Airfares on Priceline.com
Dec 5th, 2004 | 09:05 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
Airfares on Priceline.com
In my quest to find the best round trip airfare possible from San Francisco to Paris, I finally turned to Priceline.com. I usually don't consider this site because I never have the flexibility and now, with a toddler, I have always dismissed this site.
So, out of curiosity, I went to Priceline.com and to my surprise they had an option of nonstop flights - perfect for my toddler! It got even better, Priceline showed me a price of $195/person inclusive of all taxes and fees for the dates Feb 7, returning Feb 17. They even disclosed it was with Air France, flight numbers (which were all legite), etc.
When I say showed me a price, they did not ask me to bid or enter a price. I clicked on the "Choose" button and the next screen asked me if I wanted the trip insurance for an additional $25 per person, name of passengers, etc. Point being, no where to bid but to just buy this ticket like any other travel site. Sure enough, at the end of the transaction (after I put in my credit card) priceline.com said "We searched for a reservation that met your specifications but were
unable to find a travel partner willing to accept your request. Please
note that your credit card has not been charged for this request."
This didn't make sense because it showed me that that particular Air France itnerary would be $195 per person! I emailed them and they responded :
"Because travel rates fluctuate constantly due to changing availability,
competition, and the time of year, we are unable to guarantee you will
receive the same rates as other customers. Your rates could be higher or lower than those received by previous customers.
When you place a request, we search to see if any travel partner is
willing to release a reservation according to your specific travel
requirements such as dates cities and price.
If you are unable to book a reservation at the same rate as one you saw
advertised on our website it could be that there are simply no
itineraries available. In other cases, there could be open reservations, but no travel partners willing to release them to us at your
specifications." Okay - but why not allow me to BID on a nonstop flight?
Well, this has been quite upsetting and of course it was too good to be true. Right?
There are no other nonstop flights that I can "BID" on Priceline.com.
I just wanted to share with you this info about Priceline because it's awful that they advertise a fare and don't sell it. They have the capability to display current prices of airfares when I enter in dates.
I think this falls under false advertising.
Why do you think they do this?
So, out of curiosity, I went to Priceline.com and to my surprise they had an option of nonstop flights - perfect for my toddler! It got even better, Priceline showed me a price of $195/person inclusive of all taxes and fees for the dates Feb 7, returning Feb 17. They even disclosed it was with Air France, flight numbers (which were all legite), etc.
When I say showed me a price, they did not ask me to bid or enter a price. I clicked on the "Choose" button and the next screen asked me if I wanted the trip insurance for an additional $25 per person, name of passengers, etc. Point being, no where to bid but to just buy this ticket like any other travel site. Sure enough, at the end of the transaction (after I put in my credit card) priceline.com said "We searched for a reservation that met your specifications but were
unable to find a travel partner willing to accept your request. Please
note that your credit card has not been charged for this request."
This didn't make sense because it showed me that that particular Air France itnerary would be $195 per person! I emailed them and they responded :
"Because travel rates fluctuate constantly due to changing availability,
competition, and the time of year, we are unable to guarantee you will
receive the same rates as other customers. Your rates could be higher or lower than those received by previous customers.
When you place a request, we search to see if any travel partner is
willing to release a reservation according to your specific travel
requirements such as dates cities and price.
If you are unable to book a reservation at the same rate as one you saw
advertised on our website it could be that there are simply no
itineraries available. In other cases, there could be open reservations, but no travel partners willing to release them to us at your
specifications." Okay - but why not allow me to BID on a nonstop flight?
Well, this has been quite upsetting and of course it was too good to be true. Right?
There are no other nonstop flights that I can "BID" on Priceline.com.
I just wanted to share with you this info about Priceline because it's awful that they advertise a fare and don't sell it. They have the capability to display current prices of airfares when I enter in dates.
I think this falls under false advertising.
Why do you think they do this?
Dec 5th, 2004 | 09:20 PM
#2
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 12,188
Likes: 0
It can be a bit confusing, but Priceline has two parts to its site. One part allows you to bid for a fare, and another part just sells tickets like any other site.
I'm not sure what happened in your case, but it sounds as if an advertised fare had no availability. That happens on most travel sites.
Just make sure whether you are bidding for an airfare, or whether you are buying a known airfare.
If you bid for an airfare, you definitely cannot choose nonstop flights.
I'm not sure what happened in your case, but it sounds as if an advertised fare had no availability. That happens on most travel sites.
Just make sure whether you are bidding for an airfare, or whether you are buying a known airfare.
If you bid for an airfare, you definitely cannot choose nonstop flights.
Dec 6th, 2004 | 03:51 AM
#4
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,715
Likes: 0
My understanding is this ability to buy a ticket rather than bid is relatively new. What I didn't realize is they feature a fare (the same way the airlines themselves do btw) and they don't have "availability" You will often see a fare on one of the airlines' websites and when you try to book it you're told it's not available on your dates. Did you try changing the dates?
Cheapest fare I see on those dates are AF for $513.
Cheapest fare I see on those dates are AF for $513.
Dec 6th, 2004 | 05:51 AM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Dec 6th, 2004 | 10:59 AM
#6
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 8,827
Likes: 0
I guess we can file this one under "if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is", especially when it comes to finding cheap overseas airfares.
Airlines, both foreign and domestic, set aside only so many seats for the free frequent flyer miles tickets, frequent flyer upgrades and deeply discounted seats. They may only allow as few as two seats for free tickets on a domestic or overseas flight, four upgradeable seats in business, envoy or first class depending on the type of aircraft and the seat arrangement, and only one or two seats for deeply discounted tickets, which are usually gone as soon as they are available. As bhpopek found out on Priceline, the price may be listed, but there where no seats available at that price on that date.
Airlines, both foreign and domestic, set aside only so many seats for the free frequent flyer miles tickets, frequent flyer upgrades and deeply discounted seats. They may only allow as few as two seats for free tickets on a domestic or overseas flight, four upgradeable seats in business, envoy or first class depending on the type of aircraft and the seat arrangement, and only one or two seats for deeply discounted tickets, which are usually gone as soon as they are available. As bhpopek found out on Priceline, the price may be listed, but there where no seats available at that price on that date.
Dec 6th, 2004 | 02:40 PM
#7
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
I will have to agree. Too good to be true and they need to work on this "new" feature of buying an airfare instead of bidding.
I ended up booking on United and with a 15% discount my mom's friend got us, we're paying $471.71 per person, inclusive of tax, fees, etc.
If I didn't have the discount, I would have book an AF flight. However, it does seem that AF likes to list their "base" fares EXCLUSIVE of the fees. It might be the websites but I did notice that more on the AF fares I saw on too many websites.
I ended up booking on United and with a 15% discount my mom's friend got us, we're paying $471.71 per person, inclusive of tax, fees, etc.
If I didn't have the discount, I would have book an AF flight. However, it does seem that AF likes to list their "base" fares EXCLUSIVE of the fees. It might be the websites but I did notice that more on the AF fares I saw on too many websites.
