Luxury Link vs American Express "Going Once" Auctions

[omegaet]

Has anyone noticed the advertising banner from American Express on LuxuryLink today? If the link is clicked, you are directed to a web site from American Express foran upcoming series of "decreasing price" auctions http://goingonce.mylifemycard.com/?country=US#fpo/17.One of the destination being offered is for the Hotel Savoy in Prague. At Luxury Link, the 3 night package recently sold for $920.00 after indicating a retail value of $2,221.00. It is interesting to see how LL is willing to introduce auction competition, especially for the same destination. Guess the Amex revenue offsets any conflicts of interest!




Romance and Charm in Historic Prague
Hotel Savoy, Prague
Valid from December 15, 2006 through July 31, 2007

Minimum Bid: $920.00

Retail Value: $2,221.00

[disneygal]

Hi O,

I took a look at these packages from American Express also. After reading about how this works, I don't really think these are auctions. The "declining price" packages look as though they will start at retail value. Then the price will drop every 20 minutes. You can jump in and buy the package at any point while packages remain. It will be interesting to see the incremental price drops, whether they are dropping by a significant amount, or in small increments. Apparently there will be 9 of these price-dropping packages. The other "great travel packages", such as the hotel you noticed in Prague, will be fixed price deals. From what I can see, these packages are no comptetion for the LL auctions. But I'll pay attention, just in case there's a good offer over there from American Express. Still, my guess is that we'll do better right here.

[omegaet]

disneygal...in a sense, you can think of the Amex promotion as a "reverse auction"....that is, the winners will be jumping in and buying, when they believe the supply of remaining packages will be depleted before the prices go lower and they miss out all together. We've actually attended charity events that held reverse auctions for high ticket items.....they can be a lot of fun, when you have the right profile of bidders. It is interesting to see LL is willing to generate the up front advertising revenue in exchange for a potential loss of revenue from a auction buyer.

[lippincottfarm]

Hi fellow luxurylink folks, I looked the american express auctions over last night. They look like they are complete packages where transportation and lodging is included. I'm curious also as to how much they will go for. I am under the impression that you must use your american express credit card to pay for them. I am not sure this is correct, but it would be strange if american express would let you pay with a visa card.

[omegaet]

lippincottfarm...you're correct regarding the necessity of using the American Express card to make the purchase. Some lucky people bought some nice seven daypackages with airtickets from 10 US gateway citiestoday to Canouan Island for less than $4,500. The packages even included private jet service from Barbados International Airport to the private strip at Canouan Island.

[kyshel]

So, was $4500 the lowest price for the last 20 pkgs? I had to let my attention go after 3pm to get to the grocery (a woman's work is never done...) The reg rate is $750/nt for just room--not too shabby, eh? Last thing I saw was incremental drops of $95 every 20 mins. I'm sure we're all eagle-eyed this week!

[Mountie]

Hey everyone, I watched the American Express Going Once Auction yesterday for a couple of hours yesterday until the price dropped to $6,200+. Thne I tried to log in and place a buy order, but I couldn't seem to manage to get the site to accept me. I must have hit the resubmit buttom at least 50 times over the course of an hour and never did get through. They must have been flooded with people trying to buy. I think it was a great offer---Canouan Island looks nice----Raffles is at the top of the list for great hotel service----and I really liked the idea of having air tickets included. I'll be tryingfor other offerings this week. Thank you.

[two2go]

Hi Mountie
Did you finally registered? Where & how did you do that, because I can't seem to be able to find the place to register.
two2go

[Mountie]

two2go, yes, I registeredusing my American Express card about two weeks ago, when I saw the advertising banner on luxury link.

[kyshel]

are you getting email reminders each day to watch the auction? that's a nice feature. the florence pkg is dropping nicely--down to 30+% off so far and more than half the pkgs still available.