Anyone ever use Priceline for Airfare?

[talulabelle]

I have used Priceline several times for hotels, but have never tried it for airfare. If you have used it, how good of a deal can you get? I want to take my kids for a last minute surprise trip to visit their cousins in Tampa, but airfare is KILLING me (and the trip). How low can you get a ticket for on Priceline? I am looking for 5 RT from BWI to TPA.

 

[Micday]

Have you tried Allegant? I do not know where BWI is but check out their site. The fly into St. Pete airport and Tampa is just across the bridge. Use them last year to visit family. We are using them this year to go to Disney.

If the fly out of a city near you plus you need to be open to dates.

http://www.allegiantair.com/

Michelle

 

[Purseval]

I saved over $700 on my wife's round trip to London from Atlanta. The best savings usually aren't nonstop flights but you can save a good deal of money, especially on short notice flights. You name your price the same way you do for hotels or cars. Do some research on how much it costs if you book it through the airlines or travel sites then start at half off or less if you prefer, then work your way up in increments.

 

[talulabelle]

Thanks for the tip, but I just checked Allegiant and for my last minute dates, the fare is higher than SW. BWI is Baltimore, I would have to drive to Allentown PA, which would be inconvienent, but do-able. I will keep this in mind for the future though.

I think I will just really low ball on Priceline and see what happens. Fee alone are $40 a ticket! Airfare is so much higher this summer than last!

 

[quentina]

Thanks for the tip, but I just checked Allegiant and for my last minute dates, the fare is higher than SW. BWI is Baltimore, I would have to drive to Allentown PA, which would be inconvienent, but do-able. I will keep this in mind for the future though.

I think I will just really low ball on Priceline and see what happens. Fee alone are $40 a ticket! Airfare is so much higher this summer than last!

If your willing to drive into Allentown, look into Allegiant Air. They fly into St Pete and Orlando. They are running 77 dollar flights for July and August. Also, ABE is a great airport and the Allegiant jets are really nice! You can park at my house to save $$$$$$$.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We have used it to fly CHS to DTW.
You get the best deal at the very last minute.
For example, we bid the day prior to the day we were flying out and our bid was accepted. It was not accepted the day before that, so just one day made a difference.
Also, your bid does not include taxes/fees. So if you want to pay a total of $200 per person, don't bid higher than $275 or so.
Lastly, you do not get to pick the time. Once you place a bid, you are bound to it if it is accepted. You cannot change your mind b/c it is a 6am flight.

Otherwise, we like it. I would def do it again if I couldn't find a good price in advance.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I have used Priceline several times for hotels, but have never tried it for airfare. If you have used it, how good of a deal can you get? I want to take my kids for a last minute surprise trip to visit their cousins in Tampa, but airfare is KILLING me (and the trip). How low can you get a ticket for on Priceline? I am looking for 5 RT from BWI to TPA.

Check with priceline before you buy tickets for kids, under 18. I think I remember them saying that the airlines could refuse the tickets. It may be when they fly alone though.

 

[burberryplaid]

We used them last November for a very last minute trip to Colorado for my grandmother's funeral. It saved us about $100 using them. We've used them several times for hotels with great success. As long as you are willing to accept whatever time they give you, it's great. (BTW, our flight was early morning which is when we like to fly so it was absolutely fine)

 

[Calliaz]

Just note that there is a difference between using Priceline and using their Bidding feature. Their regular flight search is much like buying from Expedia or Orbitz. What I like is that you can sometimes get a good deal from them as they combine flights from different carriers (for example, we went to Boston with one carrier and returned on another).

I haven't use their Bid service for air because I'm usually too picky about when I want to arrive and how long I am willing to spend on a plane or on layover.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

When doing the bidding option, can you request NON-STOP flights?

 

[DianeV]

No that is the bad part of it...

 

[NotUrsula]

It is fine as long as you understand that you could be traveling all day, so you'll need to NOT plan anything else to do on your travel days. That makes it a pretty bad choice for a weekend situation unless you have three days off and only HAVE to be at your destination on the second day.

For longer trips it's fine as long as you have to the time to burn.

 

[Nandid]

WE used priceline to buy our plane tickets for our Disney Trip in September. We got an excellent price. Our tickets ended up being half of what they would of been. And the flights we got were almost identical to the ones we would of bought anyway.

My only complaint is because we got the tickets for so cheap. The airlines has happily changed our itinerary a half dozen times, but when you get them with the name your own price it does say you won't have lay overs longer than 3 hours, so when the airlines starting messing with my return flights and left us in an airport for 9 hours. I just called up priceline and told them i was unhappy and would appreciate if they would figure out a way to keep me inside the contract i agreed to and the next day the airlines had switched my travel again, but we were within the 3 hour layover period.

 

[stampwithamy]

I used priceline and everything worked out fine. It's been a few years, though. I usually use hotwire or travelocity.

 

[lllGurulll]

OK, I am considering Priceline or the Expedia Bargain Fare. It seems that Expedia at least gives me a general time of day for my flight before I accept it but Priceline only gives me the 6am to 10pm window.
what has been everyones experience with priceline on the time of day they ended up with. Traveling with 2 children I really don't want to get stuck with a late arrival and super late return time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You really need to read the information on Priceline thoroughly before bidding. When you use the 'name your own price' option for airfare, your flight could depart any time between 6 AM and 10 PM, and could include multiple plane changes.

 

[amylevan]

I used the bid once - quite a number of years ago. But I was flying from philly to san diego, by myself, and the normal prices were abysmal. I didn't want to pay more than a certain amount, and bid that, and got it. I had 1 plane change (which when flying cross country really isn't that bad). But my flights were at 6am - which is very early for me.

But I couldn't complain cause it was the right price.

 

[Green Tea]

When doing the bidding option, can you request NON-STOP flights?

Yes you can. There are various options.....connections, timing, etc. I used it for tickets. I saved between 1/3 and 1/2.

For a weekend or short trip, I wouldn't do it; you might get a later flight out and and early flight home. We were going to be gone for a long trip, so the travel times didn't really matter, and there were limited options anyway for flights on those days.

 

[Green Tea]

FWIW, the flights I got were NOT the cheapest available booking conventionally, so that isn't a good indicator.

I ended up on United flights. Then went onto the United website and purchased the extra legroom seats.

 

[Brer Shay]

Can you get good deals on the name your own price? Absolutely. Do you give up control of your travel in order to get the deal? Absolutely.

For the best results, have plenty of time available for travel. Don't count on doing anything else except traveling on the dates you give them. You might get lucky and get fantastic non-stop flights at ideal times, but you could also end up on three different planes over the course of nine hours. Personally, I never use it if I'm traveling with my kids, just too much potential for trouble.