Originally Posted by
FTDDD
I don't agree that this is legal and think this is a fraudulent marketing tactic that only works in the US.
Imagine you are bidding on a first class seat and you receive a business class seat. And the airline itself defines it as business class as well but priceline calls it first class?
no matter the arguments, you still end up sitting in business class and NOT first class.
There's plenty of variety even within FC seats and the airlines DO define what they mean by business class seat. United Airline's business class seats are nicer than most Alaska Airline FC seats. I've had business class seats that were better than first class seats on the same Airline. Fly UAL BusinessFirst overseas compared to a domestic first class seat, the BusinessFirst seat is far superior.
This is why when I book a ticket on United I look at the equipment before I choose my seat or class of service. Unfortunately when you book opaque you don't get to do that, BUT if you do your research you could look at what hotels are available on Priceline that are listed as 5 stars in the area you're bidding on BEFORE you bid you would have seen that property listed as 5 stars.
I'm not saying I like the policy, in fact I would probably never bid for travel on an opaque site because I tend to stay at my preferred brand or the location is important to me but many people do get good deals bidding.