Originally Posted By joeysmommy Thanks Lulu and LVCajun I like surprises but not a funky hotel room. I would definitely buy the $5 insurance in case i don't like it.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf I always do 3-stars and end up getting the Hyatt. Even though parking is expensive, the hotel is nice and they have a Starbucks in the lobby. I just booked it for this weekend and got it for $64 (I bid $50 and it came back saying that if I increased my bid by $14 I'd get something). Usually I pay somewhere in the $40 range for the same hotel.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf I always do 3-stars and end up getting the Hyatt. Even though parking is expensive, the hotel is nice and they have a Starbucks in the lobby. I just booked it for this weekend and got it for $64 (I bid $50 and it came back saying that if I increased my bid by $14 I'd get something). Usually I pay somewhere in the $40 range for the same hotel.
Originally Posted By redlegtwo I always do 3 stars in the Disneyland area on Priceline. I've gotten the Hyatt 3 times and Hilton Suites 1 time. I like both places. I got the Hyatt on 9/22-9/24 for $49/night thru Priceline. I really didn't think my bid would get accepted because I usually pay $60-$64/night thru Priceline. I was pretty surprised. I've been using Priceline since April of this year. I was scared to try it at first, but I've been happy with everything so far.
Originally Posted By AZDLDad We've used Priceline and had bids accepted for Hyatt twice in the past couple of years. We've paid as low as $35 per night plus fees, to $236 total for 3 nights in March 2006. It was a high booking time for this property. Still considerably cheaper than most places. On occasion I had to add another area without a 3star property for my non-wait re-bid. Anyone correct me if I am wrong, but bid only for 3 nights and then add nights when your bid is accepted. I found that this was one trick I did not read about on any board.
Originally Posted By TinkerbellPatten This has been a very informative thread. I'm so glad I asked! I will be bidding for a 3 star in the area and see what happens. I know that there are parking fees but I don't mind paying them when the nightly rates can be gotten for so low. It will be fun to stay somewhere nice, a new experience for the kids. One question remains (please bear with me...) but when should I place my bid? Is it too early? (Trip is last week of November.) Are my chances better, if it's closer to the check-in date?
Originally Posted By busycamom I would start bidding now. I am planning a Thanksgiving trip and have already started. You can bid every 24 hours so no need to pay a higher price yet. The highest I will go for a 3 star is $55.00. Good luck!
Originally Posted By AZDLDad You can bid more often if you use your other "non-3star" areas wisely, rather than waiting 24-hours. You will not be placed in those areas.
Originally Posted By mousegrl A quick note on the insurance. Check the limitations! I had a trip planned last year that I had to cancel, and they will only cancel for a medical emergency with note, death, ect. It's a big pain. My son's father ended up taking my son, so nothing was lost for us. We had gone through priceline, also. (For San Diego)Just check before hand, so you know the restrictions.
Originally Posted By AZDLDad joeysmommy- from Hyatt 1.5 miles to east entrance bus stop- plan on 20 minutes from boarding to walking to DL gate. The Hyatt bus was not taking the Marriott hotel guests last March. So the bus was not as full as it used to be. The bus also drives across Chapman to 1 other hotel stop. The drivers are friendly and fun too.
Originally Posted By LuLu I didn't know you could add nights after your bid is accepted. Is this true? I haven't used Priceline in a couple years. I also didn't know about the insurance, but am not surprised it has a lot of restrictions. Great info, all!
Originally Posted By Tinkermom LuLu -- Yes, you can add additional nights after your bid has been accepted. I've done it twice. The insurance is really sticky. I purchased a hotel in San Francisco in July (hubby had Giants tickets) but he ended up getting terribly sick the night before we were to leave. I've been jumping through hoops and I'm still waiting to hear if we will be reimbursed for the room (I purchased the insurance as well). ~Tink
Originally Posted By TinkerbellPatten Hi again all... Just an update for anyone who is interested in learning more about the bidding. I have begun the bidding process and quickly found it to be addicting! Our trip starts out in San Diego, unfortunately during Thanksgiving weekend, so finding a deal on a room there has been a challenge. However, I have been bidding on priceline and was able to get a 2 1/2 star Holiday Inn in the Hotel Circle area of San Diego for that weekend for $58 a night. I am very pleased about this, the lowest rate that I could get through the hotel itself or via any other online travel co. was in the $110-120 range per night for this hotel on those dates. Since priceline only guarantees one bed, I immediately called the hotel directly and requested 2 queen beds to accomodate our family of 4. No problems at all, guaranteed 2 queens and no additional charges. FYI: Regarding the Anaheim/D'land portion of our trip: as mentioned on an earlier page of this thread, I attempted to get a deal through "hotel wholesalers and consolidator Hotel Reservations Network" for my Anaheim stay the following week, and did not get any deals at all. In fact, it was a complete waste of time. I told them what I was willing to pay and they could not come close to what priceline was doing and they did not even try. The rates they quoted were regular rack rates, even though I pointed out that it's the week after T'giving being a slow time in the park and there are no conventions that week, therefore I know there are plenty of rooms available, but they would not come down on the regular rack rates at all. So I continue to bid on priceline for a 3 star or 2 1/2 star in the Disneyland area. So far, I have bid up to $46 a night and still not accepted. Since you can only bid once every 24 hours, I just go up a few bucks a day to see how low I can get it. Call me frugal! ;D But it's fun! Thanks to all for your advice! I will post here, just how low they were willing to go, and what deal I got for anyone who's interested... Until then, the bidding happily continues. TinkerbellPatten
Originally Posted By TinkerbellPatten I have been bidding priceline for a 3 star for the week after Thanksgiving in Anaheim. I was bidding up by only a few bucks each 24 hours and finally got my bid accepted for $69 a night and they stuck me with the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort which is on Manchester Ave. This is only 3 dollars less than priceline's advertised rate for this hotel! Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a 3 star quality hotel IMO and the customer reviews were stating the same. Since priceline only guarantees one bed, I called the hotel direct to find out what my room setup would be and it's a King smoking which is not enough beds for our family of four. This hotel does not have a 2 queen configuration unless you upgrade to suite. So we had to do this for an extra $20 a night that we had to pay the hotel directly for, in addition to the money we already paid priceline. Needless to say, this ended up being a very expensive and painful lesson. I'm so bummed about the whole thing but I was warned beforehand about the # of beds possibility and my optimism won out over the caution... My advice: Only do priceline if you're only needing one bed. I will not be doing priceline again unless it's just me and the hubby. I'm glad it worked out for San Diego, though... TinkerbellPatten
Originally Posted By Dave Here you go. I need to stay near the Anaheim Hills area tomorrow night and did priceline and my results are.... Your Price Has Been Accepted Congratulations, you got your price of $45 for a 2-star hotel room. Save even more when you add a rental car below. Fairfield Inn Anaheim Hills <a href="http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/LAXAM" target="_blank">http://marriott.com/property/p ropertypage/LAXAM</a>
Originally Posted By Dave And you can get the same in the resort area too. I have a couple friends who do it weekly.
