Once you've plucked up the courage, you won't look back. Well, I didn't!
Written: Nov 14 '02 (Updated Nov 14 '02)
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I'm English. This review refers to priceline.co.uk. I hope that it is not seen as out of place! Anyway - here we go!
Whilst Annabella Marr may be the mother of Amanda's mother, Necessity is certainly the mother of bold experimentation. Allow me, if you will, to explain!
Amanda's grandparents are about to celebrate 60 years of marriage and have invited us to join them in this happy occasion. There's a problem, though. They live in Aberdeenshire (Scotland) and we live in Kent (England). It's a long way to go for a few days.
I promised Amanda I'd look into the possibilities and visited the GNER web site. This rail company has a fantastic offer on at present, whereby you can go anywhere on their network for UKP20.00. I looked up the times and selected a Friday evening departure and a Sunday morning return. The advertised price was there - UKP 20.00. Tickety-boo! Let's just do it.
Foolish me! I left the web site and booked a hotel first, before returning to the GNER site to book the train tickets. D'oh! These tickets are not, apparently available on Fridays or Sundays. Why they were advertised as such at the planning stage is beyond me, but the bottom line was that I was going to have to pay about UKP180.00 instead of UKP40.00. That's quite a difference.
I'd also promised Amanda that we'd go. I couldn't exactly let her down. Imagination went into overdrive. I looked at EasyJet, Go, Ryanair, and even thought about flying to Glasgow and hiring a car. I didn't get anywhere. My poor wallet was looking like taking a hammering.
And then, I remembered www.priceline.co.uk. They specialise in cheap flights, hotels and car hire. Time to investigate flight options.
With Priceline, you select departure and destination locations, specify your dates and select departure times from a fairly broad window.
Then, you make a bid. A cheeky price, well below the going rate, and hope it's accepted.
I've visited Priceline's site before and never quite had the nerve to make a bid because there's no "Let's see what happens" here. Oh no. Once you enter your bid, and supply your credit card number, you are committed. If they find an airline who will accept your offer, they book it for you and tell you when you're going. And there's no going back. I've never been bold enough to go the distance before...
As I said, necessity is the mother of bold experimentation and I was in a corner. I had promised to go and didn't want to pay the rail fare if I could get a better deal by flying. And I love flying. So, I made a bid of UKP40.00 and sent it off.
You then wait 15 minutes and bite your nails, or light a cigarette and drink a beer. My nails are short, so I opted for the latter.
You have mail!
My bid was accepted! UKP148.80, including taxes, to fly from Heathrow with British Airways - they don't deal with budget airlines, by the way. Let me just clarify - your bid is based on the airfare alone. Taxes (and don't get me started on that issue) are added on top of the successful bid price. Hence the leap from UKP80.00 (for the tickets) to UKP148.80 (for the total cost). Today, I investigated what the same flights would have cost if I'd booked direct with BA, and the quote was UKP335.00; I'd made a HUGE saving.
I'm a happy bunny. I'm flying BA, and paying a lot less for a flight which takes 1 hour 25 minutes than I would for a 7 1/2 hour rail journey. I love flying and I adore bargains. I've got the best of both worlds. And Amanda's happy, of course - not just because she gets to see her grandparents, but because it was my credit card number and not hers!
The bottom line is that there are bargains to be had here. If your bid is ridiculously low and gets rejected, you can bid again instantly. As long as you're flexible (you are not told which airline you'll be using or when you'll be taking off (although it will be within your specified "window") until the tickets are confirmed), this is a superb way to book.
I'm glad I decided to give it a go. As it happens our allocated flight timings could not have been better.
All the best!
Andrew
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Andrew McFall
Location: Canterbury, Kent, England
Reviews written: 74
Trusted by: 130 members
About Me: Maths teacher. Father of young Josh. See below!
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