Per request -- all about bidding on priceline

In the past 2 years I have used priceline.com extensively (at least 6 times) to purchase airfare.  As I was mentioning this to someone they asked that I write out the details because they were unaware exactly how it works.

First, priceline offers 2 different services for airfare.  One of them is just like travelocity -- it searches for flights and shows you the prices for the tickets and you choose the flights you want to be on.  These prices were always the same as what I found on expedia, travelocity, kayak, etc. . . .

Secondly, priceline offers you the chance to bid on tickets.  You name your price and find out within minutes if the airlines accepts your offer.  Here is where it gets scary for some people.  You cannot choose your airline.  You cannot choose what flight you are on.  You cannot determine what time you will leave or arrive.  But there are a few safeguards

1.  You will not take off before 6 am or arrive after 10 pm.  So you know that you will not be traveling all night.

2.  You will not have more than 1 stop on your flight.  So you know that you will not be required to stop repeatedly and spend your whole day flying.

So priceline.com is worth a shot if you have a day  to travel on both ends of your trip.  So for example.  Last year I needed to get to Houston and be there on Saturday and I needed to be home on Monday.  So I bid for a trip to leave on Friday and return on Monday.  That way I would for sure be there on Saturday.  I selected my travel dates and selected my airports (I wanted to leave out of Westchester county airport and was willing to arrive at either Houston Intercontinental airport or Houston Hobby)--   I was purchasing these tickets very last minute (on Wednesday -- just 2 days before) and at the time the average ticket price was $750 and that was leaving out of LGA or JFK and arriving to IAH.  If I flew out of my preferred airports then the ticket prices were around $1080.

I entered my information.  I bid for a ticket price of $261.85 -- (I chose that price as it was the cheapest I had actually flown between New York and Houston) and it seemed to me that if at sometime they would sell tickets for that price then they might as well sell one to me know.

My bid was accepted.  Here are the details.

Summary of Charges

Airline Ticket Offer Price:	$261.85 per ticket
Govt Taxes, Airline Fees and Agent Fees:	$50.35 per ticket
Number of Tickets:	1
Airline Ticket Shipping & Handling:	$0.00 (Electronic Ticket)
Airfare Subtotal:	$312.20
Total Trip Cost: (All prices are in US dollars)	$312.20
Baggage fees are not included in your trip cost.

Lowest Published Airline Ticket Price:	$729.30 per ticket
Your Total Airline Ticket Cost:	$312.20 per ticket
Savings Per Airline Ticket:	$417.10
Total Trip Savings*:	$417.10 (You Saved 57%)
* This is your savings on the total cost of your airline ticket(s) when compared to the lowest published airfare available at time of booking for the itinerary and airline shown. This savings of $417.10 was the difference in me being able to take this trip at all. I began to rely heavily on priceline to purchase airfare -- especially at the last minute and for a reasonable price.  I also found out several other things.  Each time I flew I was on flights that were quite empty.  Essentially the airlines were willing to sell tickets at a lower cost on flights that were not as popular.  I was traveling with an infant and having empty planes was so nice.  Flights that were really full were not generally the ones I was put on (as the airlines knows they can sell those flights). In each case I left at reasonable times, had your normal 1-2 hour layovers (if I had one at all) and arrived at decent times. I bought tickets last minute 6 times and priceline.com was literally a lifesaver.  I could not have afforded to travel out to see my mom repeatedly without them.  Each time I went was a last minute trip. But then priceline.com worked for me again for this summer.  I was about to buy tickets for the whole family to Utah at a price much higher than I wanted on dates I didn't want to travel out of airports I didn't want to leave from and I thought -- let me just try priceline. I bid for 6 tickets out of any NYC airport to Salt Lake city.  I bid on them for the dates I really wanted to travel.  And I got them.  They turned out to be Delta flights and one of the flights is even a direct flight. Here are the details.

Summary of Charges

Airline Ticket Offer Price:	$260.00 per ticket
Govt Taxes, Airline Fees and Agent Fees:	$39.85 per ticket
Number of Tickets:	5
Airline Ticket Shipping & Handling:	$0.00 (Electronic Ticket)
Airfare Subtotal:	$1499.25
Total Trip Cost: (All prices are in US dollars)	$1499.25
Baggage fees are not included in your trip cost.

Lowest Published Airline Ticket Price:	$450.40 per ticket
Your Total Airline Ticket Cost:	$299.85 per ticket
Savings Per Airline Ticket:	$150.55
Total Trip Savings*:	$752.75 (You Saved 33%)
* This is your savings on the total cost of your airline ticket(s) when compared to the lowest published airfare available at time of booking for the itinerary and airline shown. Anyway, I hope this might help some of you who are hesitant to lose a little control and bid for your airfare.