Name your own price on flights?

[KellyNY]

Hi everyone,
Can someone pease share their experiences with name your own price on Priceline or other sites that do this. How low did you go and wht you got? Were flight overnight, long connections, did it mess with your plans, does it worth it? I just calculated that if I go 40% off as they advertise on 3 tickets, I can save about 350 or even more, but I can easily loose a day, while I pay for it anyway, since my check in may turn to be somewhere at 11PM, or I can start trip tired as we may end up spending whole day or night in airports.
Any thoughts, ideas, stories?
Thank you.

 

[rdsx28]

Subscribing...

 

[mrsklamc]

I've not done it for flights, but betterbidding.com might be a good resource for you.

 

[nluvwithdisney]

We have used Priceline one time only for flights. With that being said it was a good price but not the best flight scheduled. We were able to go at 180.00 pp rountrip from Chicago in Nov 2008. However, the flight out was on a Wednesday night at 8:00pM so didnt arrive at hotel til midnight. Flight to Orlando was non-stop. Flight back we had a stop in DC. I prefer more control of choosing my flight options and who I fly with but that is just me.

The same trip we got The Royal Plaza hotel near Downtown Disney for 35.00 per night and a rental car for 15 dollar a day if I remember correctly.

It worked out fine except for the flight times but we were in Disney which is what counted.

 

[sissy_ib]

Every time I have tried it I get rejected. It usually tells me something along the lines of if I can fly out of the airport 1 1/2 hours away they can get me $20-30 off a round trip flight. Well that mitigates the savings in gas cost and wasted time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I would not do this for a flight for any reason. Too great a chance of getting horrible flights (bad flight times, many connections, no earning FF miles, etc.) Once you commit to bidding, you're stuck.

 

[luvdzny]

I did it once from Milwaukee to Dallas/Fort Worth. It was a few years ago. I don't remember the price but it was a good deal at the time. We had 1 stop each way with long layovers but I would do it again if the price were right.

 

[Green Tea]

I have had great success with naming my price on Priceline. I would not use it for a weekend, but for long trips, it is Godsend. Unless you're flying out of a large airport, you can look at the possibilities and get a sense. You will not get horrible connections....they have a limit on duration and you get to pick how many stops, if any, you agree to. You also have to agree (or not) to non jet aircraft, flying before or after a certain time of day.

Unless you are traveling for a short amount of time or have some reason you have to have a flight after a certain time, I wholeheartedly endorse it.

 

[njmom47]

Welllll..let's just say we survived. Me and dkids (who were 10 9 and 7 at the time) were flying to Ft Myers to stay with my mom. We shipped all our clothing and had a driver to and from the airport (which will become very important later on in my story).
I was happy with flight down, not so happy with flight home. Left from Newark, quick stopover in Atlanta, kids were great sports, all went well. On the way home, our evening flight (don't recall exactly what time) had a stopover in Covington KY...where we got on the smallest plane I have ever been on in my entire life (and I've flown 30+ times!).
We landed in Newark around 1 AM. (See, this is where the driver becomes very important!).
So. If you don't mind leaving a few things to chance and hoping for the best, it wil be fine. If I had luggage and was doing the driving, I probably wouldn't look back on that experience and laugh about it now.

 

[NotUrsula]

The big caveat is that you have to be ready to be inconvenienced, and you have to be ready to add as much as two days to your trip. Also, until you have the flights purchased, don't make ANY plans for your destination activities on the first day or on the last day, because you may not be there at any time except before 4 am that day. I find that it works best for emergency-flight situations where you do have at least one day's notice, or on trips where you have a gratis place to stay, so that you don't risk paying so much more in hotel days that you cancel out the savings.

The layover situation has improved, they now limit to 3 hours scheduled, and to only one layover per flight. Generally, the connection situation tends to be better if you stick to flying into and out of major airports.

One thing to note: there is no flat-tire rule on Priceline or Hotwire. If you miss the check-in time for the first flight leg you will forfeit the fare and will not be re-booked on another flight (connecting flights work as normal.)