I bid $80 for a four star in downtown and I was rejected so I added South Boston and was still rejected but I don't know what I can do to get another bid. I would like to stay in downtown Boston at a 4* if possible.

Thanks,
Leslie

Basically you add additional areas that DON'T have 4-star properties in them (so you don't end up getting a hotel in some part of the region that you don't want to stay in), plus increasing your bid if necessary, until you either get a hotel or run out of bidding areas, in which case you have to wait 72 hours before starting over.

If you haven't already done this, you'll definitely benefit from looking at www.biddingfortravel.com, which not only gives recent results on hotel bids, but also offers lists of hotels booked by people using PL, and provides valuable pointers on how to bid.

Are you the same person who was looking for a hotel room for weekend of Boston Marathon? If so, that is probably the problem as it is school vacation week as well as marathon. If you are not the same person, I apologize.

Leslie - what are the best available rates for hotels on the days of your stay? What do you find when checking these rates in Orbitz or Travelocity? You need to use those rates as a basis for Priceline bidding. If everything is sold out or unusually pricey for those days, you can't expect to bid the same you would bid for a slower time in Boston.

You can re-bid immediately if you add another Boston zone that does *not* have any 4-star hotels (this is known as a "free rebid"). You can find your free rebid zones if you look at each zone in Boston individually; if that zone has any 4-star hotels in it then it is NOT a free re-bid zone for 4-star hotels.

All is explained the FAQ at BiddingForTravel.com

Andrew

Are you quite set on "Downtown"? Do you understand Boston well enough to understand that "Downtown" includes a shopping district, the financial district, and perhaps the theater district, but that most of the tourist attractions and nice shopping are in other sections, especialy the waterfront and the Back Bay/Copley area? The area that Priceline (and most locals) calls "Downtown" is a very very small area within a city that's already quite compact, and it includes relatively few hotels to begin with. I'm just saying, make sure about your geography before you start adding other areas to your bid or restricting yourself to Downtown.

You can add the Seaport zone if your bid is not over $100, as it will take $100 to $110 to get the Seaport Hotel, which is a 4 star. Otherwise you can safely add the Airport/Revere zone, as long as you want a 4 star hotel (there aren't any 4 stars in that zone).