Hi there Fodors friends!
With my 10-day Calif family adventure itinerary fairly well planned, I am looking to book two hotel rooms for multi-day stays in SD, LA, and SF. I've studied previous posts regarding hotels, and read all the instructions on Bidding For Travel for Priceline. As much as I've always claimed I'd never pay for something before knowing what it is - I am very tempted to bid $75 on an unkown 4* hotel, rather than paying $175 for a known 3*! Will my greed make me sorry?
So - now my more specific questions:
How are these areas for a family intent on heavy duty touring, and minor shopping:
SD: City center (inc Gaslamp) or Old Town
LA: Bev Hills or Hollywood
SF: Fisherman's Wharf or Union Sq.
Now, when I bid, I understand it's a good idea to post one area first with a lower bid, and if rejected, bid higher with 2 areas. But, I did not undertand the following instruction:
"If you decide to add a zone that offers the same quality you are bidding after you have already included one or more free re-bidding zones, rather than add that zone to your existing bid, you should start a completely new bid because that way, you have all of your free re-bidding zones, as well as the initial zone, to add once again as free re-bids. All of the information in this paragraph applies just the same if you change your travel dates (even by just one day)." What does this mean? Any insight?
Finally, would you recommend a site other than Priceline? I like the way HotWire has set prices to choose from and customer recommendations. Are they "for real" reviews? Does Travelocity or Expedia have beter deals generally? I love the Expedia interface, but you can't seem to get the super low prices, although you can pick from some very nice hotels.
Which website would you use if you knew the hotel you wanted, and just wanted to find the best price for it? Which one would you use if you were looking for the best deal anywherer for a particular long weekend? There's lots for me to learn, and I'll appreciate any advice, tips, or info! Thanks in advance.

Let me try to explain the bidding area question by using an example I will made up.

OK, I'm bidding on a 4* hotel in the Land of Oz. Land of Oz ia a largeish city with 5 bidding zones. We'll call these zones North Oz, South Oz, East Oz, West Oz, and Oz Central. When I see these zones listed I can click on each of them to see what star qualities are offered in each zone. I click Oz Central which lists up to 4*. I click the back button, unclick Oz Central and click on Oz West. Oz West has up to 3* listed as available. Ditto the back button, unclicking West and clicking a different zone until I have a list of which zones offer which quality of hotels.

I really want to stay in Oz Central, but if I had to, I would also accept Oz East. First off I'll try to get a hotel in Oz Central. I click on Oz Central zone and make a bid of, oh, $50. Not accepted. I am able to bid again if I also add Oz West. Oz West has no 4* hotles, so I know I won't have to stay there- it simply allows me to up my bid by $5 or $10and try again. Not accepted. I add Oz South which only offers up to 3* and up the bid again.

OK, I didn't get a hotel in Oz Central. If I have time before traveling I can keep an eye on hotel prices and availablity in Oz Central and try again in 3 days. Or I can try for a 4* hotel in Oz East. Do I add Oz East after all of my free rebids and up my bid yet again? No. I start over. I use Oz East as my zone of choice and make a reasonable bid. Perhaps I'll start at $50 again, perhaps I'll start lower, perhaps higher. This depends on hotel prices in the East Oz Zone. Then I can again add Oz West and Oz South one at a time if my bid is not accepted.

This probably makes no sense to you, but I tried. Atarting over with a new bid just helps prevent an overbid - after all, Oz Central is THE place to stay, and therefore hotel prices will reflect that and Oz West may contain hotels willing to accept a lower rate.

YIKES!
But thanks for trying...
Actually, I do see how this is going. But not sure I'm savy enough to pull it off. Does it work for you? Maybe I'll just get lucky and have my first choice and rate accepted. If not, there's no place like home!

You've got it partly wrong. You cannot raise your star-level on a re-bid, only lower it or change days or add new areas. Thus it's best to start high and go down (see below).

The key to bidding on Priceline (or using Hotwire, for that matter) is to ask yourself constantly, "What's the worst outcome that might result from this bid?"

In other words, if you add a zone without 4-star places in order to get a free re-bid in one that does (without waiting 72 hours), what's the worst that could happen? Well, there are two possibilities that come to mind. First, there might be an unreported 4-star in the less desirable area, and you'd be the first one to get it. Highly unlikely - generally hotels don't want to be the only 4-star in a given zone because that makes them easy targets. Second, you still might not bid high enough to get a four-star in your "target" zone, so you'd need to add yet another zone without 4-stars (for a total of 3 zones) in order to get a second free re-bid. In some areas you can't find three zones without 4-stars (or 3-stars in some cases) so you're at risk of getting a hotel in an area you don't want to be in. At that point you're smartest just to stop and wait 3 days before trying again.

Dropping to 3-stars in a re-bid when you've been turned down at the 4-star level is almost always a dumb move. You'll almost certainly overpay for the 3-star place you win. As Biddingfortravel says, the smart move here is to bail and come back (right away) with a new bid at the 3-star level. Priceline won't let you come in with a new bid higher than one you got turned down for, but they'll always let you start a new bid at a lower star rating. Again, use the BFT results lists and hotel lists to see what 3- or 4-star places are getting in each zone because they will differ greatly.

Now, to your specific questions:

San Diego, not a huge difference IMO. We actually always bid on La Jolla ourselves - just as convenient to major tourist resources and generally nicer places.

LA - not Hollywood. There are a few good places, many more blah, plus aside from a couple of attractions (Hollywood/Highland) it's not especially a nice part of town, and not terribly convenient. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, or even downtown LA, are better bets for the majority of visitors. Usually there are good deals in BH because of competition.

SF: Priceline recently merged two downtown zones so that it's tough to sort out the "Union Square East/Financial District" properties from the "Union Square West" ones. The western part of the Union Square zone can and does include properties in the "Tenderloin" area, which has (rightly or wrongly) a bad rep - street life aplenty, seedy commerce, that sort of thing. Fisherman's Wharf is pretty touristy and some of the places are a little over-used, shall we say, and no 4-stars according to BFT, so it's up to you. With kids I'd probably opt for Fisherman's Wharf, without I'd go for the Union Square-Embarcadero zone, but only for 4-stars, not "boutique" or 3-stars. Too big a crapshoot on quality when you do that.

What most of us do in PL-rich cities is book (conventionally) something you can afford, but with a reservation that you can cancel without penalty. Then start shopping on PL, but as low as you can based on BFT results. That way you've got the security of your confirmed res while you roll the dice on PL.

Again, read the FAQs at BFT, hard as it might be. It's all there.

You can also fill out a bidding request for at biddingfortravel to get them to help you with the bidding. But - fill it out 100% completely. They require you to do your homework first - it's not fair to ask them to do it!

And about hotwire - it's a great resource to check, but I would probably not be inclined to book there. I look there to basically set an upper limit to priceline bidding. If a 4* is being offered on hotwire for $100, I certainly wouldn't go to priceline and bid $125, but I would start lower on priceline. I set my bidding strategy based on lots of info, though, so it's difficult to give generic tips other than reading and reading and reading.

Finally - if you are the kind of person who is very picky about your hotels, then this simply may not be a good idea for you. Some people prefer to know exactly what they're getting, and have specific desires for the hotel. Others are flexible, as long as the general vicinity is good and the hotel is clean, etc. they're happy. They're the ones that can consistently use priceline and be pleased with the results. Evaluate your needs, then decide if you like the idea of saving money and accepting uncertainty!

Thank you for the clarification, Gardyloo. Very helpful!
Yes, I'm pretty thorough. I've printed and highlighted all the FAQs! I really want to de-stress about getting the perfect hotel in the perfect area. We will have a car, so it seems to me if we can get a 4* room for $75 in the right city, we ought to be pretty happy! Just don't want to mess up!

Thank you, Jennifer! I'm often picky when staying at a resort for a week, but this is a touring vacation. How much will we really be in the room? It's 3 nights max everwhere, with lots of site-seeing, so I think I'll go for it!

Hotwire isn't really a bad option. You will pay a bit more than you would for a Priceline bid, but there's no guesswork!

I stayed last year in Seattle using Hotwire and paid $85 at the Crowne Plaza. Friends tried and tried for several weeks using Priceline and finally ended up at, you guessed it, the Crowne Plaza. Their final tally was $80!

I won't attempt to explain the PL bidding issue but ...you mention family vacation. If you plan on more than 2 in a room, make sure you can do that with a PL bid in all your intended locations. There are some places/locations you can't!

I disagree about location in SD not mattering. It's true it's fairly easy to get from 1 area to another,but the feel of the various areas is very different. La Jolla & Coronado have a very laid back beachy feel, yet both are relatively close to sites of interest & both are on the SD tram route. The downtown area feels very citified with lots of skyscrapers.

Thanks McLaurie!
We do plan to bid for 2 rooms - that's why we want to get the cheapest rates possible!
I don't know if we want the beachy feel, since we take a lot of beach vacations in New England. I think I want the flavor of the cities we are visiting. So... Downtown San Diego, Beverly Hills for LA, and Fisherman's Wharf for San Fran.
What's the atmosphere or "feel" of Old Town section?

I'd be careful with Old Town...which hotels are you looking at? Some are right on busy I-5, which can be convenient, but doesn't do much for ambience. Personally, I like to go to Old Town for a festive Mexican food dinner, but it wouldn't be my first choice as a place to stay. Just my opinion.

Thanks Jocelyn! You've helped me so much today. I knew I liked you from the moment I read about your move to Tulsa this morning!

This is definitely not the nicest place to stay, but my daughter and I were happy with staying at the HoJo on Rosecrans. There is a large shopping mall across the street, and numerous reasonable, quick eating options. A continental breakfast (not that great, but anyway) is included at HoJo. HoJo also offers a free shuttle to the zoo, SeaWorld, and the airport. Getting downtown was very easy by bus (and it would be by car, also). Getting to Old Town and La Jolla was also easy.

Ah, gee, thanks, Dreamer! Do you have a connection to OK?

Have you considered staying at a hotel that may accomodate all four of you in one room? There's an Embassy Suites downtown adjacent to Seaport Village that has a queen sleeper sofa. Or, do you want your private time with your hubby?

http://www.embassysuitessd.signonsandiego.com/1.html

Most of the "suite" hotels have a king and a queen sofa bed. I have the teen variety pack, and most of the places I've contacted won't bring in a cot for a fouth. grumble,grumble...
No ties to OK, but loved your get up and go attitude, and excitement about the new place! But it can't hurt that it's homestate to Reba!
Okay, now that I know some of the tricks of the trade... I still have this fear of bidding a place I don't want to stay just because I supposedly "know" there's no 4* there. And I know this only because no one has posted it on Biddingfor Travel? Or because PL has no 4* listed for that area?
Thanks again!

Dreamer2, I don't think you should bid for Priceline.

"I really want to de-stress about getting the perfect hotel in the perfect area." Priceline is NOT for those who want a perfect hotel in the perfect area. It is for those who are willing to take a chance on what they get as far as hotels. Other than getting a hotel of a certain level in the area you bid on, there are no guarantees. Even the hotel level is sometimes a bit questionable. It may be rated 4 star but you may feel it's only 3 star........

"I still have this fear of bidding a place I don't want to stay just because I supposedly "know" there's no 4* there. And I know this only because no one has posted it on Biddingfor Travel? Or because PL has no 4* listed for that area?" The only way to be sure that there are no 4 * hotels in a particular area is if Priceline does not list that star level as available in that area. BFT clearly tells you that what is on their list is only what has been reported to them and could change at any time.

You can get great deals on Priceline but it it not for the picky or for those who are not VERY flexible. I believe most of the people who are unhappy with Priceline are those who have unrealistic expectations. I have been pleased with my Priceline experiences but I am not overly picky and I am willing to gamble on getting a great deal -- fully expecting to get a place that's okay based on what I'm paying for it. And I utilize BFT and do my homework in advance.

Dreamer2, this is how you figure out "free rebid zones."

Go to Priceline.com and enter your dates, as if you were going to make a bid. Select a zone (say Old Town - Sports Arena) and proceed. You will observe that the Old Town zone only has 2.5*, 2*, and 1* hotels.

So if you are bidding on Priceline for a San Diego Downtown/Harbor Island hotel, you would do this:

Bid #1 for a 4* hotel in San Diego Downtown/Harbor Island
Bid #2 for a 4* hotel in San Diego Downtown/Harbor Island + Old Town

Since there aren't any 4* hotels offered by Priceline in Old Town (as you have just confirmed), you won't end up with a 4* hotel in Old Town if you win your bid.

In the San Diego area, there are numerous "free rebid zones" for a four-star hotel and you just have to methodically check each area, as I described, in order to find them.

Thank you so much Will Travel!
Well, yippy skippy, I did it!
I felt like I was at a roulette table, as the processing page kept updating!
Started with SD:
Bid $51 for 4* downtown.
No go.
Went up to $55 and added La Jolla along with downtown.
Got the Hyatt Regency!
Looks lovely to me, and you can't beat the price!
Now - on to LA!
Thanks everybody!

Congrats and have a great time!

The La Jolla Hyatt is very nice indeed. Well done.