Question on Priceline airline ticket

[Triumph]

Do they notify you right away if someone accepts your price? Or do you have to wait until the day of travel? I ask that because typically on the day of travel is when an airline knows that they have empty seats that they want to fill. The website doesn't seem to say much about what happens if no one accepts your price.

 

[zimu]

they tell you right away, and you automatically pay for it. cant' cancel it. if you don't get it sometimes they say althouhg your offer price of xxx wasn't matched, we can give you a ticket for yyy, which you can buy if you like.

 

[TwinkleToes77]

AFAIK, you are notified right away with what your route will be once it is accepted. But there could be a lot of connections/layovers that you wont know about until you see it after they accept it.

 

[Triumph]

Priceline Pointer - Put your best foot forward when naming your price. Since you can only make one offer per itinerary (same price, passengers, dates and airports) in any 7-day period with priceline you'll want to be sure your first offer is your best offer! Make sure your offer price is good and be as flexible as you can. If your offer is not accepted the first time, you'll have to change some of the details of your trip in order to try again.

*edit* I understand now. If I just use a higher bid, I won't have to wait 7 days.

 

[vi edit]

Screw priceline. I have just as good of luck with expedia and you don't have to put up with their BS.

Convenience and certainty is worth the few extra bucks IMHO.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Screw priceline. I have just as good of luck with expedia and you don't have to put up with their BS.

Convenience and certainty is worth the few extra bucks IMHO.

I need the flights next weekend, and they're getting more and more expensive. Now I fly alot, and I know that many flights have lots of available seats. I've been on nearly empty planes many times. So this is the perfect opportunity to try Priceline.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Put in your low bid.

If they will not take it, they will notfiy you.

Create another persona and then try again with a slightly higher bid.

A good rule of thumb is to look at Expedia and initially offer between 20-25% less.
You may get lucky depending on the roue and average load.

 

[vi edit]

I booked tickets on the 4th for the 16th flying from a podunk regional airport here in Iowa down to Phoenix through Expedia for $234 roudtrip via United with 1 layover. Priceline was *starting* at $250 for two connections for the same flight.

Obviously YMMV, but expedia in my experience can get you within a couple bucks of Priceline without all the hastles.

My wife and I use it religiously and we are always getting as good as, if not better than deals as coworkers or friends booking similar flights at similar times through places like Hotwire or Priceline.

 

[Triumph]

expedia won't let you do flexible travel dates for anything more than a few select airlines. how dumb is that?