priceline airfare question

[easyrider]

can a priceline airfare be cancelled and refunded ?

Thanks
Bill

 

[Luanne]

No.

So, be very careful before you bid.

 

[DeniseM]

On any of the bidding areas of Priceline (hotel, car rental, and airline) your credit card is charged as soon as you win your bid and there are no refunds, cancellations, or changes allowed.

Where can you cancel an airline ticket and get a refund, these days?

 

[djs]

Although you can not cancel a PL reservation, I did have one time (about 10 years ago) where I had a PL flight from BOS to LAX (connecting through STL). I was able to do standby on an earlier flight that day from BOS to STL with the understanding that I may or may not get on the earlier flight from STL to LAX; I was able to get on earlier flights on both legs. This is not the norm, and was before airlines charged you for even thinking of changing your itenirary, but in any event there "can" be some flexibility. This change was totally up to the TWA agents I dealt with and is not something that PL would let you know you can do. My guess is that the earlier fights had availability (and I could determine this by the numerous empty seats on both flights) while the flights I was booked on might have been overbooked. That said, you are stuck with what you buy, but there might be some slight flexibility in the times on your flight.

 

[easyrider]

It seems that Priceline policy is what ever the airline policy is. If you cancell your flight you are subject to the cancellation terms of the airline unless you buy refundable tickets. This just happened to some friends when we tweaked our PV trip.

 

[DeniseM]

It seems that Priceline policy is what ever the airline policy is. If you cancell your flight you are subject to the cancellation terms of the airline unless you buy refundable tickets. This just happened to some friends when we tweaked our PV trip.

Priceline states clearly on their website that all winning bids are final, nonchangable, and noncancelable - regardless of the airline, hotel, or rental car agency. If you using the bidding area of their website, you must agree to this rule before you can bid.

Priceline also has a conventional reservations service, where you don't bid, and the rules are different there.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

It seems that Priceline policy is what ever the airline policy is. If you cancell your flight you are subject to the cancellation terms of the airline unless you buy refundable tickets. This just happened to some friends when we tweaked our PV trip.

Anything you book through Priceline bidding or Hotwire offer is simply a prepaid ticket or reservation. It doesn't make any difference whether it's a hotel room, air ticket, or car rental. Once the deal is confirmed, PL or HW gives the vendor the money and you get the ticket or confirmation.

Accordingly, all changes are at the discretion and option of the vendor. Most vendors will simply follow whatever policies they have in place for handling requests for changes for prepaid services. So if you have an airplane ticket through PL or HW and you want to change your flights, you may be able to do so but you will pay a reticketing fee as well as any difference in fare between the fare you paid and the fare into which you are rebooked.

Note that when it comes to such matters as refunds, the money transfer was between PL/HW and the vendor, not you and the vendor. Thus, the only entity that could ever get a refund from the vendor is PL/HW, not you. If you think you are owed a refund, as far as the vendor is concerned that is between you and PL/HW.