I'm trying to get an airline ticket from Austin to Newark in July for a summer vacation. Right now the cheapest I can get is $328.00 per person so, I'm waiting for a possible airline web sale or something hoping that price will go down in the next few months.
My question is what is the disadvantage using Priceline or Hotwire when your tickets are non-refundable anyway purchased directly from the airline? If for some reason you can't go in July,wouldn't you be out the money anyway? I can get the fare that I need on Hotwire right now but, have never done it before and I don't understand the risks.
Should I do that or wait and see if a sale occurs within the next few months since it's so early. Thanks for any advice!

I've used hotwire and had no problems. It's just that I didn't know which airlines or times I was flying. In my case it didn't matter, so I was fine with it.

PS

But wait for others to respond, cause I might have missed something important that you should know.

The disadvantage of Hotwire/Priceline (besides the non-refundability issue) is that you have NO say in the times you arrive/depart.

So on a short trip, you may end up leaving your hometown late in the day and departing your vaction city early in the day, thus losing 2 days of vaction time.

As well, the minimum connections you can agree to is 1, so there is a good chance you will NOT get a non-stop flight. Therefore, in addition to the above arrival/departure scenario, you can add up to a 3 hour connection time sitting in the airport... not the ideal way to start/end vacation.

Most people still think about Priceline/Hotwire as companies to buy airfare from, but their "gem" of a product is really hotels! I'm hesitant about using them for airfare unless the savings are VERY significant, but use them all the time for hotels.

If you need a hotel for this trip, i'd suggestion checking out this website which keeps track of the hotels that have been awarded using each service as well as prices paid. There are also brief tutorials there for first time users, and you can ask for help/assistance:

www.BetterBidding.com

So, the only risk is that you don't know the time or what the airline is? Being out of the money in case you can't go is the same as if you purchased it directly from the airline,correct or is there a difference? I can live with any time but, the airline kind of scares me because, I have read that United has a fifty fifty chance of not making it through the summer months.

I've never used them for airfare and wouldn't because of the issue of non-direct flights and the potential for *extremely* long layovers between planes. I read of one instance where someone flying LA to Las Vegas had a layover, as incredible as it seems, in Phoenix of several hours!! No way is any savings worth putting up with that sort of schedule to me. I'd almost think you'd have to WORK at finding a non-direct flight from LA->Vegas!

Trisha,
The difference between a non-refundable and Priceline/Hotwire is that you can't get your money back on the either one, but you are allowed changes on your regular ticket for a fee(usually $100), not so with P/H tickets. Also if the airline goes under, your regular ticket will be honored by other airlines for a $25.00 fee, whereas P/H ticket will not.
So if you are set on your dates then go for P/H ticket, and don't worry about UA or USAir going under, but if you want some flexibility then go with a regular ticket.
Have a great trip!

BINGO! Thanks, AAfrequent flyer, that's what I wanted to clear up in my mind. I think then I won't use it for airline tickets but, will take hotel's advice and use it for hotels in New York, if I ever get there.
Does anyone have a prediction of when summer sales occur for July ? I don't know if I should take the current price in case it goes up or wait for a sale. Thanks for all of your help!!!

Hi Trisha,I went to the Hotwire website
and punched in Austin to Newark for July 12-19th and they came up with $273 Round trip. Debbie

Thanks,Debbie!
I know about that price and that's exactly what I want to pay thus asking the question of the risks. Since, it's so early , things can happen and I wanted to know about the risks of non refundable , changes etc. Which aafrequentflyer cleared up for me. Since, you can make changes for $100.00 by purchasing through the reqular airline website, I would prefer to do that. I'm hoping for a sale though in order to get a price around that, do you think that's possible or is there a time in the month that sales most often occur?

Trisha,
It's almost impossible to predict when fare sales will happen these days.
I compare buying tickets to gambling. Do I take my winnings now or do I try to increase my winnings, with a chance of loosing it all. When I need to fly to a certain destination I pick a price I will be happy with. When it shows up I grab it. I would say that works for me about 50% of the time. Occasionally the fare goes down after, and as long as it's for the same flight and same fare class, I call up and apply for a refund which they will do, in a form of a voucher for future travel. I travel a great deal, so I keep track of fares, but it takes time. For an occasional traveler, spending $25.00 more is probably worth not sitting in front of your computer for hours, because let's face it unless you are flying to some far-away destination, the difference in price when it goes on 'sale' is usually not that much.

hi I've used Priceline alot for flights, I would keep checking Hotwire to see when the prices are a little lower. I would imagine you will get down to around $210.00 rt on that flight. It was $215.00 rt from Omaha to Newark for August just recently.

At that point I would try Priceline at around $170 rt or a bit less. The reason I would bid so much lower than Hotwire is that hotwire includes taxes in their quote and Priceline doesn't add the taxes, in the initial bid.

You DO HAVE to be flexible about time of day. I never use Priceline or Hotwire for flights where I care what time of day I need to leave or return, much too risky that you will be leaving too late or too early.

Only other concern is some of the airlines will allow you to standby on other flights that day of departure or return (with Priceline/Hotwire) others won't, and you don't know what airline you are getting. If you buy directly from airlines you have much more flexibility to go standby.

I'd like to add a Hotwire success story to counteract the gloom and doom above. An educational program in Alaska last summer was predicatated on my being able to find an affordable flight.

Every RT I found hovered around a thousand dollars, more than I could afford. Those of us in the metro NY area have the option of several airports so I repeatedly tried LGA, JKF, and Newark.

After a couple of weeks of sporadic searching, which seems like what you're doing, Hotwire came up with $318 RT from Newark to Anchorage! I grabbed it immediately and have been astonishing people with the price every since. The airline was Northwest, the flights were convenient, and there was only one stopover, in Detroit.

There was delay in Detroit, going out, which had nothing to do with Hotwire as it affected everybody on my flight. I complained about it in a letter to Northwest when I got home, and they "apologized" with a $200 gift certificate. So my RT from Newark to Anchorage ended up costing a little over $100.

You bet I'll use them again, whenever my travel tunes are flexible.

Southwest Airlines flies from Austin to Long Island/Islip (connecting in Baltimore) for $300. Unlike Hotwire, you choose the times of the flight. The dates are also changable but check their website (maybe the terms and conditions when booking).


This assumes Long Island is ok for you.

When I used hotwire, I was put on an American Airlines flight and the one stopover which I would've had anyway and times were what I probably would have picked. This was from IND to SEA.
As for the standby on regular tickets, aren't they now charging extra or something about flying stand by? Thought I read about that somewhere, so that might be another thing to think of.

The other day I changed a Southwest date with no penalty. They release your seat and credit you the money to be used toward another Southwest fare. This for an internet one-way which was only $94 coast to coast so it wasn't a "refundable anytime" fare.

Loki, Southwest is one of the few (the only?) airline that charges no change fees. You can change a ticket endlessly for up to a year. What they do charge you is any fare difference...

Andrew

I used Priceline last October for the first time to purchase a last minute fare from Seattle to Paris. I was nervous too, but it saved me at least $1000 with absolutely no glitches. I first went to the Hotwire site, and the way I remember it working, I put in the parameters I wanted for my flight, then they came back with a low fare. If you didn't aaccept the fare within a certain time period, you couldn't use the service again for a set period period of time(I guess to avoid you shopping around). I then went to Priceline, put in the days I wanted, ie, how flexibble you were for departure dates, the number of stops (I put in one) and the price I was willing to pay. At that time, and at the last minute, last minute RT fares were close to $2000. I put in a $300 RT bid (had nothing to lose), they came back with $450, I countered with $350 and I was notified 15 minutes later it was accepted. Then I got my E-Ticket, intinerary info such as airlines, flight schedules, etc. Worked out perfectly. I flew on Continental (much improved over the last time I flew them), had one two-hour layover each way for, and I got frequent flier miles awarded (even though you're not supposed too). So I got a better deal on Priceline over Hotwire.