[NokeyNose]

Hi All,

With aifare as high as it is, I have been searching like crazy for resonable flights for our September WDW trip. Southwest is posting dates a handful at a time, rather than a month at a time and I am worried about the continued rising costs so I am looking into other avenues.

Has anyone ever booked a flight through Priceline where you named the roundtrip price you were willing to pay? It seems that you have to put in all of the traveling passengers names and info and then your credit card and you can save up to 40 %. I am a bit skeptical to do this. Would this mean I am committed to the flight they come up with?

[traviesojmt]

I have used priceline in the past without any problems. There are several things to consider if you decide to use them however. You ARE committed to the flight if they accept your offer. Do not try to book with them if you are unsure if you are going. Also, if you name your own price, you do not have control over your flight times. I have used priceline when it was not important to us what time in the day we would arrive. The flight times have always been very good though. If they do not accept your price, then you are not committed. I often put in a VERY low price that I know will not be accepted. (If it were accepted, it would be so slow that I would be thrilled to buy it anyway.) After priceline declines my offer, I usually get an email telling me the lowest price flight that they found. This always gives me an idea of what prices I am dealing with. If you are sure you are going and you have flexibility in flight times, I am all for Priceline. Start by offering an extremely low price and then work your way up.

[Floridasunshine]

I have not used Priceline for flights, but if the experience is anything like what it has been for getting hotel rooms, I would not hesitate for ONE single minute! I LOVE priceline and hotwire for hotel rooms! I think hotwire also may give you an idea of the time of day you would be flying and shows the price before you buy it (but not the airline/route/or exact flight).

But about 1 out of 20 times I use them, I may get a dud hotel room, but the other 19 times i have been extremely pleased with my hotel rooms and always have felt like a get a total bargain.

The folks at this site are Priceline & Hotwire gurus and could probably answer any of your questions:

http://www.betterbidding.com/index.p...erbidding.com/

[Dana]

Originally Posted by traviesojmt

I have used priceline in the past without any problems. There are several things to consider if you decide to use them however. You ARE committed to the flight if they accept your offer. Do not try to book with them if you are unsure if you are going. Also, if you name your own price, you do not have control over your flight times. I have used priceline when it was not important to us what time in the day we would arrive. The flight times have always been very good though. If they do not accept your price, then you are not committed. I often put in a VERY low price that I know will not be accepted. (If it were accepted, it would be so slow that I would be thrilled to buy it anyway.) After priceline declines my offer, I usually get an email telling me the lowest price flight that they found. This always gives me an idea of what prices I am dealing with. If you are sure you are going and you have flexibility in flight times, I am all for Priceline. Start by offering an extremely low price and then work your way up.

Excellent tip!

[daisyd]

You can save a bundle on Priceline with your flights, but as stated before, you are committed to the nonrefundable tickets.

You really don't have much control over time of departure, layovers or arrival time, so if you bid, make it a price that is worth it to you. For example, if you really don't want to land late that first day (or depart at the crack of dawn on your return) but you will make a sacrafice on your time for a savings, how much $$ saved will be worth your time? Compare that to the published fares and decide if that is the way you want to go.
www.biddingfortravel.com is a great site for info about bidding on Priceline.

[gingles]

Originally Posted by scretella

Hi All,

With aifare as high as it is, I have been searching like crazy for resonable flights for our September WDW trip. Southwest is posting dates a handful at a time, rather than a month at a time and I am worried about the continued rising costs so I am looking into other avenues.

Has anyone ever booked a flight through Priceline where you named the roundtrip price you were willing to pay? It seems that you have to put in all of the traveling passengers names and info and then your credit card and you can save up to 40 %. I am a bit skeptical to do this. Would this mean I am committed to the flight they come up with?

I hear you can still catch some deals on priceline but the really good old days there are long gone. Originally, you could constantly enter the same bids, varying the days or the price slightly.

Two trips ago, my wife spent two days bidding ridiculously low bids on it. The second day she got us five roundtrip tickets on Delta from New Orleans to Orlando for $66 each. That was great, the lowest published discount fare at the time was about 140 bucks.

[NokeyNose]

You are right, that was a great deal! I guess I will just be waiting (anxiously) for southwest to publish their Sept rates past the 12th, and keep my fingers crossed that they will be decent!

[gingles]

Our Sept trip will be a little strange. DD #1 and DW will be flying, while DD#2 and I will drive over, so we'll be hunting for discount tickets.

Right now Delta has the bes nonstop from New Orleans.

I actually have a $250 flight voucher from American but they have no nonstops from NO to Orlando, so I'm going to let my brother use in exchange for about $100 to get some cash for another airline. (His DGF lives in Dallas.)

Good luck to you. I'm hoping that fuel prices will fall in tickets in turn.

[Mickey Maniac]

We are also searching flights for our Nov 06 trip, we usually go Airtran or US Air, we fly out early 7am or so and leave around 8pm to come home, right now USAir is $445 each, ouch, and Airtran is around $310 all nonstop, we can get a flight on USAir for $241 with a stop in Charlotte for 50 mins getting in at 930am I think, I could deal with that if I have too, but we are waiting on Southwest too.

I would try priceline but I do not want to commit to the deal if I do not like the times, I wold put in such a low price tho that they would not accept it.

[NokeyNose]

I am such a wimp! I was getting really nervous about teh airfare prices. With the rising costs of fuel I did so much research and I hated to wait to see what Southwest was going to do. The fact they aren't releasing their schedules for all of September at least, is kinda crazy (but hey, that's just my opinion). So I went with a non stop (we have two young children and the layovers would just be a lot harder) from CT to MCO on Delta. Early departure on first day. Early evening departure for retun. $310 per person! So very high, but I was afraid as to what it would be if I continued to wait. Same dates and similar times on Continemtal were $672 per person! GASP!!!!! Good luck to all of you!

[Mickey Maniac]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

Hi All,

With aifare as high as it is, I have been searching like crazy for resonable flights for our September WDW trip. Southwest is posting dates a handful at a time, rather than a month at a time and I am worried about the continued rising costs so I am looking into other avenues.

Has anyone ever booked a flight through Priceline where you named the roundtrip price you were willing to pay? It seems that you have to put in all of the traveling passengers names and info and then your credit card and you can save up to 40 %. I am a bit skeptical to do this. Would this mean I am committed to the flight they come up with?

Did you get your flights yet???

We are waiting for Nov rates on Southwest, I hope they are out soon.

[NokeyNose]

Originally Posted by Mickey Maniac

Did you get your flights yet???

We are waiting for Nov rates on Southwest, I hope they are out soon.

Yeap, had to bite the bullet and purchase them at $307 per person. I really think that children under 5 should not be charged full price. It seems rediculous, but oh well. $1842 round trip!! I hated to spend it, but it is done so now I am just counting the days, tomorrow I will be doing the double digit dance!!!!!!

I wouldn't count on Southwest for a while. They seem to be releasing about 3 weeks at a time every month or so. We ended up with Delta. Good luck, I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

[Dana]

Originally Posted by Mickey Maniac

Did you get your flights yet???

We are waiting for Nov rates on Southwest, I hope they are out soon.

Have you tried airtran? When I was pricing flights, they and Spirit (out of atlantic city) were the cheapest. Southwest isn't in a rush to put out their schedules...I can never wait long enough to book with them. I have to have these bought on a time line. It's how I busget my trip expenses. Good luck with the air. Hope you get a great price!

[pumpkin]

Originally Posted by Dana

Have you tried airtran? When I was pricing flights, they and Spirit (out of atlantic city) were the cheapest. Southwest isn't in a rush to put out their schedules...I can never wait long enough to book with them. I have to have these bought on a time line. It's how I busget my trip expenses. Good luck with the air. Hope you get a great price!

Sometimes, people book too soon for there flights. I have always taken my time and never booked early than 3 months for the trip. I did the same thing this time and ended up with a ding special which was $65 a leg from Pittsburgh to MCO. The total trip was $447 for 3 people. My thought was, it wasn't going to be too much higher than what I saw earlier. I booked middle of June, trip is mid September.

[Experiment6-2-6]

Originally Posted by NokeyNose

Hi All,


Has anyone ever booked a flight through Priceline where you named the roundtrip price you were willing to pay? It seems that you have to put in all of the traveling passengers names and info and then your credit card and you can save up to 40 %. I am a bit skeptical to do this. Would this mean I am committed to the flight they come up with?

I have used Priceline for hotels and rental cars.

Be very careful, 'cause what you bid is what you are obligated to pay.

So be careful NOT to bid more than what is the going rate on expedia or other travel sites.

Priceline won't ensure you get the lowest price, Priceline will attempt to get you a flight for what you bid.

There's a difference.