Was wondering if anyone has experience using Priceline in New Orleans. I've looked at Biddingfortravel.com but the Louisiana messageboard doesn't get much traffic so I thought some of you Fodorites could help. I've used Priceline in the past, but found that it works great in some cities (SF) but terrible in others (DC). How is it for NO?

The fact that the Louisiana message section of BiddingForTravel.com should give you a clear hint on how much Priceline participation there is in New Orleans. Believe me, the readers of BFT travel to New Orleans and have bid for hotels there (OK, not me). If they were successful, you'd see the bids there. Failed bids are less commonly posted on BFT.

So I doubt you'll find better info here than you found (or didn't find) on BFT. Try posting a request for bid help under Louisiana (is that the category for New Orleans?). Read the FAQ on BiddingForTravel, too. Post your dates of travel in your message and the best available rates for those days (as required by the FAQ) and someone there will try to help you.

(BFT is down Thursday 10/03 for a while longer - check back on Friday)

By the way, I'm not sure why you think Priceline is "terrible" in DC (do you mean Washington DC?)? I see a number of successful bids there on BFT, and I myself got the Hilton Arlington Towers for a good price there last July.

Andrew

I used Priceline in March, 2001 for New Orleans and ended up with the Hotel Monaco for $75.00/night. This hotel is in the Central Business District (between French Quarter and Garden District) and usually costs around $150-200/night. It was excellent! The bedding alone was so luxurious and soft! The rooms were small but that's to be expected in NO. Seriously, the hotel was fabulous!!

I will say that it took some time to have my bid accepted in the New Orleans area. I started out bidding around $45.00 for a 3 star or better hotel (b/c I had been successful with that amount in Memphis and Atlanta). I did not get anything since this bid was way too low. Then I visited several hotel websites for NO hotels to see what types of prices they were quoting. NO is a high dollar city for hotels, and I found that the mid-quality/mid-price type-hotels were in the $75 + range. After seeing this, I raised my bid to $75 and also picked the French Quarter, Garden District, and Central Business District for the areas. I still kept my choice of hotels as 3 star or better and got Hotel Monaco. Good luck if you decide to bid. If you're willing to be out of the FQ, your bid will probably have a better chance.

Andrew, GJRow was smart to ask about this PL on this forum. Not everyone who wins a hotel posts their success on BiddingForTravel - if you post there and you haven't bid through the administrator's link she berates at you. So, the people who bid on priceline.com often don't tell what they win on biddingForTravel.

I got the N.O. Radisson on Priceline. Not a good hotel at any price. I never felt safe. The next trip I got the Hyatt. Again, not very good location. I'd rather pay extra and choose when in a city where block to block can be different.

Check Orbitz. I have gotten good deals on NOLA hotels on their site.

xxx: Sheryl (one of the admins of BiddingForTravel.com) doesn't "berate" you if you don't use their link, though she does remind people to use it. The reason is that their site is a completely free service, and they get credit ($$$) if people bid on Priceline through their link. That helps keep the site free - or at least avoids those annoying pop-up ads EZBoard imposes on you if you don't pay enough money.

Show me another Priceline-focused site as comprehensive and useful (and as FREE!) as BiddingForTravel.com and I'll try it. It's hard to sympathize with a few complainers when so many other people (hundreds of posters, probably far more non-posters) seem to use BiddingForTravel.com without any hassle.
It's sure help save *me* a lot of money on hotels in the last year.

Andrew

Andrew - my experiences using Priceline in the Washington DC area weren't the greatest... the Radisson in Baltimore and the State Plaza in DC, both of which I would not recommend to anyone, or go back to. But my experiences elsewhere (SF, NYC, Philly, FL) were great so I was curious how the NO offerings stood. From the other posters who responded, it sounds like it'll be a gamble, but if it's cheap enough I'm willing to try it.

Btw, I love biddingfortravel...it's been extremely helpful for me while planning my travels.

Right now, 3* and 4* hotels in NO for early Dec (when I'm going) are in the $130-$200 price range. I'm hoping they will go down because of Lili, after which I'll put in my bid!