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 Priceline is one of the leading sites for booking travel online. Whether you need flights, hotels, cruises, or rental cars, Priceline has you covered. The Priceline team boasts the fact that they are able to negotiate lower rates than any of the other travel websites, and customers can even decide for themselves exactly what they're willing to pay. Is Priceline truly the best travel site on the Web? The Star Reviews team was determined to find out. Here's what we uncovered.
What's New?
- Receive Discounted Rates for Booking Hotel Rooms for Groups
- City Guides Offer Information on Dining, Attractions, and Entertainment
- Name Your Own Price Feature Encourages Travel Companies to Compete for Your Business
Star Reviews' Favorite Feature:
We really liked the fact that Priceline allows users to utilize hotel discounts given to groups and larger parties. This feature has a drop down list of group categories to plan for, including birthday parties, reunions, and bachelor and bachelorette parties. If you're planning travel for a group, this feature might prove to be priceless.
Pricing:
For our pricing comparison we searched each travel site for NON-STOP airfare for a 7-day stay from LAX in California to JFK in New York. At the time of our reviews these are the quotes we received:
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Expedia
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Hotwire
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Kayak
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Orbitz
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Priceline
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Travelocity
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$448
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$454
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$399
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$405
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$448
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$336
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The Priceline Experience:
We found the Priceline homepage to be very well-organized and inviting. The use of bright colors and lowercase letters contribute to an overall airy, light-hearted feel. We also found it quite easy to browse the website features and find the travel package we were looking for. If you're looking for easy travel searches, Priceline is the place to go.
Priceline’s major selling point is its Name Your Own Price Feature. The site claims it's the best way to get the best deals, but it reminds customers that the more you offer, the more you increase your chances of getting a ticket. To us, it just seemed like a creative way of weeding out tickets that aren't in a customer's price range. Remember, just because you offer a certain price doesn't mean the travel company has to accept it.
When it comes to actually booking tickets, Priceline is fast and easy. However, during the booking process we were reminded that all tickets are non-refundable, non-cancelable and non-transferable – which put somewhat of a damper on the experience. Is Priceline for everyone? Maybe not. Is it for those looking for great prices on travel plans that definitely won't change? I'd say that's a safe bet.
Priceline Features:
- Book local and international flights.
- Reserve hotel rooms and receive discounted rates for groups.
- Book rental cars through 5 major rental companies.
- Sign up for vacation tours and attractions.
- Plan a full-service cruise.
- Arrange discounted vacation packages.
- Access complete city guides.
- Receive price-breaking offers.
Priceline Pricing:
Membership to Priceline is free, although there are facilitation fees charged (which vary from travel company to travel company and service booked).
Priceline Customer Service:
The Customer Service section of the Priceline website can be accessed using a miniature “help” link in the upper right-hand corner. The link was so small that we almost missed it! Fortunately, once we found the link, we were quite pleased with the service options available.
Not only can customers browse Priceline's online help section, they can also access customer service via the website's email submission form. The site claims they respond to all inquiries within 3 hours (that, my friends, is impressive) and they held true to our promise when we put them to the test.
Unlike some of the travel sites on the Web, Priceline does offer live customer service via phone. It is, however, limited to customers who have current travel accommodations booked through the Priceline website.
Upside:
"Name Your Own Price" feature, cheap price-breaking deals, group rates for hotel bookings.
Downside:
Phone support is only available for customers who have already arranged and paid for travel.
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