Priceline Hotel Bidding - but for Airlines

Almost Banned on 25/08/2016 - 23:32

My wife decided it would be a wonderful idea to take my family on a cruise. She hunted and searched and finally found what she thought was a great deal on a cruise for all 6 of us to have our first cruising experience.

The problem is that I now need to get my tribe from Perth to Singapore around 8 January 2017 when flights are definitely not cheap.

So wifey is super proud of herself on getting the bargain cruise - and I am stuck with sorting out the crazy expensive flights.

Thanks honey.

While I was hunting around I am constantly tormented with the whole 'do I buy now and get screwed over on the ticket price, or do I hold out hoping for cheaper seats - but risk getting even more screwed over..' thing that most of us will have to deal with when buying tickets.

And then I thought - why can't I make an offer to the airlines?

Why can't I say - I have 6 people flying to Singapore or on about this date and I am prepared to pay $x for the tickets - and see if any of them want to take up my offer?

Why can't I make them work for it a bit and we both benefit?

I believe that Priceline does this kind of thing for hotels. Why not airlines?
(By reading this forum post you agree to give me 10% of any website, app or other electronic format which implements this idea). (worth a try).

Any thoughts on this idea? Do you think it would work, or are airlines too big to bother with stuff like this?

Poll Options

  • 6
    Yes, it could work and I'd be interested in trying it.
  • 3
    Yes, it could work but I probably wouldn't bother trying it
  • 4
    No, it won't work
  • 2
    Bikies.
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Comments

  • altomic on 26/08/2016 - 00:30
    +1

    Fly to kl with air Asia or scoot and then connecting flight to sing? Maybe a few days stop over? Is the cruise to Perth?

  • 7412547854 on 26/08/2016 - 01:14

    Prob won't work. think of the logistics and the scale. among other issues, first thing that comes to mind is that there is 100's of hotels at the same location while there's only a handful of airlines that will fly the route your asking. Also think of the way hotel nights are marketed - there's a reason why you can often get bargains through third party booking agents.

  • inherentchoice on 26/08/2016 - 07:28
    +3

    Jetstar will take you there via Bali for $249 on the 8th, $219 on the 9th or $199 on the 11th. Or on 17 January a direct flight is $99 with their current sale.

    Scoot has $249 direct on the 10th and you can probably get Jetstar to price beat which equals $224.10. That may be your best option if Tuesday 10th is not too late to get your cruise.

    Bags are extra of course.

    AirAsia has a few seats for $240 but it's a much longer trip with a longer layover.

    The airline's customer service department probably can't 'do you a deal' unless they got approval from senior management. It is counter productive if they started doing such deals for everyone. Just getting everyone to use the existing booking system is so much more efficient.

  • Almost Banned on 26/08/2016 - 10:30

    Thanks all.
    I have considered going to KL and then taking internal travel options to Singapore but I still can't quite get it at a point I consider the right price.
    As the cruise leaves on the morning of the 9th I have to be there before then.
    It really ticks me off that I know I can get cheap flights just a few days after I have to be there - in fact, that probably colours my idea of what a 'cheap' flight is.
    And the cruise is Sin-Sin.

  • zappy32 on 27/08/2016 - 03:01

    Ouch.

    Priceline actually used to do this for flights but not any longer.

    There's really no way to tell with flights although I'd say it's unlikely to go down by much and Dec 20ish - Jan 11th are usually always excluded from sales.

    Another idea is to route your trip via Bali. It's not going to be much cheaper but depending when your cruise leaves you could even fly in to Singapore on the morning of the 9th and then go straight to the cruise

    It would be about $210 for the PER-DPS and DPS-SIN if you price match the AirAsia flight with Jetstar.

    EDIT: Check my PM for another option.

  • Almost Banned on 27/08/2016 - 14:49
    +1

    Thanks all.
    Just to update in case anyone checks back in.
    My budget was $400 each return…
    Turns out that flying PER-DPS-SIN is the cheapest way to go. Much cheaper than PER-SIN or even PER-KUL-SIN.
    After tearing my hair out with an incompetent Jetstar online chat person yesterday, this morning I got a good one and booked my outward leg.
    I got PER-DPS-SIN on 8 Jan for just under my budget so I am happy(ish) now.
    I'll leave it a little to book the return leg.

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