The Perpetual Tourist

I have been a Priceline user for a while. I can sometimes find better deals booking directly through the provider, especially when that provider is Southwest, but Southwest doesn’t fly to Medford, Oregon, and after comparison shopping on all the travel sites, Priceline had the best deal on a flight to Medford — or so I thought.

After yesterday, I am a very dissatisfied customer. Getting here was an incredibly stressful experience for me, and the problems I faced really shook my confidence in this leading provider of cheap airfare and hotel deals.

When I booked my flight, I got stuck with one of those multiple airline, multiple stop deals. Priceline scheduled me to fly from DC to JFK on Delta, and then switch from Delta to United Airlines for JFK to San Francisco, then Frisco to Medford, with layovers of just under 90 minutes each. It was going to be a long day.

By the time my Delta flight took off, nearly an hour late, I knew my chances of catching my connection were slim. We made up some time in the air, though, and were only about 30 minutes late arriving in New York. That still gave me an hour to catch my next flight. Right?

No such luck. JFK is a HUGE airport, and each major airline has its own terminal. To get from one terminal to another, you have to actually go outside and enter the new terminal through its own security checkpoint. I was screwed.

It took me 30 minutes just to get from the gate where I landed to the check-in counter outside the United terminal, where I found out my flight had already boarded and was pulling away. Furthermore, I was told, even if my first flight had landed on time, I still wouldn’t have made this flight. You have to check in at least 30 minutes prior to boarding to even be allowed through security.

“Who booked this flight for you?” asked the agent. “This is an impossible itinerary.” I was livid. It had been years since I’d flown into JFK. I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to get from Delta to United without going through security again — at most airports, you can get from terminal to terminal from beyond the security gate, so it didn’t even occur to me at all that I’d have to do that again.

I didn’t know better, but Priceline should have. This flight shouldn’t even have been available. Like the ticket agent told me, it was an impossible itinerary. Shame on you, Priceline.

I’m glad I decided against checking bags on this trip. Had I checked a bag on the first leg of my flight, it wouldn’t have made it onto the next plane — or maybe because of the multiple airline schedule, I’d have had to pick it up at baggage claim and re-check it — making catching the connection doubly impossible.

I’d never flown multiple airlines on the same trip before, unless you count airline partners, like the regional operators and international carriers that are still technically the same airline, for travel purposes. I am going to avoid this in the future. You need an incredibly long layover to ensure that you can make your next flight after crossing the airport, checking in again, clearing security again (where necessary), and re-checking bags (again, I don’t know if I would have had to do this, but I’m guessing that I would have), and who likes a long layover? And now with several airlines charging for each checked bag, would I have to pay twice if I flew two separate airlines? Just guessing again, but I’m thinking yes.

I did make it to Medford, and all my bags made it with me (but only because I packed lightly enough to carry everything on the plane), so I admit that this trip could’ve been a lot worse. Even so, I think my relationship with Priceline is over.