Catman ~ I just can't believe people would condemn such a service just because their bids are rejected.

I'm surprised you've tried it and your bids got rejected for the prices you're talking about, and to be honest I wouldn't use the service in an attempt to save $20, $50, or probably even $100, but in my case it was the choice of not taking the trip for $500 or putting in the bid at a last minute attempt to get the trip at a price I could justify.

I am actually quite mystified at the service at this point. I put in a bid for 1/3 of the lowest price I could find (a price which by the way would be cheap even for 21 day advance purchase) and won, but then I read stories about people bidding $20 below the lowest price and not getting it (such as your case) ...

Even more curious about my trip is that at the price I'm paying I'm flying my return trip Monday and even one leg of my outbound trip on flights that are oversold, even though I bought my ticket only days before the flight ...

I think that part of the key to getting the most value out of the service is that you need to bid on trips that are close, when the airlines know they have seats that need to be filled, as opposed to bidding on more distant flights when the airlines are still holding out hope of selling the tickets to their own customers and not Priceline's.

Also, and I'm going out on a limb here, since (allegedly) most of their tickets are issued on TWA, America West, and Delta, it probably helps if you're flying to and from cities with decent capacity from one or more of these carriers.

Counsellor ~ I stand corrected ... I certainly did not in any way intend to demean our good friend demeter by accusing her of being a male!