New York City Is #1 Destination For Memorial Day 2013

NORWALK, Conn., May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- New York City's Midtown West neighborhood is the top destination for travelers over Memorial Day 2013, according priceline.com's (Nasdaq: PCLN) annual survey of the Top 50 destinations for the holiday that traditionally kicks off the summer travel season.  In second place on this year's list is Las Vegas's North Strip area.

Priceline.com has been publishing its Memorial Day list for 11 consecutive years, making it one of the longest running prognosticators of travel trends.  The list is based on hotel bookings made through priceline.com's family-friendly Express Deals(sm) hotel service, and booking requests made by travelers using priceline.com's Name Your Own Price® hotel service, for accommodations over the upcoming holiday period. 

The nation's big cities will be very busy over Memorial Day, according to priceline.com's findings.  New York City neighborhoods appeared 7 times among the top 50 destinations, followed by Boston (4 times), Washington, DC (4 times), San Francisco (4 times), Chicago (3 times) and Las Vegas (3 times).  "Cooler than normal spring weather in many parts of the country could be prompting many Memorial Day travelers to choose a city trip over the beach," said priceline.com's Travel Ekspert Brian Ek.

With less than two weeks to go before Memorial Day, there's still plenty of time to get a deal on a hotel room, rental car, airline ticket, vacation package or even a cruise by visiting http://www.priceline.com. Travelers also can take advantage of priceline.com's  Ready. Set. Summer Sale!, where Express Deals hotels are available for up to 50% off normal published rates.  This limited-time sale applies to hotels in all star categories, even the most luxurious 4- and 5-star hotels, with no length of stay requirement.  The sale runs through June 3rd and all stays must be completed by June 23, 2013.

In addition to the savings, Express Deals customers can choose from hotel offers that include specific amenities like a pool, on-site gym, free breakfast, free Internet, even a particular bed type (like two doubles instead of one king).  Priceline.com's Express Deals typically save customers up to 45%.  During the sale period, customers who enter the coupon code READYSET5 when they book their Express Deals will receive an extra 5% savings on top of the pre-negotiated discount.  The extra savings coupon code applies to all destinations where hotels are participating and all star levels.  It also applies to all dates from now through June 23rd, including the Memorial Day holiday.

Last-minute travelers can book their travel through the Priceline app.  The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch version of app, which is free, can be downloaded from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/priceline-hotel-car-negotiator/id336381998?mt=8&uo=4.  iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.  The Android app can be downloaded for free from the Android market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.priceline.android.negotiator.

The Priceline Top 50 Destinations List for Memorial Day 2013

#1        New York City, Midtown West
#2        Las Vegas, Strip North Area
#3        Chicago, North Michigan Avenue/River North Area
#4        Paris, Champs Elysees/Arc De Triomphe
#5        New York City, Midtown East
#6        New York City, Upper East Side                                        
#7        San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf
#8        New York City, Times Square/Theater District
#9        New Orleans, French Quarter
#10      Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South
#11      Oahu, Waikiki Beach Area
#12      Chicago, Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park Area
#13      London, Westminster
#14      Maui, Ka'anapali/Lahaina
#15      Boston, Harbor Front/Aquarium
#16      Seattle, Downtown/Pike Place
#17      Washington, DC, White House/Downtown
#18      Orlando, Downtown Disney/Lake Buena Vista
#19      Washington, DC, Convention Center/Capitol Hill Area
#20      Orange County, Disneyland/Anaheim North
#21      Boston, Seaport District/Convention Center
#22      Las Vegas, Fremont St. Vicinity
#23      Chicago, McCormick Place/Medical District
#24      Buffalo, Niagara Falls
#25      Portland, Downtown
#26      Washington, DC, Dupont Circle/Woodley Park
#27      San Diego, Coronado Area    
#28      Montreal, Downtown/City Centre     
#29      Boston, Boston Common/Theater District
#30      San Francisco, Union Square East
#31      Charleston, Downtown
#32      New York City, Central Park South
#33      Boston, Copley Square/Back Bay
#34      Miami, Downtown
#35      St. Catharines, Niagara Falls
#36      San Antonio, Riverwalk Area
#37      Austin, Downtown
#38      Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach/Ormond Beach
#39      Seattle, Seattle Center/Space Needle
#40      New York City, Downtown/Financial District
#41      San Francisco, SOMA/Moscone Center
#42      Cincinnati, Downtown
#43      Key West
#44      Washington, DC, Crystal City
#45      Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores/South Daytona Beach
#46      San Francisco, Financial District/Embarcadero
#47      Orlando, Sea World/International Drive/Convention Center
#48      Savannah, Historic Savannah and Riverfront
#49      Newark, Jersey City/Hoboken/Weehawken
#50      Orange County, Disneyland/Anaheim South/Orange/Garden Grove

About The Priceline Group
The Priceline Group (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations. 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 180 countries and territories 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 295,000 hotels and accommodations (as of May 3, 2013), and is available in 41 languages. More recent 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, or the recently added Express Deals, where travelers can take advantage of hotel discounts without bidding.

Agoda.com is an Asia-based online hotel reservation service that is available in 38 languages. Rentalcars.com is a multinational rental car service, offering its reservation services in over 6,000 locations. Customer support is provided in 40 languages.

SOURCE Priceline.com