THSCC Forums

I'm going to be traveling to Madison to visit a good friend and will probably get airline tickets using Priceline and was wondering if it's worth the hastle.

Also, I don't quite understand how it works according to the price. When I type in a price for a ticket it tallies up the total including taxes and fees but it's not exactly guaranteed. After that, you have the option to enter non-refundable credit card number but it doesn't verify if the requested rate is what you'll pay.

I'm very reluctant to toss in personal credit card information for something that I don't quite know the "real" price of.

Anyone want to shed some light on how they operate? It's almost like acquiring plan tickets via ebay.

thanks!
Matt

Matt,

We used the Priceline name you own price thing ONCE. We were looking for tickets to go to Oklahoma City (never again) for a friends wedding. Got a great fare on Delta, BUT it was for 12 later than we planned on leaving RDU. When you put in the price request, you cannot specify a time that you want to travel. You get what they have at that price. We needed to get out there by mid day and the flight they gave us left RDU at about 8:00 PM. So I decided to use my connections with Delta to get our ressies moved up. NO DICE. With Priceline tickets the airlines can do nothing!!! So our only option was to travel stand by. Fortunately for us it worked out, but there are no guarentees. You will also find that most airlines won't accept the Priceline fare if you get bumped from you original airline and rebooked on another. Causing you to make up the difference.

My point? If you are looking for rock bottom prices, Priceline might be a good option. As long as you don't care when you travel. But some airlines will guarentee that you get the lowest fares when booking on their website. Look at the Majors (USAir, Delta, AA, etc. for more info)

One thing I used to tell people all the time when I worked for Valujet (and my Dad's advice is the same, he worked for USAir for 38 years)...Travel Agents can get some great deals, online services like Travelocity.com are also good for finding deals, but the most important bit of advice....BOOK EARLY!!!!! Your best deals will be booked more than 21 days in advance.

Sorry that was so longwinded.

Todd

_________________
Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Thanks for the great info Todd. I've been reading the fine print on Priceline and it may be cheaper if flexibility is not a problem. I may take my chances in hopes of saving $100-$150 for my wife and I to fly.

The only main forseeable problem is that the flight back is the day before the Sanford event (the 24th) and we may get on a five hour flight as late as 10pm in Madison.