For those spontaneous souls who prefer to book their travel on a whim or the procrastinators among us, there’s a new start up catering to you.
Air Ticket Arena, which is based in the UK has designed an app that gives those who live on the edge a chance to bid on unsold airline tickets. The app has streamlined the discovery of cheap seats that would otherwise go unfilled when the flight takes off.
Taking advantage of the technology could mean increased access to affordable airfare, but only if you’re comfortable with booking a trip that hasn’t been planned months in advance.
Several days before you want to take off, open up the Air Ticket Arena app, which you’ll need to verify with your email address and phone number, like many other apps on the market today.
The process is similar to booking any other trip online. Select your destination, your departing city, the dates you’d like to travel, and of course the number of travelers that will be in your party, which will then bring you to a number of tickets that have gone un-purchased.
You’ll also have a chance to choose which airline you’d like to fly on, if you have a preference, as long as they’re running flights on the days you want to travel.
Given that the app is specifically for last minute travel, the app only lets you bid on tickets up to 14 days in advance. The app gives travelers the ability to book return flights as well, however, the return ticket can only be bid on for up to 14 days after the scheduled departure.
If you’re looking for an extended trip, you might want to hold off on planning a return trip in that case. Then you place your bid for how much money you’re willing to spend on the flight. One to two days before the plane is scheduled, the airline will decide the minimum price they will sell their unsold tickets.
If the price the airline sets is equal or under to your bid, your the app will book your flight, and you’re tickets will be sent to you.