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Bidding on flights


FireMedic09
By FireMedic09,
in

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I am trying to book a flight for two tickets from IND (Indianapolis) to RSW (Fort Myers) from June 27th and returning on July 3rd

The price per ticket was around $218.00 last night -- I have seen it as low as $168.00 last week.

Any suggestions on how to go about bidding for these tickets on PRICELINE?

When is the best time to place the bid? I have read it is around 3 weeks prior to the flight.

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Have you finalized any plans for your accomodations while in this area? Please post a follow-up/update to your Priceline Sanibel Island thread, then bump this thread and we'll comment regarding the above.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Well it appears you're only seeking a $25 discount vs. a direct booking, and in my opinion, that just isn't worth what you give up with an opaque purchase (not choosing flight times, potential layover vs. direct flght, length of layover, layover city, etc), but if you want to try to bid this, you have 'almost' an infinite amount of re-bids as per this thread: Priceline Airfare Re-Bidding

I would start at $100, then increase by $10 per re-bid, up until $140 at which point i would increase by $5 per re-bid (you can do $5 per re-bid the whole time if you have the time and don't mind the bidding process)

Any questions feel free to ask.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Well, I have tried the rebidding process that is listed somewhere on this forum for these tickets.

I have also tried booking 2 pair to Tampa, where it would only be about a 2 hr drive down to Fort Myers Beach.

I keep raising my bid up by $5 - $10.00 and got up to $145 per round trip ticket, and was not accepted (for the Ft. Myers airport & for Tampa)

The retail price for Tampa is: $168

The retail price for Ft. Myers (RSW) is: $243 (it keeps going up!)

Suggestions? Ideas?

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Any other aiprorts in the area you could depart from or arrive to?

If you're willing to drive ~2hours (i just checked w/n 125 miles, so i'm assuming it's about 2 hours, but you can doublecheck distances) on arrival and departure you can fly SDF and/or DAY to TPA for $184/tix.

You may be having a hard time as i imagine a lot of people may be flying on/around July 3rd on their way to destinations for the long holiday weekend and there might not be too much 'excess capacity' where the airlines are trying to fill unsold inventory.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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I am wondering the same..

I am trying to bid using this type of strategy now:

IND > TPA

HUF > TPA

IND > PIE

HUF > PIE

IND > SRQ

HUF > SRQ

IND > RSW

HUF > RSW

to get the most rebids -- but now priceline is not even counter offering like they did last night... Maybe I should have taken their counter offer..

Anyways, here is what I am getting now

Sorry

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  • 1 month later...

I've been pricing airline tickets from Chicago to Fort Myers, the prices are pretty cheap. I can't imagine that you'll save a lot of money over that.

Here are some alternatives to consider:

Southwest airlines to TPA or FLL. It is nearly a 3 hour drive from either destination, but airline tickets are cheap, less than $100 each way and 100% reusable or changable with no fees.

Since your dates are locked down, though, it would seem to make more sense to take one of the commercial airlines at less than $200 RT (prices I am getting on Kayak for multiple airlines and United).

It might make more sense to drive to Chicago and fly directly into Fort Meyers, than to fly into TPA or FLL and drive from there.

Have you used PRICELINE for airline tickets before? They can really screw up a weekend. It rarely pays (IMO) to bid on airfare because they will give you the crappiest flights at only a small discount.

For example, on a Friday-Sunday trip, your plane might depart at 11:39pm on a Friday, then return at 5:50 am on the Sunday. Now your 3 day trip is a 1-day trip. Or, you might have 3 connections on the Friday, starting your day at 6am and arriving at your destination at 11pm. GOD FORBID that you have a cancellation or delay on any of those 3 connection, you will not arrive until Saturday or Sunday, then you will be getting on a plane home.

I know your trip is longer than a weekend, so maybe this isn't a concern for you, but do think of the potential inconveniences you will be taking on for a $30 savings.

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