PRICELINE Question...Air

[js]

When Priceline shows you what you will pay with taxes and fees after I have named my own price, does this mean that it was accepted?
I am showing this:

Summary of Charges
Airline Ticket Offer Price: $160.00 per ticket
Airline Ticket Taxes & Fees: $39.85 per ticket
Number of Tickets: 2
Airline Ticket Delivery: $0.00 (Electronic Ticket)
Airfare Subtotal: $399.70
Total Trip Cost:
(All prices are in US dollars) $399.70
Baggage fees are not included in your trip cost.

The next step is asking me for credit card information.

Thanks.

 

[Tara]

No, it is just showing you the total bill based on the fare you entered. You are only bidding on the fare itself, so they have to add the taxes and fees on top of that. They ask for your credit card next because the deal with biddable airfare is that you are committing to purchase it, at the price you named. Once you submit your parameters, bid, and billing information, it will tell you they are working on finding a flight for your price. You'll get a confirmation by email with a link that you can use to check the status of your request (plus I think the web confirmation page has a check status button). It usually only takes a few minutes, but the result is very clear - either it will be accepted or it won't be. If it isn't accepted, it will sometimes say something like "Sorry, we couldn't find a flight at your price, but if you are willing to do X-Y-Z we can find a flight for you at $ZZZ.

 

[backyardponder]

I don't use priceline for airfare. At least in the past, you had no control on the time of day you would be flying. You could end up with a flight which arrives at your destination at 10PM which isn't acceptable to me in most cases.

 

[Tara]

I don't use priceline for airfare. At least in the past, you had no control on the time of day you would be flying. You could end up with a flight which arrives at your destination at 10PM which isn't acceptable to me in most cases.

You still can't control time of day. But for some people, that isn't an issue.

 

[js]

No, it is just showing you the total bill based on the fare you entered. You are only bidding on the fare itself, so they have to add the taxes and fees on top of that. They ask for your credit card next because the deal with biddable airfare is that you are committing to purchase it, at the price you named. Once you submit your parameters, bid, and billing information, it will tell you they are working on finding a flight for your price. You'll get a confirmation by email with a link that you can use to check the status of your request (plus I think the web confirmation page has a check status button). It usually only takes a few minutes, but the result is very clear - either it will be accepted or it won't be. If it isn't accepted, it will sometimes say something like "Sorry, we couldn't find a flight at your price, but if you are willing to do X-Y-Z we can find a flight for you at $ZZZ.

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain the scenario to me. I greatly appreit. I don't think I'm ready to use priceline yet.

I don't use priceline for airfare. At least in the past, you had no control on the time of day you would be flying. You could end up with a flight which arrives at your destination at 10PM which isn't acceptable to me in most cases.

Thanks. At $400 and rising, it may be what I can do to get a decent price by using priceline but not ready yet to take the plunge.

You still can't control time of day. But for some people, that isn't an issue.

Thanks. Sometimes I think it won't be an issue and at other times thinking it may, especially for going home. I think I may not use priceline yet but really hope I see some kind of change in air but with gas going up higher, not banking on it.

 

[quirty30]

I don't use priceline for airfare. At least in the past, you had no control on the time of day you would be flying. You could end up with a flight which arrives at your destination at 10PM which isn't acceptable to me in most cases.

The NYOP air feature on Priceline probably works best for people who live in small markets who know they will have to connect regardless, and usually are traveling the better part of the day. I fly out of O'hare and prefer to fly non-stop (which is almost always possible) and I often like to catch a flight after work, or first thing in the morning. For this reason, I would never use the NYOP for airfare. Just too unpredictable.