Is Priceline Too Good to be True -- or -- Planning a Flight to Phoenix

What excuse did you have to bitch? I mean, their site says there are red-eyes involved.

How did you get your money back?

 

I agree Buck. When it was just the wife and I, we swore by priceline and didn't care if we got two double beds, a queen, a king, a fridge, a microwave, a view, whatever.

But with the little one, I elected not to use priceline on our last trip because we wanted a suite so we could put the baby in a room quiet enough for sleep.

 

I didn't say I had a right to bitch and I still can't figure out how I got what I did.

 

I didn't say you had a right to bitch. I asked what excuse you used.

Because I got screwed by them once and couldn't get my money back!!!

 

I don't remember, but it might have been my inability to get to the airport because I don't drive.

Like I said, I don't remember what it was, but I was able to wrench the impossible out of them.

 

i thought there was some sort of rule that when the airline gets rid of your flight or changes the departure time by more than an hour or something like that, you can then change flights with no penalty. my work-appointed travel agent has done that a bunch of times with my work flights

 

Well, the hotel is already taken care of -- and it's gonna hurt, too, but that's another story. The one option with the layovers (from Hotwire & uses Delta the whole way) comes out to $520, including taxes and fees. Southwest's deal comes out to $720, plus a 40-minute waiting time.

The sites I've check out so far are Hotwire, Expedia, Priceline and Southwest. Gonna check out Orbits, now. Any others?

 

The e-mail implied I could not change it. My travel agent sister said, bullshit, Call them tomorrow, tell them what flight you want earlier in the day and they have to give to you.

 

buck's right. Kayak.com does all that work for you (well, except for some airlines). Try JetBlue too.

 

Many thanks, buckdub.

A related question, since I'm heading out that way in October: is it worth an extra $80 to avoid connecting through Newark? I'm thinking it is.

 

What's the projected layover time, and what time of day are we talking?

 

Nothing shorter than two hours, instead of :45/1:19 through Cleveland. (Flying out of Buffalo, and never had a problem at Hopkins.)

Late morning Friday, early evening Monday. Since this is on my own dime, I'm thinking it's worth it simply to avoid the aggravation ...