www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hi guys,

I just stumbled on this site yesterday. Some guy mentioned it in a post on another forum. He said he'd met a guy that paid $1 for a week in... Mexico I think. . That's including airfare and hotel. . He got it for $1 because no one bid on it. Sounds too good to be true but the site looks legit. Any of you heard of it and used it?

http://www.skyauction.com/home.do

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Chica Chaser

Guys,

A little more info about this (seemingly) great search engine:

To search for deals to specific cities or countries you're interested in use the search link near the top of the page. The one in the dark blue bar with the following links:

home | register | search | customer care | winners | members | insurance | resources

The search fields at the very top of the page utilize BookingBuddy and therefore return flight prices any decent search engine does.

You'll notice that there's a link to "winners" on that blue bar too. Click it and sort by "Won Price" and you can see deals that sold for $1!

Checking out deals to latin america you'll notice Miami is the origin of most - if not all. Those of you that live there are lucky so-and-sos.

One final tip:

Most of these deals have some extra costs involved. Usually security and taxes surcharges. Hotel deals will likely always be based on double occupancy so expect a surcharge if booking single. When looking at the full info for an offer if you scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Travel Details bit you can quickly decide how good a deal it is; and whether it fits with dates you can travel. Here's an example:

7 Night Stay In Your Own Private Villa at the Rendezvous Villa in Jamaica!

(It was won for $1!)

Travel Details

Check-in Dates Allowed: Sat within the following date(s):
4/15/2006 thru 6/9/2006 6/11/2006 thru 8/18/2006 8/20/2006 thru 12/9/2006
Check-out Dates Allowed: Sat within the following date(s):
4/22/2006 thru 6/16/2006 6/18/2006 thru 8/25/2006 8/27/2006 thru 12/16/2006
Minimum/Maximum Stay:
7 nights.
First possible travel day is 5 day(s) after submission of travel preferences.
Taxes/Service Charges: $195 additional per person

$196 for one week at a villa in Jamaica. Not bad eh?

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Chica Chaser

You know what they say, "If it looks to good to be true, it usually is".

Just out of curiousity, I looked at the CR package up for bid. Basically, the minimum bid is $8/night. Then there's the fine print that says there's a $32 hosptality and services tax per night added. So that's $40+ a night for the hotel. The pictures of the available hotels would seem to suggest that the $40/night price would be appropriate.

There's always the fine print.

Orange,

You're right of course, always read the "fine print," And the example above shows that, once all costs are factored in, a good deal might not be such a deal afterall. From checking the details of various offers I'd say that's more likely to hold true for deals where you're only bidding for a hotel on a per night basis. For flight/hotel bundles or one, two week deals on hotels/resorts alone that isn't necessarily true - as the example I posted above shows. Your post went up seconds after I posted that so no doubt you didn't see it.

If anyone's used this site - actually bid and won a great deal I'd sure like to hear about it.

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Chica Chaser

I've used this site twice for air only trips to CR a few years ago and saved big cheese, however, lately I have not seen any deals that compare to priceline(from Detroit). You have to be careful to read all the fine print, taxes, departure city/ date add ons, etc.---but, sometimes you can stumble on a great deal

CC,
I didn't see your second post. I was typing mine as you were posting.

Based on Diablo's experiences, I guess it's not a scam afterall, but it looks like you have to get lucky to save some real money. Plus, it seems a lot like Priceline where you can't choose the airline, times, hotel, etc.

I don't know about choosing the airline. Probably you can't. What do you mean by times though? You can certainly choose dates if that's what you mean. As for the actual time of day on a given date? That won't matter much to me if I'm getting a super deal.

Choosing the hotel? If, as in the example I cited, I'm getting a week at some sunny resort for $196 (or so), well, that chooses the place for me. $28/night for a place that likely runs $100 or more? Yeah. That chooses the hotel/resort for me. I guess I'd check-see that it isn't tucked between two fish processing plants or something... .

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Chica Chaser

Jogging my memory a little, one of the trips was flight and hotel, at the Jaco Fiesta, and second was air only. First trip was in Sept. and second was in Oct, so both were in off season--which doesn't bother me. I was definately sceptical at first, but everything ran pretty smoothly. The only problem that I had was that the Jaco Fiesta did not provide transportation from SJO, but after I called them, they took care of the cab. As for the Jaco Fiesta, I have stayed there three times and found it to be nice, however, a little removed from downtown for me. They also never charged chica fees. The owner died about tree years ago, so I do not know who owns it now, and I do not believe that the casino is open anymore. The second time that I used SkyAuction was the cheapest trip I have ever had from Detroit-$355, which is 150 better than I am looking at for Jan/Feb. I only check the price periodically at this site and have not seen at bargains (air only) to SJO in quite some time, altho there were some specials to Liberia a while back.

Hee, hee, hee, hee !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

You can usually choose any date, if it is not blacked out, but they do charge a surcharge sometimes for weekend departures. The hotel is usually mentioned, so you can check that out. Some of the auctions have alternative US departure cities with added charges. You just have to add everything up, but as far as being legitimate, I, personally have never had a problem with them.

This is good to hear. .

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Chica Chaser

I used SkyAuction a couple of years ago to get a suite at a resort in AZ.
The total cost was $196. That is my bid of $1 plus the service charge of $195.

By the way the service charge was per room not per person. Some packages charge fees per person and some are based on double occupancy and charge an additional fee if you are traveling solo. So it is important to read the fine print.

Because this is an auction, most packages get bid up to market price before they expire. The best deals are the ones that may be inconvenient for most people. For example, you may find a deal on a resort in Mexico for this weekend, but the cost of last minute airfare may make it unfeasible.

I have never found a reasonably priced package to Costa Rica. In fact, some are grossly overbid.

Looks like there are some pretty good deals to Rio, as long as you fly out of NYC or Miami...

So how does it work if you win the bid? When do you get to put the dates and do they send the ticket?