The best thing I have used lately is ITA. You can't book directly from it, but you will know if there is a decent fare out there. Also, individual airline websites are often cheaper than the bulk sites. -----Original Message----- From: blaine@xxxxxxxx To: AIRLINE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 5:29 PM Subject: Priceline vs. Hotwire An acquaintance asked for my assistance today - He wanted to be at a wedding tomorrow afternoon in Houston. So we went to the web - Fort Wayne to Houston. Leaving tomorrow morning and returning Sunday. None of the basic websites had any deals ($700+, round trip). We hit Priceline. After a few failed bids, we decided to end that adventure. Our last rejected bid was $275 fare + misc. charges = $330 or so. On a whim, I tried Hotwire. $259, including tax. Round trip. He didn't take the fare, as there's a probability that: 1. The itinerary may have caused him to arrive after the wedding time. 2. If #1 was true, he may have not have been able to fly stand-by to arrive earlier on Friday. Do note that Sunday's return flight is a moot point - it could have departed IAH at any time. My question is why the difference in fare? Why did Priceline rejected a fare that Hotwire had? Does each company really have different seat inventory? I know from using both places - in my case - that the chance of receiving a morning itinerary is about even with the chance of receiving an afternoon or evening itinerary. Comments? Blaine Thompson Fort Wayne, Indiana ________________________________________________________________________ Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.