Originally Posted by Beckles

Your story makes no sense, either you used the fixed price option on Priceline, in which case you got to choose your exact flights, or you used the "Name Your Own Price" option, in which case you don't get to "request" anything in term of times, only dates, which is made pretty clear if you spend any time reading the site before you bid. I don't think Priceline gave you a "mirror image of what you requested" unless you were using the fixed price option and picked those flights yourself since you can't request anything in terms of flight times. In fact, Priceline also specifically excludes the use of Red Eye flights, which is what you would have needed to leave SFO in the evening to go to MCO anyway.

From the bid page where you name your price, enter your name, and select airports:

Passenger and Ticket Information
Your trip will start between 6am and 10pm on your travel dates.

From the next page where you confirm your details:

Flight Times:
The airlines will choose your flight times. Your trip will start between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and you will arrive no later than 12:30 a.m. the next day.

Not exactly what I'd call "reams of legalese".

The "flat tire rule" would allow you to fly on a space available basis if you arrived at the airport late, but still within two hours of your original flight time.