Skyauction.com: Check Everything Else First!
May 17 '00 (Updated Mar 23 '01)
The Bottom Line Check everything else first
This is one of those rare cases when I give the product/service only 1 1/2 stars and still recommend it. Skyauction.com is a new kid on the block when it comes to finding cheap airfare. The company is about a year old and it's probably a little early to deliver the final verdict. Consider this review as my answer before acknowledging it as my final answer.
Skyaction.com is a website that lets you bid on the airfare and other travel-related products (hotel stays, all-inclusive packages). However, before you even think about bidding on anything, CHECK EVERYTHING ELSE FIRST! Through my travel experience I believe I have developed a good sense of what a bargain airfare would be to a particular destination in a particular time of the year. I have seen so many people overbid on Skyauction.com that I really wonder if these people had done any research whatsoever prior to offering their final price. That said, I found that some winning bids (a minority, in my opinion) were pretty good deals, and a few winning bids were awesome deals.
Many airfares advertised on Skyauction.com are not specific; neither time specific nor origin and destination specific. For example, Summertime RT Western USA to Scandinavia via United/Lufthansa, anytime June 16-August 31. Usually (and it will be specifically mentioned in the details) you will have a choice of a few origin cities (i.e. NY, Boston, DC, perhaps others too), a few destination cities (i.e. Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, perhaps others too) and your choice of dates as long as they are in the timeframe outlined for this auction.
Unlike Ebay, Ubid or other auction sites, even if you are the winning bidder on Skyauction you are not guaranteed the tickets. Flexibility on dates certainly helps. But there is always a chance that the tickets for the dates that you need are not available. If we can not fulfill your request for any reason, you will be refunded for your total bid paid amount. The only problem is that you have to wait for Skyauction to get back to you. And if their response is negative it’s like you just wasted a couple of days, because you couldn’t look elsewhere at the same time. And in some cases, when you are close to 21, 14, 7 days deadlines, a couple of days make a difference.
All auctions start at $1, so hypothetically if you are the only one who is willing to bid on the auction you can get a fantastic deal. Yet, we are living in a supply and demand world. For $1 one would fly anywhere just for dinner and the movies. Actually, there are always taxes and fees, which are listed for each auction before the bidding starts. Usually each auction lasts a few days, and the bidding picks up as the deadline approaches. If the item is really popular, it’s very easy to get excited about winning forgetting about the cost of winning. The goal is not to win and overbid others. The goal is to get the price lower than the cheapest price you have already found elsewhere. Unfortunately, some people get carried away or don’t do the homework.
Let me show you a few examples:
Summertime RT Eastern USA to Italy via United/Lufthansa, anytime June 16-August 31.
This auction ended on May 16th. The winning bid was $979 (including taxes and fees). This is hardly a bargain in my book. On the other hand, the winning bid for an identical auction on May 10th was $1029. I believe that whoever won this auction at this price hasn’t done much research on other travel websites.
Summertime RT Western USA to Italy via United/Lufthansa, anytime June 16-August 31.
This auction ended on May 14th. The winning bid was $925 -- $54 and $104 respectively cheaper than the same RT fares from the East Coast mentioned above.
Summertime RT Western USA to Scandinavia/Switzerland, anytime June 16-August 31.
This auction ended on May 16th. The winning bid was $890. Pretty good deal, I think, especially if you need to get to a small airport like Basel. On the other hand, the winning bid for an identical auction on May 10th was $1079.
Fortunately for the reader and somewhat unfortunately for myself I had a recent experience with Skyauction.com when I was searching for the cheapest airfare to Europe this summer. I won the following auction:
Summertime RT Eastern USA to Germany via KLM/Northwest, anytime June 16-August 31.
My winning bid was $600 + $89 (tax). The list of destinations included almost every major airport in Germany. I was hoping to fly RT to Munich, and the cheapest fare I had found for the dates that I planned was $850 (courtesy of Expedia.com). Overall, prior to placing a bid, I had searched about a dozen travel websites and phoned about half a dozen consolidators. Obviously I was very excited about the Skyauction deal.
When it comes to Skyauction’s customer service there are only two words that come to mind: horrible or non-existent. One of the most annoying things about the company's customer service is that there is only one way of communication--e-mail. No phone number is listed anywhere on the website. (Sounds familiar? :)
In the FAQ section it is stated that after you submit all the traveling details, Your information will then go to one of our specially trained agents for processing, and you should hear back from us within 2 business days, usually sooner.
After 2 days of no reply, I e-mailed the company asking to let me know about the status of my request as soon as possible, so I don't just sit and potentially waste time while I could be looking for other airfare options. By the end of third day--no reply. I e-mailed again with a subject: URGENT. PLEASE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY. By the end of 4th day--no reply. I e-mailed again with a subject: EXTREMELY URGENT: PLEASE RESPOND NOW! By the afternoon of the next day--no reply. I called 411. The company is not listed. Frustrated and angry, I posted my thoughts on the message board of Eurotrip.com (excellent backpacking site, by the way), and one of the Eurotrip regulars responded by posting the company's phone number. Armed with 7 precious digits (not including the area code), I was ready to rock-'n-roll. Obviously, since they don't expect any phone calls, there is no call center, and a receptionist picked up the phone. In the first 18 minutes I was told to "Hold" 6 times! To make a long story short, I finally talked to one of the travel agents. It turned out that the company couldn't find the seats for the dates that I requested. Oh well, back to square one.
By the way, a day later, I finally received a reply to my e-mails. A typical thing when one leg doesn't know what the other leg is doing.
Final thoughts:
I’m not going to discourage you from trying out Skyauction, even though my experience was an unpleasant one, to say the least. I think that under certain circumstances you may get a good deal there. And if you ever have a problem, here is the phone number to call: (212) 486-1250.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
AlexG
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 130
Trusted by: 237 members
About Me:
Alex has a voracious appetite for travel. Travel hasn't satisfied an appetite. It's created one.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.