No and from reading in the travel section of our newspaper I will not use any company other than the airlines. Same goes for hotels, I will book them directly.

No,I never fly but the kids flew up here a couple of weeks ago and found out they could book their tickets 10 days in advance and save a lot of money. And even more if they booked 2 weeks in advance.Check out the airlines first and see what kind of deals you can get.

I usually find the best price on some sites (Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitx) and then call the airline direct or go to their website to make the flight reservations.

I think they're fine for hotels, but I want to check the route I'm flying and how many stopovers or plane changes when I go somewhere. My friend is a big fan of Priceline, but I don't think flying from Baltimore to Houston to Miami would be a fun trip, which is what she did three weeks ago. Oh, and you might have a really inconvenient time of day to travel as well. Hotels I've done were fine. Have also gotten good hotel prices on Hotwire and Travelocity Secret Deals. If you're booking a next day thing...MAYBE... but if you're reserving in advance, you won't do any better than the airline offers.

Daughter, who's a fairly canny shopper, has used them a few times, don't know about lately, and I think was pleased with her experience.

ole joyful

I have used Priceline many times for hotels and car rentals but find their prices aren't so good for air fares. Most times buying directly from the airline has been cheapest for me.

I have a similar fear of the layovers and times. We live about 2 hours form the Pittsburgh airport and I don't really want to get up at 2AM to save 50 dollars! LOL

The prices are not horrid, but combined with the conference registration and everything else, it just adds up.

Thanks,
Janie, excited about all the travel I am anticipating over the next year but not excited about the accompanying credit card bills! LOL

One article in our travel section deals with people losing money for one reason or another. The guy goes to bat for them and usually gets their money back. The complaints are from places mentioned in this thread. He also said you sometimes lose the extras, like the free breakfasts, use of the exercise room, etc. when you get the cheaper rates.

I used travelocity one time for travel through four cities, and they screwed up every piece and portion of that ticket. Like Carol, I now use travelocity to get prices and availability and then buy direct from the airline. (Side note: Can you believe they now charge $10 - $20 extra if you buy a ticket via phone?)

Layovers are a big deal, and I prefer a short layover to some of the four-hour waits.

And when possible, I am happy to pay extra for direct flights. They're always worth it. I've already spent too much time sleeping on airport floors, using my soft-leather briefcase as a pillow.

Rose

I've used them just recently on air tickets...one to Kauai...where we saved over half the price of the ticket. The schedule was the exact same one we would have chosen if we'd paid full price. Good experience.

Just bought another air ticket two weeks ago, departing from Missouri, arriving in California. I offered a price at a bit less than half, the offer came back asking if I'd leave a day earlier I'd save $50 more!
The schedule was similar to what I would have chosen anyway.

Go online and read how it works...that has been my biggest confidence booster in what to expect. Like, you'll never leave before 6.00am nor later than 10:pm. You won't have a bunch of layovers without agreeing to it.

My son and I used priceline for a hotel room in Cancun last year and got a really beautiful new room...very pleased.
We wanted to stay a few extra days, bid on another room and was given a hotel a few doors down from our existing one...not as nice :( But we'd ok'd the price so, were stuck.

On the Kauai trip my hubby got our car on Priceline for $9.00 per day!!

So, I'm a convert...except that experience with the hotel room...it wasn't awful...just not as upscale as the one we'd already enjoyed.

Hope this helps.

I fly often and only go through the airlines web sites and I've always gotten good rates....You just have to keep looking....You'll also find, the rates change daily, sometimes hourly.....Good luck....