Priceline Airfare RE-Bidding

[thereuare]

Just as there is priceline re-bidding for hotels... a similar methodology can be applied to Airfare.

The key concept to remember is that priceline uses the airports entered on the first screen as the criteria for determining a duplicate bid.

Let's use an example of flying from EWR (Newark, NJ) to LAX (Los Angeles). Entering this departure/arrival combination on the first screen gives the following airport options:

Newark:

EWR

JFK

LGA

HPN

PHL

Los Angles:

LGB

LAX

SNA

BUR

ONT

So if you want to fly from EWR-->LAX you would enter these airports on the first page, and on the next page you would place a checkmark next to EWR and a checkmark next to LAX and place your bid. If rejected, you could then start over...

Select JFK-->LAX, but since you really want to fly EWR-->LAX on the next screen you once again only select the EWR box and the LAX box (be careful to UNcheck any airports that may be pre-selected) and place another bid. This bid is treated as a new bid since the airport combination selected on the first page were different (the first was EWR-->LAX and the second was JFK-->LAX), even though each bid placed was for the same itinerary.

You could then get additonal bids by starting the first screen with the following combinations:

EWR-->LAX (1st bid above)

JFK-->LAX (2nd bid above)

LGA-->LAX

HPN-->LAX

PHL-->LAX

EWR-->LGB

JFK-->LGB

LGA-->LGB

HPN-->LGB

PHL-->LGB

EWR-->SNA

JFK-->SNA

LGA-->SNA

HPN-->SNA

PHL-->SNA

EWR-->BUR

JFK-->BUR

LGA-->BUR

HPN-->BUR

PHL-->BUR

EWR-->ONT

JFK-->ONT

LGA-->ONT

HPN-->ONT

PHL-->ONT

(each time only placing a check in the box next to EWR as the departure airport and only placing a check in the box next to LAX as the arrival airport)

As you cycle thru the different airports, you may also learn of new nearby airports to try. For instance, when first entering PHL, you'll notice three new airports that haven't been seen previously (ACY, TTN, and ABE). If you try entering ACY as a departure airport, you won't find EWR offered as an alternate airport (so this one can't be used), but try both TTN and ABE as a departure airport and EWR is shown on the next page... so you can then add those two airports to the mix above, increasing the number of re-bid zones available.

Any questions feel free to ask.

[BEAV]

Allow me to take this theory one step further. Over the years, it's allowed me to make unlimited rebids in Priceline airfare bidding. So much so, that I've been able to increase bid increments of $1 with each bid, thus hitting Priceline's target price without overbidding by so much as $1.

Using Thereuare's example of bidding from EWR to LAX, consider the following:

On the Priceline home page for airfare, notice under the "from" and "to" box it says "city or airport." Rather than only typing in an airport (EWR, JFK, LGA, etc) you can type any city within the metro Newark area. For example, entering Elizabeth, NJ will display all the NY-area airports, and you simply select EWR and LAX if those are your choices of airports to fly into/out of. If your Elizabeth, NJ bid is rejected, start from scratch on the Priceline home page, only this time enter: Rahway, NJ. Again, Priceline will display all the NY-area airports. The same theory applies if you enter Van Nuys, Pasadena, Santa Monica, CA, etc, as either your origin/destination city. All the LAX-area airports will display.

Entering any city within the metropolitan area of the airport you're flying into/out of will afford you unlimited rebid possibilities. The key is to start every bid from scratch after each rejection of your previous bid.

I used the above theory in the following situations. Notice in the first thread I bid 17 times ($1 at a time) from $160 before hitting at $177.

Orlando Priceline Bidding

In the below example, I placed 20 bids in $1 increments by simply entering 20 different cities/towns within the metropolitan areas of SFO and DEN to acheive a win:

Priceline Denver Bidding

[valencia]

Has the re-bidding system changed in the past years?

[iselinzilla]

Has the re-bidding system changed in the past years?

I am happy to report that the re-bidding system still works as reported above.

[cybershopping1]

My question about airfare bidding is: Do you bid the price including tax, etc. as the new rules require or do you bid on the airfare alone and the tax, etc. are added after you bid.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages and clicking each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links... then start a NEW TOPIC for your own question (since it's not about airfare re-bidding) and we'll assist you there.

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

[rats]

Trying to understand this.

There isn't a second page showing checked airports other than the one where it sends me to change something about my bid.

I cannot undo the check marks.

Am I missing something?

[thereuare]

Not sure what city you're bidding for, but close the current browser window, use the link in my signature to re-access PRICELINE, and repeat your search from the beginning using a nearby city or airport instead of the one that you previously used (ie- if NYC you would start your first search with EWR and click all the acceptable airports on the page that is indicated... if that is rejected you close the browser, re-access PRICELINE, and then start your search with LGA and on the next page click all the acceptable airports once again. It doesn't matter if the airports on your second bid are the same as on your first bid, as long as you start the search with two different locations (EWR and then LGA in this example))

Hope that make sense and gets you on your way.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board.

[das_ubersoldat]

This seems to work for US departures only. I have been trying to bid from HAM to CLJ and I got those results:

- When entering Hamburg on the first page, then I get HAM and BRE airports on the second page.

- When trying BRE on the first page, then I get only BRE on the second page.

- When trying other cities in the Hamburg Metro region like Elmshorn, Norderstedt, Stade etc then it doesn't offer any matching results that are in Germany. If I ignore that and click on next, then I get this: "We are unable to recognize the departure location you entered. Please re-enter a location:". I can't continue if I don't enter a city with an airport that is listed here: Priceline Airfare European Cities

Do you have any workaround for that? :-)

[thereuare]

Sorry, i don't see any way around the interface for non-US cities.

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