Priceline.com: some good, some bad
Written: Sep 26 '00
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I have been traveling a lot lately and have been noticing that the price of airfares for myself is getting higher and higher. I usually shop for a fare by actually going to the airport and negotiating with the ticket salesperson.(I know, a stone age method) This has yielded mixed results. I am fairly educated as to what I should be paying for a given flight and usually when I go to the ticket counter, I do indeed have some idea in mind. Usually by changing the time of the flight or the day in which I can return I will yield decent results and have usually found flights priced in and around the 200 dollars a trip range for continental flights booked more than 3 weeks in advance. If I were to go through this method at the last minute, I would be paying a huge price for almost every flight, so therefore, I plan my travel well in advance.
This being said, I must say that I have heard many recent reviews of Priceline.com. Some of these peer reviews were good and some were unfavorable. Nonetheless, the site seemed to be quite popular and I decided to try it out for myself a few times. The site has many strong suits and I will start by explaining these. First of all, the site allows the user to "bid" a price for the desired flight. This means that you will not pay over the amount that you bid. Priceline checks all flights for the airlines they have contracted and sees if they can match the user up with a flight for the desired, or "bid", price or under. This means you will never spend more than you were willing to, and furthermore Priceline also has a way of finding a good flight for you. The time it takes for Priceline to answer, confirm or deny, the users bid is usually under 3 hours and it also seems that the site is fairly secure. Also, I have heard many reports of last minute flight reservations being much cheaper through the use of the site.
The negatives of this site are also many. First of all, Priceline chooses the time of day that you will be flying. This may cause many inconviences and lost hours. Furthermore, the bid placed by the user is binding and cannot be changed. This means that once Priceline finds a flight for you you will have to take it, or at least pay for it, whether it matches exactly with your schedule or not. All in all, I have found many troubles with the users lack of control on Priceline.
Overall though, this site can be used and used effectively. I would only recommend it for those who have a very loose travel schedule or those who are trying to make cheap last minute reservations. If this applies to you then great, use Priceline, if not though you should look somewhere else.
Recommended:
Yes
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elmoebeesn
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Member: Magic M
Location: near Pittsburgh
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JD, MBA grad. The real world has cometh....
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