priceline???

[future canadian]

merci beaucoup, Databuzz .. and I plan to enjoy an outcall each nite .. one from Martin's group (xxxtase) and haven't decide on the other (thinking of Dangerous Curves but they are so hit~n~miss) .. but that's for another board

 

[metoo4]

FYI
Got the Hyatt at $75US for a 1 night stay 0n 09/14.
$70 was rejected.

 

[experimenter]

Priceline for Canadians

I have not tried PL for a couple of years or more. At that time they would not accept Canadians or Canadian credit cards. Has that changed ? TIA

 

[Doc Holliday]

FYI
Got the Hyatt at $75US for a 1 night stay 0n 09/14.
$70 was rejected.

Hotel rates are high at this time of the year. I don't really know why....not much is going on in Mtl as far as i know. I read somewhere else that the Hyatt has been upgraded to a 4-star on Hotwire, and is going in the $95-100 range. Looks like you lucked out getting it for $75 on PL, but you would have risked getting the HI Select instead. I'm not a big fan of this hotel, especially when summer is almost over.

 

[metoo4]

I have not tried PL for a couple of years or more. At that time they would not accept Canadians or Canadian credit cards. Has that changed ? TIA

Still doesn't work but who said you had to tell them you have a Canadian card?
With a Canadian Mastercard, it should be no problems. When you register in Priceline, you put the state at "CA" and the ZIP code to anything valid.
On the second lign of your address, you put the province, and postal code.

It worked for me!

JaJ: I did a first bid at $70 for a 3*, but it got rejected. After checking the web for availability elsewhere, I bid again for a 2.5* at $75, hoping for the Marriott Residence Westmount but got "upgraded" to the 3* Hyatt.

 

[kman]

bidding advice

Don't want to get Holiday Inn Select Montreal (Centreville) for my mid-October trip. Hyatt Regency Montreal is preferred (3*) . Any advice on starting bids? Any thoughts on the bidding process? Thanks.

 

[Doc Holliday]

These days, it's a safer bet to get your rooms off Hotwire. It's a bit more expensive than Priceline, but you have a better idea of where you'll wind up. Got the Hyatt for $94 recently....it's been upgraded to a 4-star on HW. I consider this hotel now superior to the Hilton, Omni and Sheraton Center. If the Hyatt is now a 4-star, these three should be a 3.5-star.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Hyatt

I got the Hyatt on PL for certain dates in the coming weeks for $70(USD). Opened with $55 and they countered with $70. I immediately accepted. Not knowing that it was the Hyatt, of course, but successfully gambling, for the second straight trip, that it was. Gotta roll the dice sometimes, fellas!

 

[Special K]

HI Select

I had the unfortunate luck of getting the HI Select for an upcoming stay for $58 night. Rejected at $55 and rebid with a different date for $58 and accepted. Not a fan of this shithole!

 

[Doc Holliday]

HI Select is a terrible option during the Oct-April months. From May-Sept, it's not bad, since you're very close to Old Mtl and a short walking distance from the various festivals going on at the Hyatt.

Hotel rates are out of whack this year. In October & November, HW recently had the Delta Mtl (3.5 stars) going for around $115 US while they had the Omni Mont-Royal (4 stars) going for $96 US. What the f#*$?????

I think bidding on a 3-star hotel via PL is too risky these days. I'm not interested in winding up with the HI Select. I'd rather play it safe and pay a bit more and get any of the 4-star hotels available....this usually would mean the Hilton, Omni or Sheraton. Even if it means paying $90+ for the Hyatt (4-stars) via HW.

 

[MySP_love]

Here is a VERY VERY helpful site

Here is a list of Priceline hotels and their respective star levels

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddingfrm213

You can also find out information in other cities.

Melanie

 

[EagerBeaver]

Curious,

You should have sent me a PM. You CAN rebid on the 4 stars. You simply add one of the other geographical areas (GAs) that don't have any 4 star hotels. There are 4 GAs in greater Montreal that do not have any 4 stars so that by default on your next bid you get something in downtown Montreal. The Dorval, Laval, Longeuil and Pointe Claire GAs have no 4 stars. All you had to do was add one of those GAs and you would have had 5 BITES at the apple!

I just checked and for sure, you could have had 5 bids, those other GAS have 3 star hotels only. Whoemever you talked to at Priceline gave you some bad advice, dude. I have bid on the 4 stars on Priceline a zillion times and you can always rebid if you add the GAs with no 4 stars. That's what you missed!

It should be noted that Montreal is one of the few cities where you can get away with this. Most other major cities are broken up on Priceline into GAs that have 4 stars, in which case you do get locked out after one bid unless you want to risk staying in one of those other GAs. In Montreal there is no risk because there is zero chance of getting a hotel in one of the other GAs so long as you bid on the 4 stars, because those GAs have no 4 stars.

BTW, I got the Hyatt a few weeks ago on Priceline for $70, first bid on the 3 stars.

 

[EagerBeaver]

The only thing is though, ay any time they could arbitrarily upgrade a 3 star in one of the outlying areas to a 4 star and you wouldn't necessarily know. Or is there a way to tell for certain before you bid?

You can tell for certain before you bid. Simply select one of those other geographical areas and click the "next" button, and you will see what star level hotels are offered in those areas. Greater Montreal is broken up into 5 geographical areas and Montreal is the only area that has 4 stars.

I completely agree with your comments on the Hilton vs. the Hyatt. It is a joke that Priceline has Hilton as a 4 star and Hyatt as a 3. It should be the other way around! The Hyatt is a much better hotel and it is better located, unless you want to be near the train station.

As far as your question about the ratio of hits of Hyatt vs. Holiday Inn, I think based on my experience - and I have stayed at both of these hotels through Priceline booking numerous times - you are more likely to get the Hyatt probably because it has more rooms. I think that my personal ratio has been 2 to 1 in favor of the Hyatt (meaning for every three 3 star bids in which I have gotten one of these two hotels, I get the Hyatt 2 times to every 1 time I get the Holiday Inn Select). My last 4 trips have been 2-2 however, 2 at Hyatt and 2 at Holiday Inn Select. The 2-1 ratio is based on my cumulative bidding over the last 2 years. This is a very unscientific estimate.

As noted above, I think the Hyatt has more rooms to offer on Priceline than the smaller Holiday Inn Select, so that will naturally boost the odds of getting the Hyatt. But you still are rolling the dice. That is the tradeoff when you use Priceline, you agree to gamble. And you see the "Priceline sucks" website complaints because people get upset when they gamble and lose. It is the nature of humanity.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Curious,

I just did some research that backs up my personal statistics. The Hyatt has 600 rooms, the Holiday Inn Select has 229 rooms. You should have over a 2-1 chance of getting the Hyatt, if only those hotels are accepting bids.

 

[future canadian]

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddingfrm213

This is a link that will assist you in priceline bidding for Montreal hotels. I swear by it.