Priceline.com Gets Drivers' Adrenaline Pumping with New Lineup of Specialty and Luxury Rental Cars

NORWALK, Conn., June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new survey conducted by priceline.com, a majority (51%) of Americans think their rental cars are not typically as nice as the rest of their vacations.  In order to make journeys from point A to point B more enjoyable and to enhance the overall rental car experience for travelers, priceline.com is today launching Fun Rides – an extensive new rental car lineup of luxury sedans, muscle cars, sportsters, convertibles, hybrids and minis.  As a first-of-its-kind offering, priceline.com customers can now expect four-star wheels to match their four-star itineraries.

"This new offering from priceline.com demonstrates our commitment to our customers and what we know they are looking for when renting a car.  We believe travelers will have a variety of reasons to choose a 'fun ride,'" said Bill Jose, Senior Vice President, Rental Cars, priceline.com. "Whether you're a business or a leisure traveler, Fun Rides is a great way to take a dream car for a spin and add an element of excitement to your next trip."

Fun Rides caters to a variety of travel types and occasions, including the more than half (56%) of Americans who noted they would like to drive a luxury rental car for a special occasion, including their wedding (33%), a summer road trip (26%) and high school reunion (19%).  The new offering is available nationwide at airport locations in 63 major markets from a wide range of suppliers, including Avis, Budget, Hertz and Sixt.  

While specific make and model availability will vary according to location, seasonality and demand, some of the specialty and luxury automobiles available through Fun Rides include:

• BMW: 528xi, X3 Xdrive 28I, X5, X5 Xdrive, and 3 Series
• Mercedes Benz: GLK, SLK, E350, ML, GL, GL450, C-Class, E Class and E Class convertible
• Mini Cooper Base: 4-door FWD and Clubman
• Hybrids & Alternative Fuels: Toyota Prius, Ford C-Max, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Honda Natural Gas and Nissan Leaf
• Infiniti: QX56, JX35 FWD, Q60 FWD, and JX35 AWD.
• Convertibles: Corvette Coupe, Volvo C70, Camaro, Volkswagen Jetta
• Muscle Cars: Dodge Challenger and Challenger RT, Camaro SS, Ford Mustang and Mustang GT Premium
• Jeep Wrangler: 2-door and 4-door
• Cadillac: SRX and Escalade, Lincoln Navigator
• Ford F150

Fun Rides is the latest enhancement to priceline.com's celebrated rental car service, which covers thousands of airport and off-airport locations throughout the U.S. and extends to major cities globally with international inventory provided by The Priceline Group brand rentalcars.com.  Key features of priceline.com's rental cars service include:

• Competitive published rental rates and Name Your Own Price bidding for savings up to 40%
• Round-trip and one-way rentals
• Daily and weekly rates
• Easy to read grid-style and list-style rate comparisons of multiple rental car companies
• Full range of complementary vehicle categories (economy, compact, mid-size, standard, full-size, premium, mid-size, standard and full-size SUVs, minivans, full-size vans, and now Fun Rides

For more information on Fun Rides, visit www.priceline.com/media/ or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Survey

The priceline.com survey was conducted online by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,019 nationally representative U.S. adults, ages 18+, between May 29th and June 3rd, 2014. The margin of error for the study is 3.1 percent among the nationally representative sample.

About priceline.com

Priceline.com, part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), 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.

For Press Information: Kim Soward 203-299-8431 [email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140623/120529

SOURCE Priceline.com