Priceline Name Your Own Price - Air??

[TagsMissy]

Has anybody used Priceline for Air using the Name Your Own Price option?? Have you had much luck and have you ever had issues with your flights?

I've used the service for hotels numerous times but I am leery for air... lay it on me straight -- both the positive and the negative.

 

[ccgirl]

Has anybody used Priceline for Air using the Name Your Own Price option?? Have you had much luck and have you ever had issues with your flights?

I've used the service for hotels numerous times but I am leery for air... lay it on me straight -- both the positive and the negative.

I never have because I am very picky with flight times, especially with two children. With priceline you can't pick your flight times in the name your price.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Go to Kayak, find the cheapest flight (most often at the least desirable times) and that will probably be the flight you will get. Then, if there are changes to the flight times, aircraft, etc, and you need to make a change, you'll need to work through Priceline to make changes. This can add a lot of headaches and in the end you are "bottom" of the barrell so to speak in terms of priority for handling changes.

Honestly, unless you are going through a full service travel agent, there is virtually no reason to book your airfare through any place but the airline itself.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

jlewisinsyr has a good point. Booking with an airline is best. When it comes to Priceline, I have found that it works best when you are bidding near your travel date. I bid one week before for 4 return fares from BOS to DFW and won on AA for $200 per person, taxes in. However, I have tried numerous times to get something from New England to either Texas or Florida, well in advance and it never pans out.

That is why I now search the airline sites directly and use their flexible date, lowest fare function. Priceline is great for hotels, but not really that great for long term planned airfare.

 

[kkmauch]

I've used Priceline NYOP a few times. It didn't matter to me when I landed or when I took off coming home, they were short trips MSP-DCA. I agree with pp that bidding close to the departure date yielded the best prices for me and that was when I finally got an airline to bite.

One trip I had ended up having the departure flight canceled due to weather. It was truly a pain to get rebooked. I ended up in Newark and had to take a train down to DCA and the airline lost my luggage and I didn't get it back for about a week after I returned. I don't think I would ever book for a whole family for that reason alone.

 

[lllGurulll]

There is no way I will ever chance my vacation to the name your own price setup. I would expect them to put me on a late arrival and a early return. The exact opposite of what I would want.