is it too early to start bidding?
 

4 of us women are planning a trip to Madrid in mid-May. Is it too early to try one of the bidding sites to get 4 tickets? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Anita

Welcome to FlyerTalk ati2d!

I only have experience with SkyAuction so I can't help too much. I think with any of them though, the best thing you can do is watch the auctions you are interested in for a few weeks to see how they go. This will let you know on average, how much the flights are going for. As long as the flights you are bidding on are elligible for the dates you want to travel, I don't think it is too early to start bidding. Prices aren't likely to go down as the summer season approaches.

Also make sure that you don't end up paying more than you would for a flight you booked yourself. Sign up for farewatchers on Travelocity and Expedia so you are aware if any sales are announced.

For information on travel auction sites, you might want to read the forums at Bidding for Travel.

[This message has been edited by tazi (edited 01-11-2003).]

Thanks. I appreciate your help. I will check out your suggestions.
I've had a couple of experiences with Skyauction where after I won an auction for a SPECIFIC date & Place ONLY, they said it wasn't available. Then, I'd see the SAME auction the same day! It really messed up our plans twice. ("fool me once, shame on you....fool me twice, shame on me!")
Anita
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Same here. Two years in a row they screwed up my flights. I haven't used them since. It seems since it got more popular, the deals aren't as good as they used to be.

To get some perspective, compare it to tix available from consolidators. One I've used in the past is economytravel.com, but there are probably 20 consolidators. I think tiss.com is another, but I didn't like their site last time I tried to use it. They are worth checking since I don't think consolidator tickets don't usually show up on the standard fare search engines.

What about priceline.com? Too early to try to get a cheap fare from them? Last September I flew from LAX to Madrid for $380 plus tax, etc. I thought that was great!
A.........

It is impossible to know if it is too early to bid on Priceline. Bidding now is fine. Just don't overbid if you are not successful right away, as inventory changes a lot. Set a price to bid to and then keep trying once every couple of weeks. At the same time, keep an eye of fare sales just in case that works out as your best option.