PDX to COS...thoughts

[Steiny]

Bidding on Priceline. PDX (Portland, Oregon) to COS (Colorado Springs)

Dates of travel: Leaving 10/6/2012 and returning 10/11/2012

Lowest price I could find includng all taxes was $230 which is actually a pretty good price, but if I can get it cheaper, all the more better. I put in an offer for $125 and it added $49 in taxes bringing my total to a rounded off total of $175 or about 24% off. Got rejected. They did give me two counter offers, one to fly into Denver for $211 and the other the $230 price.

I know in the past when I have used Priceline for travel, the deals have not been as good on airfare at least compared to hotels and rental cars. I suspect not much has changed since the last time I got airfare on Priceline using the Name your own price deal.

With the price already pretty low, is there any realistic chance of getting an accepted deal on Priceline lower than the stated price? Also at some point, even if the discount is small a person has to weigh out being able to pick ones time vs saving a little bit.

Just an FYI. I am also willing to leave from Eugene, Oregon or Medford, Oregon as they are both closer airports to me and if need be I can fly into Denver. However I know from the past leaving from those two airports has always been more expensive compared to Portland.

[thereuare]

I know in the past when I have used Priceline for travel, the deals have not been as good on airfare at least compared to hotels and rental cars.

Please follow-up your previous Priceline Airfare PDX --> HNL thread with whatever you did for that trip, then reply to this thread and we'll comment on your trip above.

Also, as your post above implies you have made some successful hotel/car/airfare purchases in the last 3 years since joining the board, it would be appreciated if you began to share your wins so that others can benefit from the information.

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

[Steiny]

Thanks, I did follow up on that thread. I doubt anyone was waiting with baited breath to hear my report from a year ago.

As far as sharing what I have done, it can be a little bit of a pain in the rear. It is like the below response. Follow up on the trip from a year ago and then we will comment on this latest request. This is my opinion. If people want to share, great. If they don't lay low on them meaning don't bug or remind people about their past non shares. I sort of feel that going back and sharing what happened a year ago is sort of pointless because what happened a year does not mean the same thing will happen this year. So I am not sure there is any real benefit of sharing what happened a year ago.

I will say this. I have used Priceline a fair amount of times over the years. I have got some very good deals on car rentals in probably 3 to 4 cities maybe more. I know I have also got some really really good deals on hotels as well in maybe 4 to 6 cities. I have not shared those wins here or even on another board that I can remember. I have only got one airline Priceline win and I honestly cannot remember where to or when it was but I do remember that it was not that great of a deal compared to the car rentals and hotels. Meaning, I have got hotel and car rental deals easily 50% off or more. Where as the one airline deal that I got I want to say was maybe 20%. I know 20% off is still better than nothing.

I will try to share in the future any Priceline deals that I get, just be not to rake me over the coals if I do not.

On this thread here, I do not think there is too much really that can be said. What I bid was fairly close to the retail price a couple days ago and for me, I am probably at that threshold where it is not worth the little savings I may be able to get vs being able to pick my own time. Although if anyone thinks there is something to add to help get the priec down, I will be happy to here what you got to say.

Thanks for doing all that you do here. I will say this, while I may not contribute much in terms of words, I have sent many people to this site and the other forum to check it out and have done so for a long time.

[Steiny]

OK, this is where I am with this flight.

On 9/25/2012 I bid $125 plus $49 in taxes for a total of $174 and got rejected. Best price I could find retail was $230.

On 9/27/2012 I bid $150 plus $49 in taxes for a total of $199 and got rejected. Also the best price I could find retail was $230.

So for me, I am not going to put in any more bids. $230 really is a pretty good price. For $30, I at least can pick my own time from 2 or 3 choices.

I must say I am a little disappointed. However I guess with all the airline cutbacks here and there over the years, they just are not as willing to deal as in past years. I am still a little on the fence with this trip so I really need to decide if I am going or not. If I do go, I will attempt to use Priceline for my rental car and hotel and I will make a strong effort to share what ends up happening there.

[Steiny]

So I am updating things. When I went into log into my UAL account, I forgot that I had some airline miles accumulated. Not a huge amount. However using my miles and paying some money I was able to get this trip for $94 ($230 retail) and 37,500 miles. On to the hotel and rental car to see what I get. I will post in those areas.

[thereuare]

Glad to see you found something that works for your needs this trip.

As far as having users follow-up their threads, it's a courtesy to those who took the time to help, as well as keeps the board better organized, up to date, and more useful for everyone. In an ideal world every thread would have a conclusion so that future readers would know if a user was ultimately successful with their bidding/purchase, gave up trying due to rejected bids, cancelled the trip, etc, etc.

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