Priceline.com Name Your Own Price?

Here's how Priceline.com's "Name Your Own Price" actually works...

Empty seats are available on some flights. (There aren't as many empty seats as there once were, now that the airlines have cut back on the number of flights in operation.)

When there ARE empty seats, the airline will attempt to fill those seats by using "consolidators" like Priceline. The airline would rather have 50% of the revenue for a seat that's currently empty, than nothing at all, so they may be willing to let the seat go at the last minute for half price. When you "name your own price," it's actually a special kind of reverse auction. You make an offer to the consolidator, and if the airline is willing to sell the seat at that price, you can then purchase the ticket at a substantial discount.

The drawback is that you must be flexible with your travel plans. While you can choose the day of your travel, you cannot choose the time or the airline. You don't know what airline you're flying nor the time of departure or arrival until AFTER you've made the purchase. If your schedule and preferences are flexible enough to do this, you are probably a good candidate for the Name Your Own Price service of Priceline.

By the way, the reason the Customer Service reps refer you back to the web site is that they were party in an infamous situation where they got in a bit of hot water when one of their reps provided incorrect information to a customer, and it wound up costing them money. I did not know, but am not surprised, that they no longer answer procedural questions.

I've used the Name-Your-Own-Price service once, and probably never will again. I was routed way out of the way, and the times were terrible. But if price is the most important factor, it might be a good match for you. Good luck.

You can name your own price; this doesn't mean that Priceline has to accept it. While they as a company are perfectly above-board (no worries about getting ripped off, for the most part), they usually make you work a lot to get a deal. And when you find a deal, sometimes it's fantastic, and sometimes it's just 10% off of the airline's normal rates, or has a hidden "cost" in terms of lost convenience.

Start the process by entering a price about half of the normal fare for your route, then work up in increments of $10 or $20 till you get a bid accepted. There's no guarantee that what Priceline offers will be any less than the airline, so make sure you set a price range that you're not going to go over; be reasonable, too, because last summer's rock bottom airfares are not coming back.

Keep in mind that you may "pay" for your cheaper fare in other ways:

--Very early flight departures

--Very long layovers (sometimes 6 hours or more; too long to be enjoyable but not long enough to go sightseeing in your layover city, and if it's an International layover you would need a visa to leave the airport anyway)

--Your ticket may have a lot of restrictions. Almost all Priceline tickets are non-cancellable, non-refundable, but to get a cheap fare, you may end up with a ticket that has no advance seat selection (people without assigned seats are the first ones bumped), or maybe won't earn airline miles, or won't allow you to get on an earlier flight on the day of travel

--You may end up on a mixed-carrier itinerary. I know this happens all the time but sometimes on Priceline you get two different airlines that are not partners. So you may take Continental to Houston then transfer to Varig for the rest of your trip. Since these two airlines do not have a partner agreement, then your bags would probably not be transferred, your arrival and departure gates might not be close to eachother, you may have to leave security to claim your bags then re-check-in and clear security again, and if you miss your Varig flight because your Continental flight was late, they might not try too hard to help you simply because it's not Varig's fault you were late.

Basically I'd be a little reluctant to try for a Priceline fare on an International trip for this last reason.

Priceline Name Your Own Price

it's not really that much cheaper. i tried it once and they were only about $10 cheaper than other websites. they make you think you just got a great deal then get your credit card info before you actually get a ticket. i wouldn't even bother again

i am lookin for a trip never been and i am wanting to go to aruba and stay at riu palace,looking for a total package for two people1,500 can i get this from priceline

Are you talking about Pirceline or Hotwire?

Was interested in the answer too

This was bugging me too

188.00

Please check:

Tips:

a- use flexible dates

b- use alternative airports

http://www.yapta.com/

http://www.cfares.com/

http://www.kayak.com/

http://www.orbitz.com/

http://www.cheaptickets.com/

http://www.expedia.com/default.asp

http://www.farecompare.com/

http://www.mobissimo.com/search_airfare.%E2%80%A6

http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/