The Poojer Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I have never done this before, and have the opportunity to attend a bachelor party in vegas, I am in Richmond, VA. How low should I go without being laughed off the web site? I really want to pay $200 or less, am I kidding myself? anyone have any suggestions? keep in mind richmond is one of the more expensive airports to fly out of. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I have never done this before, and have the opportunity to attend a bachelor party in vegas, I am in Richmond, VA. How low should I go without being laughed off the web site? I really want to pay $200 or less, am I kidding myself? anyone have any suggestions? keep in mind richmond is one of the more expensive airports to fly out of. Thanks in advance Pooj, I use priceline all the time for hotel rooms, but never for flights. Flights you cannot guarantee a time, and if your going for a weekend leaving late Friday night and returning 6 Sunday morning just cuts out to much of your time. My gut tells me these are your best options: I live in Richmond as well, and here is what I would try. Look at Southwest leaving both Norfolk and BWI. Norfolk has a non stop to Vegas, and lots easier to get to than BWI. Also, Look at flights out of Newport News/williamsburg, especially on Airtran. Closer than Norfolk, but no directs. Next, I would look at flights out of RDU. Little farther mileage wise than Dulles or National, but never any traffic. Then, look at the two DC area airports. Finally go to KAYAK.com, nice aggrregater site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomcat Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 When the Bills played in Baltimore a few years ago, I went to Priceline and did some low-ball bidding. I ended up paying $59 for a $179 room(I think it was a 4 star hotel) right on the waterfront about 20 floors up. Awesome view. I figured the only thing they could do was say no. And they didn't. Its worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I have never done this before, and have the opportunity to attend a bachelor party in vegas, I am in Richmond, VA. How low should I go without being laughed off the web site? I really want to pay $200 or less, am I kidding myself? anyone have any suggestions? keep in mind richmond is one of the more expensive airports to fly out of. Thanks in advance pick an area and bib low i use it a lot when going to bufalo . have ended up at the marriot for as little as $55 per night . going rate on most sites (hot wire ) $109 or $129 bib 4 star or 5 star have 2 areas in mind find out what the rates are if they say $250 , I would start $95 and go up $10 at a time. each time you bid more you have to change some thing to rebid right away . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 You don't get laughed off the site. If you don't get rejected on your first bid, you've paid too much. Start low and keep rebiding in $5 increments until you hit it. I used to work in finance there. About 80% of the gross margin came from 20% of the customers who overbid. Everyone else was getting good deals. I'm sure the metrics have changed somewhat but they have made a practice of enticing customers by selling tickets at very low margins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 so if i start at 125.00, they might actually consider it and counter? You don't get laughed off the site. If you don't get rejected on your first bid, you've paid too much. Start low and keep rebiding in $5 increments until you hit it. I used to work in finance there. About 80% of the gross margin came from 20% of the customers who overbid. Everyone else was getting good deals. I'm sure the metrics have changed somewhat but they have made a practice of enticing customers by selling tickets at very low margins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 so if i start at 125.00, they might actually consider it and counter? Who knows? It's a big computer, not a person on the other end. They can set the parameters however they want to accept bids and they change those parameters daily. A little light on revenue this quarter? Accept some lower bids. Need margins to look better? Tighten it up. Need to sell a certain number of Delta seats as part of a stock warrant agreement? Cut the price just for the Delta seats. There are scores of variable and you never know which ones might work in your favor. Trial and error is the best approach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 so if i start at 125.00, they might actually consider it and counter? I reiterate Pooj, when you do a name your own price for flights, they will not guarantee a time. Nice if you are extremely flexible, real pain if your going for a weekend!g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 yeah as long as i can get there friday nite, even middle of nite is fine,and saturday is the main day...hmmmmmm I reiterate Pooj, when you do a name your own price for flights, they will not guarantee a time. Nice if you are extremely flexible, real pain if your going for a weekend!g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 yeah as long as i can get there friday nite, even middle of nite is fine,and saturday is the main day...hmmmmmm The problem is they could give you a 5:00am flight on Friday and a 5:00am flight on Sunday with 3 changes. But that's the trade off for a great price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 hey, sounds like a great way to see the country!!! The problem is they could give you a 5:00am flight on Friday and a 5:00am flight on Sunday with 3 changes. But that's the trade off for a great price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Can you specify location to withing a few miles? Say for example I want to go to San Diego. Can I specify the beach area? Or can I say 2 mile radius of downtown for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Can you specify location to withing a few miles? Say for example I want to go to San Diego. Can I specify the beach area? Or can I say 2 mile radius of downtown for example? They show a map that is divided up into areas. They may have 4 or 5 areas . Need to know a little about the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZC-Boston Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 The problem is they could give you a 5:00am flight on Friday and a 5:00am flight on Sunday with 3 changes. But that's the trade off for a great price. i don't believe they can give you 3 changes, I've never booked a flight through there before but I think I looked at it once and there was something about 1 or 2 connections. Did you check tater's link? That website is a great resource... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 try hotwire.com although vegas can be pricey to fly to for weekends - i just paid $420 for a weekend flight in May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Hey also try out southwests ding. If you check like a 3-4 weeks in advanced you get some good prices that way also. I got cheaper tickets there than any priceline/orbitz type website was offering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubes Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Priceline is great for hotel room and rental cars, but I stay away from flights because of the time thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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