bidding for international travel

Dec 17, 09 11:34 am by rnmcd

Do you think that bidding for international airfare is a poor idea?

Dec 18, 09 12:37 pm by Romelle

Take a look at the bidding on both betterbidding and biddingfortravel for international flights. I don't remember seeing a disgruntled customer in that area. My son has done it a number of times for flights out of MSP. I think he usually ends up with USAir. He has always been happy with the results.

The main trick is to do your research so you know what the going rate is, and then start your bidding well below that, working up gradually. Do take note of the page on which the taxes and fees are added to your bid (which shows before you actually bid) to make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

If you get too close to the going rate without a win, all you have to do is switch over and just purchase the ticket.

Figure out beforehand what is an acceptable savings for giving up control of schedule and airline. And then just bid up to that point.

Priceline insists they only deal with major carriers , and I don't know of an exception to that. Might be, but I've never read of one.

The only real issue I can think of is that you have to pay for the ticket right when your bid wins, and there are no opportunities for change or refund. The airline sites often let you have 24 hours to cancel, and (with $ penalty) one can sometimes change.