Bargain Quest

Which translates into clearance deals…

At the store in our local mall, everything was 25% off and bargain books were marked down 50%. I just happened to notice the sign while walking by, and the cashier filled me in that the store will be closing on April 18th. I bought a few bargain books, and will check back in mid-April to see if the discounts have gone any deeper.

The closings are part of a strategy shift for Borders, Waldenbooks’ parent company.

[Borders] said it would reduce the size of its Waldenbooks U.S. mall-based book chain, which has been struggling with declining same-store sales, to about 300 stores by the end of 2008 from 564 in 2006.

(Source: CNN)

An especially sweet deal would be combining the clearance discount with weekly email Borders Rewards coupons, but the coupon fine print states “May not be combined with other coupons, sale pricing…” so it’s unlikely. Don’t forget to scan your Borders Rewards card anyway, because your purchase will count towards the $150 spent to accrue $5 Borders bucks.

Nothing earth-shattering, but here are some bargains I’ll be picking up at Kroger this week:

Shadybrook Farms Turkey Roll Frozen 16oz. package - $1 (This is the ground turkey deal I was raving about last week, and is now being officially advertised. If you have the $.55 off Shadybrook Farms coupon, it’s $.45/lb!)

Tyson Boneless Skinless chicken breasts - 1/2 price (~$2.50/lb, still not cheap!)

Athenos Hummus 7oz. - $1 (There have been “$1 off 2″ coupons in the paper and in-store dispensers, so these will be $.50 each for me)

Bounty Super Duty paper towels - $1 (Final price $.50, after $1 off 2 coupon)

Orville Redenbacher 3 ct pkg popcorn - $1 (Final price $.20, after doubled $.40 coupon)

Dial Bath Soap 2-3 bar pkg - $1 (Final price $.30, after doubled $.35 coupon from last Sunday’s paper. I have a lot of soap, but I pick these up with a plan to donate them)

Friskies canned cat food 5.5 oz - 3 Free with coupon from last Sunday. Our cat will be happy for an occasional break from dry food.

Alpo canned dog food 13.2 oz - 3 Free with coupon. Somebody else’s dog will be happy.

Listerine PocketPak - $1 (Free after doubled $.50 coupon)

2-Liter Diet Dr. Pepper - Free with $20+ grocery purchase

*Also wine is 15% off when you buy 6 or more bottles this week*

I apologize if you’ve tried to access the blog in the past few days. It’s loading very, very slooooowly. I figured it was something I did (it usually is), but turns out it’s a Dreamhost problem, so it’s out of my control. Hopefully they get it fixed ASAP.

In the meantime, it reminds me of the Comcast Slowsky turtle family commercials, which my husband finds hilarious….

“I’m gonna need you to back off.”

“You come push it!…. Push it real good.”

Utilizing “free rebids” is basically a method for repeating Priceline bids without waiting 24 hours between each rejection. You effectively keep the same bidding criteria, but get faster results.

It’s a little confusing, so I definitely recommend that you already have some familiarity with Priceline (read about it and look at it) before trying to figure this method out.

The free rebid strategy works best when
-The city you are bidding in has many areas or “zones” on Priceline
-You are bidding for a 4-star hotel
-It’s important to you that you win a hotel in a particular zone

The strategy is made possible by the fact that not all Priceline zones in large regions offer high star level hotels. Remember from “A Priceline Primer,” you can place another bid immediately after a failed bid if you either reduce your minimum star level requirement, or if you add another zone to your bid. Adding a zone means that you have to be willing to accept winning a hotel in that zone as well.

Except if that zone doesn’t have any participating hotels in the high star levels you are bidding on. If you add a zone like that, you know you won’t win a hotel in that zone because none of the hotels there meet your star criteria.

To say it another way, here’s BiddingForTravel’s definition: “A free re-bid is adding a zone that has only up to a lower quality level than you are bidding, to a rejected bid.”

OK, time for a concrete example. This was a scenario I faced when booking a hotel for my husband’s business trip to Washington DC: I want a 4-star hotel only in the Downtown/White House zone so that he can walk to his meeting. I do some research and place a first bid at maybe $70, just for the White House zone. My offer is not accepted.

Now I have two options: Wait 24 hours and try again with a slightly higher price OR find some free re-bid zones.

How do I find out which zones are free re-bids?

1. Go to Priceline’s Name Your Own Price Step 1 - “Choose where you want to stay.” This lists all the possible zones for the area, in this case Washington DC and there are 8 different zones. I need to check each one individually to see what star levels are offered in it. I do this by checking the box next to the zone…
2. And then looking at Step 2 - “Choose the star level for your hotel.” If there are any star levels not available in that zone, that star level will be grayed out. Then look at the next zone by checking it and unchecking the selection of the first zone. (It’s very important that you only have one zone box checked at a time; otherwise you can’t isolate availability)

Here are results for DC zones:
Alexandria/Old Town - No 4-star hotels
Arlington - No 4-star hotels
Convention Center/Capitol Hill - All star levels available
Crystal City - No 4-star or 1-star hotels
Dupont Circle/Woodley Park - No 1-star hotels
Georgetown/Foggy Bottom - No 2.5-star hotels
Springfield - No 4 or 3-star hotels
White House/Downtown - All star levels available

So which zones are free rebids for my 4-star search? Alexandria, Arlington, Crystal City, and Springfield - none of them have any 4-star hotels participating with Priceline.

My next step is to add one of those zones to my Downtown/White House bid, and increase my offer price. So I’ll submit a bid for $75 in the Downtown/White House and Alexandria zones. If that’s rejected as well, I’ll try $80 in Downtown/White House and Alexandria and Arlington zones. Because there are 4 zones without 4-star hotels, I have up to 4 extra chances (free rebids!) to win a 4-star hotel in my desired area around the White House.

Let’s say my offer is finally accepted at $85, on my 3rd rebid. The hotel I won is still guaranteed to be in the White House zone!

Some additional thoughts:

1. Notice that if I were looking for a 3-star hotel around the White House, I would have 1 free rebid. Springfield doesn’t have any 4 or 3-star hotels, so I can add that zone knowing that I won’t win anything in it.

2. So does that mean there are two free rebids for 1-star hotels? As you can see, Crystal City and Dupont Circle/Woodley Park don’t offer 1-star accommodations . Unfortunately, the strategy doesn’t work here, because Priceline can automatically upgrade you to a higher star level than what you are bidding on. This means that if I bid for a 1-star hotel in the White House zone, and then add Crystal City, I run the risk of being “upgraded” and winning a 2-star hotel in Crystal City. You’re only safe to rebid in zones that only offer hotels at lower star levels than your bid.

3. The Priceline zones and/or star levels offered in each zone can change at any time. You need to check exactly what’s available every time you try to use free rebids.

4. For other explanations of what free re-bids are and how to use them, read BiddingForTravel -> Hotels -> Hotel FAQ -> #9 What is a free re-bid? and BetterBidding -> Tips and Tricks for Priceline-> General Priceline Tips -> “Bidding Again before 72 Hours” (has changed to 24 hours)

5. There is even a next level of free re-bidding, involving permutations. I haven’t tried it, but if you’re interested, go to BiddingForTravel-> Hotels-> “Advanced Free Re-Bidding for Experienced Hotel Bidders” and follow the link.

Do you need to understand this long explanation to use Priceline? Nope. Especially since the wait for regular re-bids has dropped from 72 hours to 24, you may as well just wait a day and bid the same criteria again. But if you’re in a time crunch and can’t wait a few days, or if you just like immediate gratification, free re-bidding is a good trick to know.

(Part 1: A Priceline Primer
Part 2: Priceline Resources)

It’s worse than I thought. After writing about my discoveries shopping around for drug prices, I was quite interested to read a Freakonomics blog post “If Crack Dealers Took Lessons From Walgreens They Would Really Be Rich,” inspired by a Wall Street Journal story “Why Generic Doesn’t Always Mean Cheap” (Found through My Two Dollars - “Avoid These Pharmacies That Mark Up Drugs a Ridiculous Amount.”)

The example given is prices for 90 tablets of generic Prozac in Houston range from $117 at Walgreens down to $12 at Costco.

Folks, even though you might think generics would cost about the same everywhere, that just ain’t the case. The point vividly illustrated in the WSJ story: “For the more than 46 million Americans without health insurance — plus perhaps millions more whose insurance plans don’t cover drugs — the lesson is to shop carefully.” (emphasis mine) If you don’t have drug coverage through insurance, you might have a lot to gain by researching prices offered beyond your corner drugstore. Even if you have coverage, prices at Walmart, Costco, or the hospital might be lower than your copay. Be a proactive, informed consumer and check around!

I didn’t mention Costco or Sam’s Club in the previous drug post, but it appears they offer very competitive prices on generic drugs. Not a member? I’m not either, but an interesting point was raised in the Freakonomics blog comments: You don’t need to be a member to get a prescription filled at either one.

You know you’ve crossed the bargain sanity line when a frozen loaf of raw meat completely makes your day…

Here’s a deal I found at Kroger this week - 1 lb rolls of Shadybrook Farms frozen ground turkey for $1 ea! Even better, the Sunday 3/11 newspaper coupons included a “$.55 off one Shadybrook Farms product”…

$1-$.55= $.45/lb

I had two coupons already, plus I ordered 10 more on Ebay ($1.88 w/shipping, bringing my cost for those 10 turkeys to around $.64/lb).

You can never have enough ground turkey. Seriously. And these compact frozen rolls are much more freezer space-friendly than the pillow packs I usually buy fresh. I’ll stack them at the back of my freezer and just pull one out to defrost at a time.

I’m not sure if this deal is local to Richmond - I’ve found it in two Krogers (In the center freezer bins), but it wasn’t in the weekly ad. One store just had a handwritten sign advertising “10 for $10,” which I how I found out about it. The other had no signage at all. It’s worth a look if you’re there!

If you meet the following criteria. You:
1. Have a Facebook account AND are a member of a college network on Facebook
2. Have a Chase credit card

I realize this only applies to a limited number of people, but it’s a good deal for those who qualify. (If you’ve never heard of Facebook, stop reading. This deal is not for you :-))

The process is as follows:
1. Login to Facebook
2. Search for group “Chase +1″ (space between Chase and plus sign)
3. Join the group. This gives you 1 Karma Point.
4. Link a Chase credit card. This gives you 10 Karma points.
5. Take a short quiz about credit, giving you 5 more Karma points.

Grand total: 16 Karma points.

A code that you can redeem for a $35 Ticketmaster gift card costs 15 points. The leftover point will get you a Facebook wallet. Or there are numerous other items listed - books, movies, etc. - that can be purchased with Karma points.

This deal surfaced on Slickdeals almost a month ago, but until this week I was missing the college network component. My alma mater finally got its act together and set up an online alumni network, providing me with the .edu email address that is needed to register as a member of my college’s Facebook network. I haven’t received the gift card code yet, but hopefully it’s on its way!

Depending on when you submitted them, now would probably be the time to follow up with the lazy/shady companies that haven’t sent you the check you are owed. I had a bunch of calls to make last week, because several of my rebates have not arrived on schedule.

A repeat offender from my previous holiday rebates is Circuit City. I started the submission for my $26 flash drive rebate online and sent my paperwork Dec. 1. The time range given by Circuit City for check turnaround was 8 weeks, a deadline long passed. so I checked my status through their online rebate center - the record says they never received my paperwork with the UPC, etc. I’m sure they received it, but it’s possible they misplaced it somewhere in the process. Customer service phone call ensues. I explain to him my situation, he confirms that their records show no mail from me.

I’m ready to “go to the mattresses” (a la The Godfather and You’ve Got Mail) because I have all my copies and this is the second time of having problems with Circuit City, but the CSR is helpful. He asks for my order number, my amount paid, etc., and he says the check will be in the mail in 7-10 days.

My second set of missing money is for a Buy.com software purchase. I’m owed a $50 rebate (around 2 weeks late), and a $10 rebate (just approaching late). The fulfillment company is Nova. This CSR doesn’t even offer any excuses for my wayward 50 bucks, but she does apologize, saying “I’m showing that we haven’t sent this out to you yet, and I’m really sorry for that.” She also said they’re missing my documentation for the second rebate ($10), which I mailed properly. Now I have to fax that again, and then I’m expecting $60 in my mailbox within a week or two.

So would I see any of my $86 if I didn’t follow up? I’m doubtful. I guess it’s just the way this game is played. I have yet to have a rebate denied after a follow-up call, but there’s plenty of money I wouldn’t have seen without the hassle. And woe is me if I ever forget to make my paperwork copies.

To be fair to the rebate business, I’ve received $70+ recently from some companies that are on the ball: Walgreens, Logitech, Farberware, and FYE. No harassment required. Thanks y’all!

This is the second post in a series on Priceline…

If you’re considering using Priceline, the best online resources for learning more about it and making good bids are Biddingfortravel.com and Betterbidding.com. I’m trying to provide an introduction to the subject, but there is a huge wealth of information on those two sites that I can’t even touch on.

-Both offer message boards where members post winning or failed bids, grouped by state.
-There are also compilations of what hotels have been won in each bidding area in that state, to give you an idea of what could come up at each star level.
-Some hotel reviews are contributed, but it’s definitely not the best place for the up-to-date inside scoop (try Tripadvisor instead).

There are some differences between them:

Biddingfortravel is the larger of the two, as far as I can tell. This is good because it means more information is added that can help you with your research.

Betterbidding is still worth checking because some data doesn’t overlap and it has several other useful features:

*It includes a Hotwire side. Based on the amenities shown in your Hotwire search results, you can look at betterbidding to see if that “mystery” hotel has been identified. I’m usually interested in the 2.5 star options, and never find any matches, so this hasn’t been much assistance.
*It offers Priceline maps for some big cities. I love this feature. The locations of possible Priceline hotels are pinpointed on a map, which is helpful for a quick-glance view of where you could end up winning a hotel relative to where you want to be. Clicking on the pinpoint allows you to look up recent wins for a hotel, traveler reviews, or the hotel website.
*It’s a little more laid-back. This is a very un-quantifiable characteristic, but my advice is don’t post on the Biddingfortravel board unless you know exactly what you’re doing. The moderators can get a little grouchy when you don’t follow the directions. Betterbidding seems a little more newbie-friendly. Again, this is just based on my own observation.

Read the general information at the beginning of each site to orient and educate yourself, then have fun exploring!

Finally, if you are helped by the information on either, consider supporting the website by clicking through an affiliate link listed on the bidding site when making Priceline bids or other travel purchases. Look for topics entitled “Support” for more details on how to do it.

I still have several more Priceline posts to write (bidding strategy, who should use it), but I’ll be mixing them in with other subjects for the benefit of folks not as intrigued with the intricacies of Priceline as I!

When I first considered it last year, the prospect of using Priceline was a little intimidating. It seemed complicated. Plus how could any service with such bad William Shatner commercials be any good?

If you can look past the cheesy ads (and boy are they bad), Priceline is actually a valuable bargain tool. It’s been around for a long time, but I’m not sure whether many people have ever looked into it. It’s worth a look.

For instance, my husband made two one-night business trips to Washington DC last November. I used Priceline to book his hotels. The rates I received for those mid-week stays were $80 (Loews Madison) and $100 (Hilton Capitol Hill). Both are 4-star hotels within walking distance of the White House. The rates listed on each hotel website for those particular nights were in the upper $200’s.

This post will focus on the basic process of hotel bidding through Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” program. Here are instructions from the site about how to use it.

Reaching the “Name Your Own Price” section of Priceline.com is actually your first challenge. Instead of taking you straight there, the Priceline front page functions as a “regular price” hotel search service, just like Expedia and others. That’s not what you want. Look for links with the phrases “Name Your Own Price,” “Deeper Discounts,” “Save Up to 50%,” etc. If you can’t find it, use the main hotel search function and once you get to the results page, look for a box on the right that says “Name Your Own Price.”

The process is quite easy:

1. You select the geographical area(s) and the minimum star level of a hotel that you want,

2. Then choose a dollar amount to bid for a hotel meeting those requirements. You will be required to enter your credit card information prior to submitting a bid.

3. A few seconds after you place your bid, Priceline will inform you whether or not your bid was accepted. If it was, you’ll see the details (name, address, etc.) of the hotel that accepted it.

4. If there were no hotels willing to accept your bid, you have two choices about how to try again:

A. You can “rebid” right away if you add another geographical area to your search criteria OR you lower the minimum star level you will accept. (You can choose whether to rebid at the same price or raise it.) This is when you might be able to employ a strategy utilizing “free re-bids”, which I’ll explain further in my next Priceline post.

B. If you aren’t willing to make either change listed in A, you have to wait 24 hours before you may repeat your Priceline bid with the same criteria. (The wait period used to be 72 hours, but was shortened last year.) At that time, you would probably want to increase your bid price by a small increment for a better chance of being accepted.

The biggest drawback, obviously, is that you don’t get to choose the specific hotel. It’s more like the hotel chooses you. General area, star (quality) level, and bid price are the variables you control. Once a hotel fitting your specifications accepts your price, you’re locked in to paying for the hotel, even if you decide it’s not one you want or you cancel your trip.

What hotels might you get? How much should you offer? Herein lies the intimidation factor of Priceline, and also its greatest asset. The lack of transparency allows for hotels to supply inventory at much lower prices. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to increase your bidding savvy and improve your chances of a satisfactory result. I’ll write about those in my next post on Priceline strategies. I’ll also mention what groups of people are most suited to taking advantage of Priceline’s prices.

Hopefully this basic overview wasn’t too confusing. If there’s anything I need to clarify or you have a question, please feel free to comment.