aliska

Am considering Priceline airline bid for CMH-VPS for 4 tickets in August. If I do this and get Delta tickets, and Delta goes bankrupt, does anyone know how Priceline will treat this? Will they stand behind getting me new tickets? Delta, American, and USAir seem to be the carriers and tickets are horribly expensive, so I thought I would give Priceline a shot. Thanks in advance for help!

BeachBoi

aliska..Delta is already "bankrupt"..They are IN bankruptcy.If they "liquidate" and go out of business, no one knows.If you ask Delta, they will tell you there is no plan in effect.There wont be a plan until it happens.Will it happen? Don't believe anyone who says they can tell you.They cant.

joethekay

I would be more concerned about a strike at Delta rather than bankrupcy. Airlines fly while they are bankrupt they do not when they are on strike.

CarolA

If Delta strikes, liquidation will follow ... 24 to 48 hours of shutdown is more then DL can deal with in it's current state.

I would expect NO help from Priceline if this happens. Priceline is not exactly known for Customer Service (you get what you pay for) You would probably have to deal with DL where considering your fare class they wouldn't be real concerned about you....

rkkwan

First, let me say I use Priceline all the time for hotels, but haven't for plane tickets.

Now, Priceline has an obligation to you if they put you on DL and DL shuts down. How much they can help is questionable - first, it may take a long time to get through the phone. Second, even if they really want to help, flights are pretty full on all airlines to anywhere, so you may have to take alternative routes on alternate days. Or they can refund you, but you may find fares even worse at that time.

vegaslocal

If you book an airline ticket through Priceline or any other travel agency, the agency will most likely NOT be the merchant of record. This means that the charge on your credit card will come from the airline, not from the agency.

Yes, there are certain ticket types in which the agency would be the merchant of record, but they are in the minority of airline tickets issued, and are usually purchased as part of a hotel/air package.

If you purchase a ticket from an agency, and the airline does not fulfill its contract, the agency may go to the airline on your behalf to request the refund, but it is up to the airline to refund your money, not the agency.

If the credit card was charged by the airline and the airline is unable, or unwilling to refund your money, your next step would be to dispute the charge with your credit card company.

You may see a separate booking fee on your credit card statement from the agency (sometimes called processing, booking, or ticketing fee). In that case, the agency might refund the booking fee as a goodwill gesture, although they are not required to, as they provided the service they charged for.

Credit card charges from one airline cannot be applied to the purchase of a ticket on another airline. You would pursue a refund of the original ticket and simultaneously purchase a new ticket, at prevailing fares.

aliska

Thanks everyone! That does it, I guess we will have to evaluate paying high price of flying on American or USAir & rental car vs. driving - high cost of gasoline, staying overnight in hotel, meals for 2 days and wear/tear on car for our group of 4.

joethekay

My guess is that you will save some serious bucks by driving between these points in spite of the wear & tear and gas prices.

4khansen

In the case of Priceline, they are the agency of record on the credit card. We have tickets and rental through Priceline and one charge for the flight and one charge for the rental both are listed as Priceline.

No mention of Delta or of Hertz as our rental car company.

We are flying from Kansas City to Charlotte in June, so hopefully no strike!

JaneB

4khansen, I have never used Priceline for airline tickets, but am curious about what kind of routing and which airlines you got. Were you bidding or was it one of the deals they offer where you know up front? I have only dealt with hotels to date, but have wondered about the airlines. Thanks.

4khansen

I have bid, but this time they had given me a package deal for airline and rental car (SUV) for 10 days that I thought was pretty good.

Price was $1150 (that includes all fees and taxes) for 4 people roundtrip from Kansas City to Charlotte, NC. This included an SUV rental from Hertz for the entire length of the trip.

So it came to about $287 per person with auto rental. Considering the prices now for flight alone are running over $500 I am very pleased.

I would not be afraid to bid for a flight with priceline, the only drawback is that you don't know what time you are departing or returning just the date. You do have to be flexible about that.

4khansen

JaneB. The flight we choose departed MCI around 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Charlotte at 5:30 p.m.

The flight back departed about 11:00 a.m. and arrived in MCI around 3:30 p.m. Routing was through Cincinnati both ways. DELTA airlines. I know some were worried about a strike with Delta and I suppose that could still happen. Don't know what would take place then.

I would have prefered an earlier departure and a later return, but with the deal on the SUV I couldn't turn it down.