Rab’s World

Are you an eBay user? Get ready to do some intensive bidding on eBay for cheaper-than-normal airfares to select destinations and vacation packages.

JetBlue Airways Corp. started a week-long auction on eBay on September 7th for more than 300 round-trip flights and six vacation packages.

Opening bids were set at between 5 and 10 cents but quickly went higher as customers began making offers. The Forest Hills-based discount carrier said the auction will run through Sunday, September14th.

Check out some of the destinations at Jet Blue’s eBay section of their site.

Click This Image for eBay auction

The flight originate from eight Metro regions in the continental USA to more than 20 destinations at each of the 8 metro hubs.

Each auction has a specific range of dates in which customers can travel, JetBlue said. Bidders will need to have a PayPal account. Be sure the check the depart/arrive times and day of week. This schedule is not changeable.

All travel must be completed by Oct. 6, JetBlue said.

Based on this criteria; it’s hard for me to pick a flight package to bid on flying out of the New York Metro area. Like most people here in the USA; I work. I would have to put in for some dates in advance in anticipation that I would win the auction. Most packages (round trip flight) are for 3 days. Although there are 3 airports for departure involved for this unique business move in the New York Metro area; the people bidding are making it tough to keep the deal at a low price.

To find the auction site on eBay, customers can click on the JetBlue logo above.

Happy Jetting!

Many analysts are stating that this is unique in the airline industry and probably a first for eBay as well. Airfares are never auactioned by the airline itself through auctions sites such as the popular eBay.

The JetBlue auction is a promotion designed to stimulate travel in the early fall, traditionally the slowest time of the year for airlines, Robert W. Mann Jr., an independent airline analyst and consultant in Poet, Washington said. But, he added, the JetBlue auction “is an interesting gambit.”

Additionally, Mann said, by setting up its own auction, JetBlue avoids having to pay any kind of fees to another online auction site, such as Priceline.com. Mann said he believed JetBlue will get “a little less” than retail prices for the tickets it auctions, “but they still will be better off” with their own auction.

One again … Happy Jetting