EWR to SJU

[newbieNJ]

How far in advance can you "Pick your Own Fare" on Priceline?  How quickly will your bid be accepted.  Is it worth trying this early?  Fares keep rising and traveling with 6 people, worried I should not wait any longer to book.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What are your actual dates of travel? What is the best rate you're currently able to find for this route for your dates? How much of a discount would you need to make an opaque purchase worthwhile?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[newbieNJ]

Travel dates are 4/4/15 - 4/13/15. Cheapest fare is about $531 but that is not the ideal choice. The one I'd like to select is about $560-$575. I guess if the fare was about $400 person that would be great.

[thereuare]

Keep in mind that when bidding on PRICELINE you can't choose the ideal itinerary, you have to be willing to accept any itinerary they select (within certain travel time parameters) and agree to up to at least up to one connection/layover.

Also, with airlines having reduced capacity over the last few years there are fewer empty seats available on most flights which leaves fewer deals available thru PRICELINE (and therefore the deals that are available are not as deeply discounted)

If you want to try bidding you do have an almost unlimited number of re-bid zones available by using the techniques is Priceline Airfare Re-Bidding (in particular see the second post). Using the technique there you can start at ~$200 and increase $5-$25 for each re-bid (bigger increments at the lower amounts and smaller increments at the higher amounts as your chances of success increase)

After reading the thread above let us know if you have any questions or if you need a more specific strategy outlined.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Romelle]

Using http://matrix.itasoftware.com, any NYC airport, and your dates, I'm seeing a low fare of $368 on USAIR.  

 

For just EWR, the low is $447.  DL and American have non-stops from JFK for $485.

 

You might want to use this tool to explore.  Then do your bidding below the low you find acceptable.  

 

One can't actually purchase on the web site, and occasionally fares will show that no longer can be purchased, so it would be best to also check out availability on either the airline site or one of the more general ones.   Under Airfare, on the Support Page up above, there are a bunch of links to general ones .

 

Romelle