Priceline

An online service that claims to offer great rates on Everything. <(how's that for ironic noding?) >Anyway, the long and short of it is that you enter the price you would like to pay for an item (by way of example, let's just say an airline ticket) and it tries to find a deal for you.

The catch is that you have to have a good understanding of the lowest available prices to make a good bid. If you bid too high, you may pay more than retail. If you bid too low, you can try again; however, you must change something other than the price. (In our example, you might have to take the option of flying on a prop-engine deathtrap from a grass field in the middle of nowhere at 1:00 AM along with 23 other passengers, 9 of whom are psychotic killers. OK, so I exaggerated a little bit.) When you get right down to it, Priceline is a demonic form of The Price is Right, only without the nifty 70s music.

Oh, and one more thing: if it does find the price for you, it automagically purchases it for you on your credit card without your final approval. No refunds, no exchanges, no nothing. So if you picked a price that was too high or something is otherwise unsuitable, you're just outta luck pal. If you didn't already hate William Shatner, you should now.

"You want it? You got it. You want it, baby? Just bust a move! I wanted to chill, but making all these travel arrangements was freakin' me out! So I went to priceline.com, where you can name your own price for some dope airfare, hip hotels, and a fly rental car. So, you want some of this? You know what to do, dog! Bust a move!"

-William Shatner

I saved $200, or 33% of the lowest possible price of my airline tickets for my last vacation by buying through Priceline.

First, I exhaustively searched for the going airfares and routes. Then, prepared with that info, I went to Priceline and started bidding. I had middle seats, but exactly the flights I wanted.

I then lucked out with American Airlines. Supposedly, the tickets are non-changeable. I extended my vacation by a week, and called AA to let them know. The really, really wonderful AA agent let me make the change for $75.00 (it should have been impossible, and standard tickets are $150 change fee for international, too!).

So, if you know what you are buying and are prepared to buy it, I'd have to say that Priceline is a good deal.

PS - Prop airplanes are more aerodynamic then jets. If they loose engines, they'll gently glide to the ground. A jet, on the other hand, will fall like a rock.