We accessed Priceline through the AB Link.
We needed to travel to Los Angeles on business, with less than 6 days advance notice. We have usually not paid more than $225.00 to $300.00 for round trip flights between Chicago and Los Angeles, booking at least 2 weeks in advance of the trip, usually purchasing direct from the airline web sites.
It appears that Mondays are more expensive since people travel to start the work week, but Tuesdays generally cost less. Also, Priceline suggests that to get the lowest price, one should bid for a departure from Midway (MDW) to LAX instead of O'Hare.
We considered purchasing a ticket on Tuesday, June 20, which was 7 days in advance of our trip. We found that there is a significant savings to fly out of Milwaukee (MKE) instead of Chicago O'Hare. (Mapquest shows that the Milwaukee Airport is only a 1 hour and 20 minute drive from O'Hare.) On Tuesday, July 20, a flight out of Milwaukee on Tueday, July 27, with a return on Sunday, August 1, came to a total of $377.00 on Southwest's Web Site (one stop each way). This was $180.00 less than a one stop on Southwest for the same dates out of Chicago O'Hare. We preferred to fly out of O'Hare. Today, Wednesday, July 21, the Southwest flight had gone up to $411.00 total.
We decided today to bid on Priceline, and first tryed a Monday, July 26 departure from Chicago Midway, with a Sunday August 1 return. The Southwest Web Site had one stop flights, which at this late date had an approximately $690.00 roundtrip fare. We bid 40% less, $417.00 total. Priceline rejected, but stated that they could get us a ticket for $512.00 if we flew out of O'Hare, not Midway. We spent about 6 minutes doing some additional research on Priceline's retail web site, then accepted. Priceline again rejected, and said if we would now pay $535.00, they could get us a ticket. We accepted about 3 minutes later, and were again rejected, this time saying if we paid $550.00 they could get us a ticket. We accepted again almost instantly, and were again rejected, now saying it would cost $585.00. We did not bid further.
We then bid on a Tuesday, July 27 departure out of O'Hare, returning Saturday July 31, and bid again at $417.00. Priceline rejected but offered to sell us the ticket for $511.67. We accepted, and Priceline accepted our bid.
We actually received a very favorable, non stop itinerary:
Returning Flight Information
The lowest published price on the United Airlines website for these flights was:
We needed to travel to Los Angeles on business, with less than 6 days advance notice. We have usually not paid more than $225.00 to $300.00 for round trip flights between Chicago and Los Angeles, booking at least 2 weeks in advance of the trip, usually purchasing direct from the airline web sites.
It appears that Mondays are more expensive since people travel to start the work week, but Tuesdays generally cost less. Also, Priceline suggests that to get the lowest price, one should bid for a departure from Midway (MDW) to LAX instead of O'Hare.
We considered purchasing a ticket on Tuesday, June 20, which was 7 days in advance of our trip. We found that there is a significant savings to fly out of Milwaukee (MKE) instead of Chicago O'Hare. (Mapquest shows that the Milwaukee Airport is only a 1 hour and 20 minute drive from O'Hare.) On Tuesday, July 20, a flight out of Milwaukee on Tueday, July 27, with a return on Sunday, August 1, came to a total of $377.00 on Southwest's Web Site (one stop each way). This was $180.00 less than a one stop on Southwest for the same dates out of Chicago O'Hare. We preferred to fly out of O'Hare. Today, Wednesday, July 21, the Southwest flight had gone up to $411.00 total.
We decided today to bid on Priceline, and first tryed a Monday, July 26 departure from Chicago Midway, with a Sunday August 1 return. The Southwest Web Site had one stop flights, which at this late date had an approximately $690.00 roundtrip fare. We bid 40% less, $417.00 total. Priceline rejected, but stated that they could get us a ticket for $512.00 if we flew out of O'Hare, not Midway. We spent about 6 minutes doing some additional research on Priceline's retail web site, then accepted. Priceline again rejected, and said if we would now pay $535.00, they could get us a ticket. We accepted about 3 minutes later, and were again rejected, this time saying if we paid $550.00 they could get us a ticket. We accepted again almost instantly, and were again rejected, now saying it would cost $585.00. We did not bid further.
We then bid on a Tuesday, July 27 departure out of O'Hare, returning Saturday July 31, and bid again at $417.00. Priceline rejected but offered to sell us the ticket for $511.67. We accepted, and Priceline accepted our bid.
We actually received a very favorable, non stop itinerary:
Departing Flight Information
| United Airlines Flight 89 4h 21m , 1740mi |
From Chicago - O'Hare Intl (ORD) Chicago, IL Departs: 07/27/2010 at 9:06 A.M. |
To Los Angeles Intl (LAX) Los Angeles, CA Arrives: 07/27/2010 at 11:27 A.M. |
Aircraft Boeing 757 (Jet) Economy/Coach Class |
Returning Flight Information
| United Airlines Flight 116 4h 9m , 1740mi |
From Los Angeles Intl (LAX) Los Angeles, CA Departs: 07/31/2010 at 1:13 P.M. |
To Chicago - O'Hare Intl (ORD) Chicago, IL Arrives: 07/31/2010 at 7:22 P.M. |
Aircraft Boeing 757 (Jet) Economy/Coach Class |
| Lowest Published Airline Ticket Price: | $695.40 per ticket |  |
| Your Total Airline Ticket Cost: | $511.67 per ticket | |
| Savings Per Airline Ticket: | $183.73 | |
| Total Trip Savings*: | $183.73 (You Saved 26%) | |
| * This is your savings on the total cost of your airline ticket(s) when compared to the lowest published airfare available at time of booking for the itinerary and airline shown. | ||
