I'm confused about "naming your own price for airline tickets." Any words of advice?

I'm trying to book a flight for the end of next month. Priceline has an option of naming your own price for airfare. I'm not sure I fully understand how it works. Can anyone give me some insight to this? Any words of advice?

I'm confused about "naming your own price for airline tickets." Any words of advice?
Be careful when using Priceline. The "name your own price" is risky in the world of airlne travel. You need to make sure you READ ALL OF THE FARE RULES before purchasing. These tickets can not be changed for any reason and the airlines wont touch them if there is a problem or you need a change. So if you choose to go with Priceline, make sure you are certain you will be traveling. Once you put in the price you are "naming", it may be several days before you find out if you get it or not.





Its always safer to book with the airlines. Thry Orbitz.com they are owned by the airlines. Usually you can find pretty good deals directly with the airlines and the tickets are more flexible. Just make sure you read the fine print before using any website.





Travel website I recommend for hotel and rental cars, but never air fare. You are subject to too many terms and conditions and limitations. Secondly you get what they give you. Also they charge outragous booking fee's. Domestic taxes and fee's with an airline are really not that much more than the base fare, usually around $50 or so, but never over $100.
Reply:You're not committed to buy anything till they "accept" your bid so start out very, very low if you do decide to try Priceline. If your bid is too low, the worst thing to happen to you is you get an annoying email. But make sure you know what that flight is worth, and read the fine print very, very carefully, as there will be taxes added (these are usually quoted as part of the ticket price on a normal airline site, so if United says the flight is worth $200 and Priceline says $150, it might not be that good a deal once the taxes get added in) on top of your bid.





I've never used Priceline for flying but I have one friend who does all the time. Sometimes it works out very well for him--- and sometimes he gets 4-hour layovers, or longer! Also the connecting flights don't always seem to be logically arranged--- flying from NY to Seattle by way of Dallas, for example. You also get no choice on the airline, the time of day of your flight, or the aircraft (personally I hate flying in some of those dinky regional jets and I'll gladly pay more to make sure I'm not on one of them) so you may pay dearly for the $50 you save. Your tickets will be heavily restricted--- non refundable, if your plans change you are out of luck, and your ticket will bear a code that identifies you as a Priceline customer... this means the airline knows before you get on that plane that they're not making much money off of you, and if the plane is oversold, you'll get bumped well before anyone who purchased directly with the airline. You also usually (not always) can't select your seat in advance--- you'll be assigned one when you get to the airport, so you might get a window, and you might not.





You can occasionally get a good deal on Priceline but in my opinion, the money you save isn't always worth it. Sometimes you save 25% or more on the fares but more often, it's closer to 10% or less. It might be worth that extra 10% to be able to decide what time you're leaving, get a direct flight, etc.
Reply:Priceline "name your own price" is a wonderful way to save money. For airline tickets first check out the going rates for your destination. Then, go to "name your own price" and follow the steps. Don't be afraid to start low as you can go back again in the next day or two and try again. I have not tried airline tickets but have saved greatly on hotel and rental car fares. For a hotel it will ask you for the state, then city, and then give you options for which area of the city you would like to stay. It will ask you which star level you prefer and what price you wish to pay. If not accepted it will come back and say to try again now change dates or the area of the city you wish to stay or the star level you prefer and/or to raise you price. I suspect that bidding on airline tickets is much the same. If you start early enough you can just come back every day or so and try a little higher price without changing anything else. For sure try it and good luck!
Reply:Priceline is great for last minute flights because the airlines want to sell those seats, so if you really want to name your own price and more than likely get it, you should wait. That has been my experience with Priceline.





Also, keep in mind that when you put down your base price, they're going to add taxes out the wazoo... I was trying to get a get a ticket, I bid 330 and with taxes it came to 490!





Finally, the regular fares listed on Priceline (not the ones you bid for, the ones the list) are usually a bit higher than those you can find on other websites like expedia, orbitz, travelocity, and even the airlines' websites.





Priceline can be fantastic for hotels (I've had great luck using it for hotels) but for flights it's not always the best deal. You might be better off just purchasing a ticket from a different website, and not taking a gamble on the times and dates.





Good luck... let me know how it goes.