Southwest Airline tickets on eBay
 

Has anybody tried using these tickets? I almost bid on some last night but managed to snag $100 round-trip from Columbus to Orlando on Southwest's website so I went that way instead. It just seems too good to be true that I might have been able to win a flight for only around $20.

How would this work - tickets are issued in someones name and I do not think this can be changed. Years ago people used to fly on others tickets, but with ID checks everywhere, I can not figure out how you could use a ticket someone else bought.

Most of the SWA tickets on Ebay are reward vouchers. They are fully transferable. People travel under their own name.

The beauty is that there are few blackout days and the vouchers are not capacity controlled. As long as there is a seat available, regardless of the price, you can use the ticket.

Round trips on Ebay seem to go for $300-325. People can use them on flights where the only seats available would be $600 or more. Also the vouchers can be split and used for two one way tickets.

Although they may start cheap, even at a penny...you will never be able to win them for $20.

Technically the reward vouchers can't be sold. What many people are doing is having you bid on drink coupons..or even an blank envelope and then including the reward vouchers "free"

Dick - yeah, you're probably right that it would be tough to get one so cheap. The offer I was looking at is still there at $20.00 (and after being listed 6 out of it's 7 day run, what's up with that?!?) but I do feel safer with a "real" reservation......sure wish we were going somewhere else Southwest flies for a second vacation, though....

As w/ most ebay auctions, the real bidding doesn't start until the last minute/day. Though not supposed to happen, I know for a fact many people have multiple names and thus put mulitple bids in (same auction). This not only gives them several chances to win but also gives the appearance of a lot of interest and thus scares away some potential bidders.

Pumpy: Ah HAH!!! Sneaks, anyway.... you just can't get ahead sometimes, can ya?

ccolor,

If the price was still at $20, something isn't right. Perhaps, the auction was just for SWA drink coupons...or the seller has a bad history.

ppumpy,

Can you explain how multiple bids in the same aucion (by the same person) improves your chances of winning? It seems to me that they would just be bidding against themselves?

Dick, though they are bidding against themself, the differences in bids is usually minimal. If they can scare away one, two, three(?) potential bidders by giving the appearance of a lot of interest, they can actually keep the winning bid price down. I'm not saying this is rocket science. I'm just conveying what a couple friends who make a living buying & selling on ebay have told me.

Dick: Well, the time is down to 4 1/2 hours and the bids are only at $41.00.......I'm dyin' here.......

Look at the ebay travel message board. Some of these are scams!!!

Most of the Ebay items that I follow that have more than one or 2 bids, get them all in the last few seconds. The last minute bids are often automated.

Keith

Keith,

Ths SWA tickets sometimes get a lot of bids because the opening bid can be very low.

I have seen some tickerts opne at 99 cents and then get 15 or 20 bids and sell for $300 or more.

I have sold some of these one Ebay and always start the bidding very low to generate interest.

I believe that the more people that are seen to be bidding....the higher the selling price can go.

Is it not also possible that some of the people with multiple eBay identities are, in fact, the sellers themselves trying to jack up the price?

Otherwise: 1. no point in getting involved in the bidding until the last 15 minutes (assuming you have all your registrations, etc. all set up). 2. Note that auto bidding will almost always win, assuming the cap is set high enough, because it counter-bids in a split second. 3. A lot of people are having trouble with PayPal. If that's the only payment method permitted by the seller, just be aware of that(i.e., you have almost no recourse if the thing turns out to be bogus. So be prepared for unforeseen hassles and extra fees if you use PayPal. Many people swear by it, insist they've had good service and never a problem; but I know of many cases of problems.)