I need to fly as cheap as possible (man, where DOES the money go?) from Columbus, OH to Philadelphia on the 18th, which is too soon to buy cheap advanced tickets. I can’t be very flexible on the dates, so I don’t want to blow my one chance on a bid. Does anyone have any tips, suggestions or success stories in dealing with Priceline? How much lower under the lowest published advance fare (in this case about $250) should I bid? How greatly do chances improve closer to the travel date? I don’t want to get turned down at the last minute and end up paying $600 through an airline. Any help would earn my eternal gratitude.
Otis - I used priceline.com last year. Unless the rules have changed since then, I think they notify you in 24 hours whether or not your bid has been accepted. So, I would bid as little as possible and if you don’t get an answer in 24 hours, bump it up some. Remember, once they accept your bid, there is no way to get out of it. They are very firm about this rule, so don’t bid anywhere near what a normal non-refundable APEX fare would cost. I would say to try about $75.00 first off.
Frankly, I would do my darndest first to try and get a regular (not full-fare, but regular non-refundable-except-with-a-penalty) ticket through an airline. Just in case you haven’t tried to get a normal ticket because you thought it would be too late, I recommend that you try first anyway, either checking through the Net or by using a good travel agent. Ticket-purchase rules and rates vary tremendously; there are some routes for which you pay the same whether you buy the ticket the day before or the month before. And, even “non-refundable” tickets are usually changeable for a fee; priceline.com tickets, however, are totally and completely unchangeable and non-refundable. And you could end up having to leave really late or really early, which could be very inconvenient on both ends, depending on how long you’re supposed to be in Philly.
Anyway, good luck - I hope you find something.
Oh man, I tried Priceline once and don’t plan to again. Yes, they will notify you within 24 hours (in my case within an hour). However, if your flight is cancelled you are SOL. My flight was cancelled due to weather and everyone except priceline customers had the option of getting a refund. The ticket agent was allowed to book me on another flight next day, which I did, even the whole purpose of the trip was ruined.
Though, given that it’s spring the chances of cancelled flights at this point is pretty slim. It’s just that Priceline is the most restrictive of all ticket providers.
Does anyone know of better ticket providers than Priceline?
itn.com is the big travel computer. It’s great, just visit there input the info & it spits out a list of all flights & prices for all airlines. Then call the airline yourself & say, hey, I see you have a flight number blah blah for $$$ I want a ticket. That is the big airline computer all airlines use, you ticket agent use etc. I love it.
I would agree with what has already been posted. Bid something outrageously low and work up from there. I too have used Priceline and they got back to me within 90 minutes. You shouldn’t have to worry about getting caught at the last minute waiting for priceline.
I agree - make an outrageously low bid. I did, and it was actually accepted. I’m paying $175 to fly round trip San Francisco to Columbus this summer. I could have gotten a similar deal with Southwest, but they have restrictions on what days you can fly on, and the days and times I got are perfect for me. I ran a check on Travelocity, and most airlines would charge in the realm of $400 for this. I haven’t actually used these tickets yet, of course, but I am extremely pleased with my deal right now.
I’ve used both pricleline and travelocity in the last month, with good things to report on each. For priceline, I first checked the 2-week advance fare through a regular travel agent (even though I was well past the point of qualifying). I then bid $20 under that price and was accepted right off. This surprised me, because I didn’t figure there was any way an airline would let me on cheaper than the advance supersaver fare.
Thumbs up for priceline.
Thanks all for the great advice. For Kyla and divemaster and those of you who have had success with Priceline, can you tell me how many days in advance of your travel date your bid was accepted?
Handy - itn.com is now apparently run by American Express. It seems to draw prices from the same database as travelocity, expedia etc. I keep getting the ridiculous price of $600 dollars no matter what site I search on.
If all else fails there’s always a 12-hour Greyhound ride for a hundred bucks. William Shatner save me now!
I’m not sure if this has changed or not, but as of a year or so ago Priceline only had access to unpublished fares of two airlines (America West was one and I can’t remember what the other one was), so you shouldn’t count on being able to get a fare that is very much lower than the lowest published. Also - you seem to know this from your OP, but a couple of the other posters apparently don’t - if your price is rejected you CANNOT make another bid unless you change either one of your travel dates or your airports.
That in mind, you should find out the lowest published fare and bid slightly but not ridiculously below it, otherwise you’ll probably wind up having to use another agent anyway.
Well, I decided to give it a shot and bid $170. That’s $20 less than the lowest 2-week advance fare I found (thanks for the suggestion divemaster). Woo Hoo! It was accepted and it’s a non-stop flight even. Thanks for the help all.