If one does, Priceline buys the ticket and confirms the purchase by e-mail. Priceline says you will hear back from the company either way within an hour of submitting your request. Martinez based the amount of money he submitted on the price for a ticket from Seattle to Dallas with 21-day advance notice. Walker readily admits that Priceline is not for everyone, acknowledging that most people will not like the uncertainties that come along with a Priceline ticket. Real people can't plan in advance when they want to go on a trip.
Airline tickets can be expensive.
Since Walker sees this target audience as such a specialized group, he doesn't think he'll be competing against any of the existing travel agencies or cutting into the airline's own traffic. In his eyes, he'll be helping the overall industry by bringing new people into the online ticketing markets and helping airlines sell what would have been lost revenue. American Airlines, for one, declined to participate with Priceline because it was afraid it might compete with its own ticket sales. The airlines make their money from the last-minute business travelers, but these people, like me, are going to start using Priceline. Martinez says he normally would have bought his ticket through Preview, Expedia or Travelocity, but since his success with Priceline, he's going to try buying his next ticket the same way.