Anyone successful with Priceline Standby
 

Priceline says that you cannot go standby on a flight other than the one you are scheduled. Has anyone tested this - successfully. My husband got a TWA flight from ORD to MCO via St. Louis, and would prefer an earlier return on Monday. When I called TWA and in reading the material arriving today from Priceline, it says you MUST take the flight you are scheduled on. He's hoping it depends on the attendant taking tickets.

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DtG

I host a forum to discuss bidding on Priceline and Expedia's Flight Price Matcher and Hotel Price Matcher. Your question comes up often. Your husband is exactly right. It definitely depends on the airport agent. Some allow it and some don't. That's exactly what has been posted (usually with the details). My suggestion is to be just as nice as you can be in your request. And just so you'll know, in my opinion, it's not advisable to call the airline about these things, unless you just ask in general. If you provide your own itinerary, name, etc., you run the risk of the telephone agent documenting your record, which could work against you at the airport.

Yes, I found your bulletin board AFTER we made this reservation - we probably would have bid a little lower price because we didin't realize that we were bidding for a pre-tax amount. But $202 isn't too bad for a less than one week in advance for ORD to MCO. Anyway, I did find out that he will get frequent flyer miles, I signed him up, but it is when I asked the question. I don't think she put it in the record. Anyway, we'll know next time, and we'll see what happens. What is the address again of your bulletin board.

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DtG

I just saw your post on the board I host, so I'm glad you found it. But for anyone else, it's http://pub4.ezboard.com/bpricelinean...iabidding.html

I hope you'll follow up there with the details of your bid. It really could be helpful to someone else.

Thanks, yes I found it. I hope what I posted is helpful. I'm finding everyone else's posts helpful. You can also get the bonus money through www.amazing-bargains.com when you look for priceline. Unfortunately I didn't check before we bid. Live and learn

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DtG

If your bid meets certain spending limits, you can also get 60 Freeride points by going to Priceline through the Freeride web site (Point Works section). Make sure that you have already clicked on the bonus money link beforehand.

Are the other discounts (credit card) still around? Is the $25/night bonus the best deal for a one night hotel bid? Also has anyone placed a bid for a JFK hotel? I am sorry to query here, but could not find an answer to these on Sheryl's site.

PG, you can find the current offers by going through the bidding process. They are not the same for hotels as they are for airline tickets. If you still have questions, read and/or post to the Bonus Money Opportunities category.

If you ask your JFK question on the site (under New York City/No. New Jersey), I'll post what I have.

Don't call Priceline, call the airline your ticket is on.

I got a Priceline ticket on DL, and they had no problem letting me fly stand by for an earlier flight, but that will vary by airline.

In general I don't think most airlines have problems with letting folks fly stand by for an earlier flight (except SW, where you have to pay full fare to stand by) ... If you think about it they're better of trying to get you there earlier than risking a later flight ... no one ever knows what will happen with weather/delays/etc.

The "official" policy is to say they do not allow it. That is what TWA states, and they claim it is a Priceline policy. (???) What actually happens at the gate may be a whole other story. Nice to know it sometimes happens. When I "argued" your point, she said that they can fill the space with cargo and do just as well. Seems poor PR. If you make a customer happy, you might convert them to using your airline more often. Everyone wins. We'll see if my husband tries it tomorrow. He might not be able to get to the earlier flight anyway.

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DtG

MY husband WAS able to go standby without any trouble from MCO to STL. However the STL flight was late getting out, so he didn't arrive in ORD enough earlier to have made getting up earlier worth it! However, as an experiement in going stand-by, it worked.

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DtG