Priceline.com Releases Its Annual List of Top New Year's Party Spots

NORWALK, Conn., Dec. 27, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) today released its 7th annual list of top 50 destinations for ringing in the New Year. For the 6th year in a row, the Las Vegas Strip is the #1 destination for New Year's revelers.

Priceline.com's Top 50 Destinations list is a guide for those who want to find the crowds - or stay away from them on the New Year.  To compile its list, priceline.com looked at a sampling of thousands of Name Your Own Price(R) hotel room booking requests made by priceline.com customers for the New Year's holiday. Because the survey is based on actual booking requests, and not on consumer preference polls or votes, priceline.com believes its annual survey is one of the more accurate predictors of New Year's travel trends. Also, by focusing on hotels instead of airline tickets, the priceline.com survey is able to include the travel intentions of consumers who will drive to their destination.

"Much like last year, a handful of cities were the big winners in drawing New Year's revelers," said Priceline Senior Travel Analyst Brian Ek.  "Las Vegas made the list six times, including the top spot.  Meanwhile, with the 11 times it made this year's list, I predict that New York City can expect big crowds for its annual ball dropping.  Other cities that made the list multiple times were Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, Chicago, San Francisco and Boston.  Party-goers, particularly in the eastern half of the country, will be encouraged by the fact that Blizzard 2010 appears to be behind us and temperatures are expected to warm up a bit as this week progresses."

Priceline still has last-minute airline tickets http://www.priceline.com/flights/, hotel rooms http://www.priceline.com/hotels/ and rental cars http://www.priceline.com/rentalcars/ available for New Year's travelers.

For those in search of even deeper savings, there's priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) hotel service that can save up to 50% over published hotel prices. With Priceline's Name Your Own Price(R) hotel service, customers pick the dates, part of town, hotel star level and price they want to pay for their room. If that price is accepted by a priceline.com partner hotel, the booking is completed and customers receive their hotel details. And, for those New Year's partygoers who find themselves stuck in town without a hotel room, there's always Priceline's free Hotel Negotiator app for the iPhone and now Android devices.  The apps help travelers find and book rooms, even on the same day you need them.

Priceline.com's Top 50 New Year's Destinations

1. Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip North
2. New York City, Times Square/Theater District
3. Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip South
4. New York City, Midtown West
5. New York City, Midtown East
6. New Orleans, French Quarter
7. New York City, Madison Square Garden/Convention Center Area
8. New York City, Central Park South
9. New York City, Empire State Building Area
10. New York City, Chelsea Area
11. New Orleans, Downtown
12. Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity North
13. New York City, Downtown/Soho/Financial District
14. New York City, Hell's Kitchen
15. Chicago, North Michigan Avenue/River North
16. New York City, Upper East Side
17. New York City, Upper West Side
18. San Francisco, Union Square East
19. Chicago, Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park
20. Miami, South Beach/Collins Avenue/Oceanfront
21. San Francisco, Union Square West/Nob Hill
22. Miami, South Beach/Ocean Drive
23. Atlanta, Downtown
24. Orlando, Lake Buena Vista/Downtown Disney
25. New Orleans, Convention Center, Warehouse/Arts District
26. Los Angeles, Hollywood
27. Las Vegas, Near Strip East
28. Las Vegas, Convention Center
29. San Francisco, Financial District/Embarcadero
30. Miami, South Beach - Central
31. Las Vegas, Near Strip West
32. Orlando, Sea World/International Drive/Convention Center
33. San Francisco, Fishermans Wharf
34. Boston, Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall/Financial District
35. Orlando, Universal Orlando Resort Area/International Drive North
36. Toronto, Downtown South
37. Fort Lauderdale, Beach Area
38. San Diego, Downtown & Harbor Island
39. Los Angeles, Beverly Hills/West Hollywood
40. Oahu, Waikiki Beach Area
41. Miami, Miami Beach
42. Boston, Copley Square/Theater District
43. Orlando, Disney Maingate/Celebration
44. Nashville, Downtown
45. Miami, Downtown
46. Pittsburgh, Downtown
47. Key West
48. Atlanta, Buckhead Area
49. Boston, Harborfront/Aquarium
50. San Francisco, Civic Center  

About The Priceline Group of Companies

The Priceline Group of Companies (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with approximately 61 million room nights booked in 2009. The Group is composed of four primary brands - Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in 38 languages in 100 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com is a leading international online hotel reservation service operating in 92 countries in 38 languages. Booking.com offers its customers access to over 105,000 participating hotels worldwide.

In the U.S., 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(R) service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.

Singapore-based Agoda.com is an Asian online hotel reservation service that offers hotel rooms around the world and is available in 32 languages. With headquarters in Manchester, UK, TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in more than 4,000 locations in 80 countries. Customer support is provided in 20 languages.

SOURCE The Priceline Group of Companies