kevin347 Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I am looking to bid for 2 tickets from IAD (washington dc) to ANC (Anchorage Alaska) between May 27th (Friday) to June 2nd (Friday). I do have little flexibility in changing the trip few days before may 27th but donot want to delay it. I used air fare compare and the current price is around 520-550$ and the lowest fare is from DCA (Ronald reagon airport). I have 3 (DCA,IAD,BWI) choices for departure airport but only 1 for destination airport. What strategy do I adopt and how much do I start with for bidding? If i am seeing lowest fare from DCA does it mean I get lowest fare from that airport when I bid?Thanks Link to comment
Colfax Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 Are you willing to fly out of DCA and/or BWI? Or you'll only fly out of IAD? Link to comment
kevin347 Posted April 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 Yes any 3 of the airports is fine. Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 22, 2011 Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 Given the rates above, how much of a discount do you need to make an opaque purchase (agreeing to a connection, not choosing departure/arrival times, layover city or length, etc) worthwhile?Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
kevin347 Posted April 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 Probably around 350 including taxes, not sure if its possible. Link to comment
Colfax Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 If i am seeing lowest fare from DCA does it mean I get lowest fare from that airport when I bid?No, not necessarily.$225 would be a lowball bid....less than 50% of the best price you've found. A $225 bid will be $287.55 with tax/fee.As a starting point you can try three separate bids, just fishing to see if you get any counteroffers, how much the counteroffers are, and which airport, if any, brings the counteroffer.IAD---ANC $225BWI---ANC $225DCA---ANC $225After each bid close your browser and reaccess Priceline from the start to try the next airport.Please post back if you get any counteroffers to the above, and if so how much.Please reaccess the board's PRICELINE link for each of the three bids.Good luck! Link to comment
kevin347 Posted April 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Tried dates of 5/27 to 6/3IAD - 225 denied and it came with regular flight search results and showed the lowest price of 629$ including taxesDCA - counter offer 629 and same result for BWI to ANCThanks Link to comment
thereuare Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 Please reaccess the board's PRICELINE link for each of the three bids. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Colfax Posted April 29, 2011 Report Share Posted April 29, 2011 I was hoping you'd get a counteroffer to one of those.Best rate now is $566 ($629 with tax).You said your limit was $350 taxes included. That means a maximum bid of $286, still a lowball bid probably, 50% off best retail.My suggestion is bid $250 from IAD. If rejected add DCA at $270. Then add BIA at $286.I don't think it will probably work, but why not try?You mentioned your dates are somewhat flexible. You've been bidding for Friday/Friday. I don't know Alaska travel patterns but maybe you'd have better luck some other day of the week, like Thurs/Thurs?With your trip less than a month off now, and Memorial Day weekend, if you don't get something on Priceline pretty soon you should probably look to conventional, before/in case air rates go up. Link to comment
kevin347 Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Yes I used the above links. I am planning to switch dates to Thu to Thu ( I am seeing normal price of 500$ from IAD) and Sunday to Sunday (480$ from IAD via jetblue). Once all 3 bids from different airports is rejected, can I do multiple selection on airport and increase the bid price and try again since I am willing to fly from any of the 3 airports? does it work similar to hotels? Also when bidding, it always tells me that priceline usually books flight upto 1 connection, is there a way to change that to allow upto 2 connections so my chances are higher?TIA Link to comment
thereuare Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 You can get almost unlimited re-bids when bidding on airfare as explained in this second post of this Priceline Airfare RE-bidding thread.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
kevin347 Posted May 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 I am leaning towards giving up on bidding. The lowest fare I see right now is on May 29(sun) to June 5th (sun) at 480$. I bid as much as 335$ (around 398$ including taxes) and no success. Link to comment
Colfax Posted May 2, 2011 Report Share Posted May 2, 2011 I agree with your decision to give up and buy something now. Trip is less than a month away and you might not win anything. Usually as dates approach rates go up.Lately it seems like more of the airline ticket wins happen close to departure date, and not that many people want to or can afford to wait and see. Thanks for closing out the thread. Have a good trip.p.s. Do you need a hotel in ANC too? If so you might save with a Priceline or Hotwire Vacation (air + hotel) package. Link to comment
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