Hello travelers- my husband and I want to bid on a hotel in NYC, probably in late August, but don't have a clue what price to bid. Anyone know what the going rate on Priceline (or similar site) is, for a NYC hotel room?

Or is there a website or something that gives an idea of what rooms are going for, in various cities, using these reverse auction type of travel sites?

Thanks!!!

betterbidding.com i think

biddingfortravel.com is great. Read the FAQ, and browse the NYC boards. You can post your specific dates and needs (following the form posted in the FAQ) and the moderator there will provide you with a bidding strategy.

Good luck!

Definitely study FAQ's and winning bids on www.betterbidding.com and www.biddingfortravel.com

It would be a good idea to complete the assistance request form on www.biddingfortravel.com and ask for assistance.

Also, have a look at Hotwire.

Everything turns on your dates. Rates can vary substantially for one weekend, compared to another, all depending on what's going on and hotel fill rates.

If you are booking flights, be SURE to shop like the dickens and book the best hotel room at the best rate you can find before purchasing your tickets.

Also, before you bid, check the going rates at the hotels that priceline usually awards (listed on biddingfortravel) for the dates you are going. Kayak.com is a good tool for searching for the best going rates. ALso, always check for AAA discounts (if you have AAA) or similar (AARP, etc) on the hotel websites. I never bid more than 2/3 of the best price I can find elsewhere.

I always start NO higher than 40% of the hotels web rates.

The more time you spend checking rates, the less likely you are to overbid. I check the hotel's rates for dates of winning bids (for my approximate dates, if available) and calculate the percentage.

For NYC, it's beneficial to know which Priceline hotels (from the pinned lists on the web sites above) are in which area, so that when adding zones and rebidding you're not increasing your bid and adding an area where the rates are usually lower.

Sometimes, it's useful just to see which hotels are coming up most frequently for your approximate dates and bid accordingly.

Since you have 6 weeks, and since you can probably use 'free rebids' (deceptive title), you can go slower and lower in bidding, especially since you don't have the experience.

If you are going to ask how to bid, know that bidding is not a simple procedure that can be explained quickly. There is a lot of info on Fodors because the same question has been asked and answered here many times.

If you search on Hotwire for hotels, very often that will give you an idea of what might be available (but for less) on Priceline. Betterbidding.com has a list of both Hotwire and Priceline hotels so you can figure out which they are.

Betterbidding also has a wins calendar so you can see what other people have already gotten. There have been some wins for the Labor Day weekend.

I bid $120 on a 4* in MTW - and got it on the first bid.

Starrs: When did you bid for 4* MTW and for what dates. I have been trying for 8/27-8/31 for months with no success.

Thanks