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In this Discussion
- 1234 November 2010
- curt February 2011
- donuts November 2010
- Judar_Spitzer November 2010
- kdawg November 2010
- kowalabearhugs November 2010
- Leland February 2011
- lolo November 2010
- Matthew February 2011
- MirandaJuly November 2010
- Nick November 2010
- UncleBoatShoes2011 November 2010
- YoursTruly November 2010
Priceline, name your price assistance
Hello dear travelers.
I just tried to do the "name your ticket price" on Priceline and put in $1.00 per ticket to fly from PDX --> DFW on Dec 22. It let me get away with that price and will let me purchase it...
How does this EVEN WORK?? Is this a joke? What happens if I buy this plane ticket for $1 and have my total be $40.55 including taxes and fees?? Will I end up burned by this?
Any prior knowledge would be appreciated.
I just tried to do the "name your ticket price" on Priceline and put in $1.00 per ticket to fly from PDX --> DFW on Dec 22. It let me get away with that price and will let me purchase it...
How does this EVEN WORK?? Is this a joke? What happens if I buy this plane ticket for $1 and have my total be $40.55 including taxes and fees?? Will I end up burned by this?
Any prior knowledge would be appreciated.
Comments
if they do (if you were to make an actual offer) they will automatically purchase the ticket and you will be charged the amount you agreed to. You have no choice of airline, seats, class, stops, etc. But they won't do anything with a dollar bid. I don't use it, myself. I prefer to use the kayak.com flexible dates (put in your rough dates and destination and it brings up a handy calendar with all the prices for each day).
I have never heard of such a thing. Did you buy it???
keep us posted.
I put in my $1.00 and my credit card info and decided to go for it. I didn't realize one has to give credit card info before seeing a big ol' NO WAY YOU CAN'T BUY A TICKET FOR $1.00, HOW ABOUT $477.00 INSTEAD?
Someone sink this shit.
I also like Bing (they bought the former Farecast service) -- they will predict whether you should buy tickets now or wait for a cheaper price, based historically on past prices. Handy!
I wish Jeeves would just make all of my decisions for me and tell me where cheap things are.
I can't wait for teleporting.
Which is not to say that when you purchase doesn't matter, as you unfortunately found out. That's what's cool about Farecast: It will tell you when is likely the best time to buy the tickets for given travel dates.
I think sometimes it is cheaper to buy on specific days, but I don't think its consistent enough to rely on.
You can get some good deals with Priceline Name Your Own Price but it is a crapshoot and SCARY!
The key I think is to start shopping for tickets a week before you really want to buy them. Check a bunch of sites. Then spend like 5 minutes a day checking the prices every day. I know this sounds like a pain in the ass, but I think its worth it. Travel is important. You want to feel like you are getting a good deal, and that what you are doing is worth it.
Plane tickets have gone up in price the last couple years because the airlines weren't making money and also they have drastically reduced the number of flights to improve efficiency so the seats that are available are worth more because demand has remained the same.
lolo, I was interested in your prospect of the cost of flying vs. driving. You might be right around Christmas time because Christmas tickets are generally a couple hundred dollars more than non Christmas tickets.
I rudimentally did the math to find cost for driving:
Portland ---> Dallas = 2100 miles
if a tank a gas lasts 300 miles and costs 40 dollars.
7 tanks a gas each direction.
280$ dollars each direction.
560$ for gas for the trip.
Add 1 or 2 nights in a hotel. So $60-$120 dollars.
So probably $700 bucks for driving travel.
This doesn't include the time = money concept where we would probably add in the cost of what you get paid for a day of work for every extra day it takes to travel by car vs. plane.
It looks like plane travel is slightly less expensive around Christmas $$$ wise and a time saver. It is true that airports are downright hellish around Christmas.
Planes basically are teleportation compared to car travel. Teleportation will be cool, but it will also probably be much more expensive than plane travel due to technology, energy costs.
We should all set iCal alarms to go off next September 1st to buy Christmas tickets. Earlier is cheaper!
PHEW
you also have to factor in wear and tear on your FUCKING MENTAL WELL BEING
for which airports are terrible
my two cents
love a drive in a car
music blasting
stopping for chips and conceptual snickers
seeing an old deer hopping along
seeing weird road signs
dog sleeping in the back
talking on the cell phone
being in charge of your own destiny
pulling up into the driveway and getting out and stretching
HOORAY!
I think it helps especially if you are bidding on heavily trafficked routes that are more likely to not be full. I'll report any issues, but thusfar it has been smooth sailing.
HAPPY TRAILS.
195 Clams.
Did the travel agent look and smell like 1975?
Oh well! Vacation in Ireland that I can't actually afford! Woo!
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/02/when_buy_airline_tickets
I'm guessing that this rule is for U.S.-based airlines (the article doesn't specify).