did not get any answers so I decided to try mu luck here. Maybe you could help me with those few questions!

1)I plan on travelling to NY at the end of July. I will either be arriving on Friday July 21st or Sunday July 23rd. Is there a day between the two which will be more sure of winning? Is it easier getting hotels through Priceline on weekend or on weekdays?

2)I want to stay 4 or 5 nights. Is it too many nights for Priceline? Do you suggest booking 3 nights through Priceline and 2 nights via a hotel website or travel zoo?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Help with Priceline

I would go to www.betterbidding.com I have been researching this and found that there is alot more activity on that website (well in the NY section at least) and the mods are alot friendlier for first timers.

Help with Priceline

I%26#39;ll give you my thoughts, but I%26#39;m not an expert. You should try posting on betterbidding.com

Many of the 4* hotels are more business oriented. Therefore, I think it%26#39;s easier to get a Fri. check in than a Sunday check in. I think you%26#39;d have better luck splitting the trip in 2 parts, whether that involves 2 Priceline bids (Fri-Sun and Mon-whenever) or Priceline plus other. One way to check this out is to try a regular booking at the hotel that%26#39;s won most often in the area you%26#39;re bidding for on the dates you want and see if it%26#39;s available. If it%26#39;s not, that tells you something.

But I would first try bidding for the whole trip. I repeat, I%26#39;m NOT an expert and in addition to these questions, there%26#39;s the issue of how to bid more than 1 area, assuming you want to do that. Very often, I%26#39;ve seen BFT advise people to make separate bids for different areas. (ie first bid midtown west, use up free re-bids and if still no luck, start a new bid for midtown east).

Thanks to you two....I just posted on betterbidding.com. Maybe I will get more chance there.

In response to NY whiz, I will try for two areas. I also go on the hotels websites of the areas I am more interested in (downtown and midtown south 4 stars) and I think that Friday is the more ';winning'; of the two days, but I wanted experts opinions on this. Even if you say you are no expert, you seem to know more about this than I do.

One last question....When shall I start bidding for July 21st? Do I wait at the last minute or do I start soon?

I don%26#39;t think there%26#39;s any right answer to that question and it%26#39;s asked often on the bidding sites. I think the answer is, the sooner you try, the better your chances of getting something. If you try now and don%26#39;t ';win'; anything, you have that much longer to keep trying. I would book something now that%26#39;s cancellable though in case you don%26#39;t win a bid through PL.

PS I have rarely (if ever) seen a winning bid for midtown south. There are only 2 hotels there, 70 Park and Morgan%26#39;s. In the downtown area, the Millenium Hilton is the most won hotel. Will you be happy there?

Whatever you do, check the hotel%26#39;s and other websites (such as expedia and travelocity) to make sure you aren%26#39;t bidding more than you should. I can almost almost always get about 30-45% percent off a listed price through priceline.

Also pay close attention to the fees and taxes that priceline puts on after the rate. That can differ greatly based on how much you are paying.

Another thing is to reserve a hotel room that you can cancel and keep trying priceline.

Cricri,

I saw your post removed from betterbidding....did you pick an alternative to priceline bidding?

Dear Voyagereuse....It is nice of you to write back when you noticed my post being removed from betterbidding. I%26#39;m fluent in English, but sometimes I miss a couple of subtilities and I did not quite understand how betterbidding worked and I just wanted to ask a couple of questions. The person in charge of the board was not happy with me because I bidded on Priceline without going through their link. I replied to her mail, very nicely by the way, asking why did I have to go through their link. I was asking what difference did it make. She did not answer me and took my post off!! Do you know why you have to go through their link? What do they gain since you end up on Priceline anyway?

So I%26#39;m just bidding by myself now. Since I am going only at the of the month, my bids did not win. My intuition tells me that if you want to win with a not too pricey bid (around120$) you better wait near the dates. Is my intuition right?

By the way...people are nicer here than on betterbidding :)

Forgot to include the other NY experts in there with Voyagereuse....nywhiz..bettina...queensboulevard...and don%26#39;t hate me if I forget some. People are always ready to give you an answer and they are nice. You don%26#39;t see that in every forum!

I also got a nasty pm from a mod on betterbidding, because I didn%26#39;t post something properly. I won%26#39;t be going back there either.