New Priceline.com App Data Suggests That Rental Car Customers May Be The Most Last-Minute Bookers Of Them All

NORWALK, Conn., April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) released today its second set of findings on Android, iPhone and iPad users who are booking rental cars and hotel rooms through priceline.com's Hotel Negotiator app for Android and Hotel & Rental Car Negotiator app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. 

Here are the key findings from priceline.com's latest batch of mobile data:

• Rental cars are a spur-of-the-moment decision for many mobile-equipped travelers.  41% of rental car bookings made through priceline.com apps were same-day.  Of those bookings, 48% were made within 2 hours of pickup.
• The top 5 vehicle choices of mobile-equipped rental car customers are: #1 Economy, #2 Intermediate, #3 Full-Size, #4 Compact, and #5 Standard. 
• Hotel star level preferences are expanding as mobile devices become more mainstream.  After priceline.com introduced its first Hotel Negotiator app for the iPhone in 2009, customers with mobile devices chose 3-star or higher hotels 82% of the time.  Today, 63% of iPhone users choose luxury hotels.  Android users choose 3-star and above 54% of the time.  iPad users are still the pickiest, choosing 3-star and above hotels 69% of the time. For smartphones, priceline.com said that the shift toward lower price-point hotels has accelerated during the Christmas season while, for the iPad, the shift has continued with each new release of the popular tablet.

"Priceline.com's early mobile phone usage data suggests that the almost exclusive preference for 3- and 4-star hotels was being driven by more affluent early adopters of iPhones," said John Caine, priceline.com's Chief Product Officer, who heads up the company's mobile development teams.  "Today, we're seeing more mobile devices in the hands of mainstream Americans, whose hotel booking preferences more closely parallel desktop-equipped hotel bookers.  This is another indication that the mobile marketplace for travel services is broadening as the popularity of mobile devices grows."

To see priceline.com's first set of findings on mobile booking trends for hotels, visit http://ir.priceline.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=585670.

Priceline's Hotel & Rental Car Negotiator app, lets travelers use iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to quickly find and book last-minute hotel rooms using priceline.com's Name Your Own Price® hotel service and save up to 50% over published hotel rates.  Users also can book Tonight Only Deals, which are specially negotiated rates where the hotel is disclosed after the booking is confirmed.  The Hotel & Rental Car Negotiator app contains an option for browsing priceline.com's broad assortment of published-price hotels for a particular city or town.  Rental car customers can use the app's Name Your Own Price® service for booking rental cars at savings of up to 40% over published rates.  The Hotel & Rental Car Negotiator app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/priceline-hotel-car-negotiator/id336381998?mt=8&uo=4. 

Android users can download the Hotel Negotiator app, including the Tonight Only Deals service, for free from the Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.priceline.android.negotiator.

Booking.com, another service in the Priceline Group, recently released Booking.com Tonight, the first global last-minute hotel booking app for iPhone and iPod touch that offers same-night hotel rooms around the world at savings of up to 50% over published rates.  The app is available for free download at http://itunes.apple.com/app/booking.com-tonight-last-minute/id516563800?mt=8.

And the Priceline Group's Asian hotel service, Agoda.com, has its own hotel booking app:  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/agoda.com-smarter-hotel-booking/id440676901?mt=8

iPad and iTunes are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

About The Priceline Group
The Priceline Group (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with over 210,000 participating hotels worldwide.  The Group is composed of four primary brands – Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and Rentalcars.com – and several ancillary brands. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in over 160 countries in Europe, North America, South America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

Booking.com is the number one online hotel reservation service in the world, offering over 185,000 hotels (as of February 27, 2012), and is available in 41 languages.  More recent hotel counts are available on the Booking.com website.  Priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises.

In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.  Agoda.com is an Asia-based online hotel reservation service that is available in 37 languages.  Rentalcars.com is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in over 4,000 locations.  Customer support is provided in 38 languages.

SOURCE Priceline.com