Articles tagged “priceline”

Hotels hoped for packed hotels with high room rates, but ample inventory, fewer than anticipated guests, and the popularity of non-traditional lodging options are prompting hotels to lower rates to attract guests before the big day.

Moral of the story? People who are really coming to the area to attend the Super Bowl should stay in New Jersey, where hotel rates are much cheaper. But, then they won't be as conveniently positioned to attend all of the hoopla in New York City.

Priceline's partnership with General Motors is the next step in same-day, mobile hotel bookings. As other booking services enter into such partnerships, it will only fuel the trend. One remaining question is HotelTonight, which is your favorite car manufacturer?

It was a great year on the stock markets in 2013 for online travel agencies as a whole. Their businesses are increasingly global, and many are benefiting from expansion into developing markets and boosting their hotel products.

The PayPal tweak is in Priceline's interests because just about anything that makes booking a hotel easier should bolster business. It is possible that Priceline can reduce its credit card costs when travelers use PayPal, as well.

In a turning point for Booking.com and the hospitality industry, the largest lodging site in the world now has so many vacation rental listings, dispersed across 193 destinations, that it is changing the nature of the online travel business.

Travel startups that started salivating over the prospects of Priceline and American Airlines getting into the funding game are likely disappointed, for now, at least.

The success of Priceline and Booking.com isn't all about business models and search-engine marketing spend. A good part of the winning formula pertains to a company that eschews PowerPoints, worries about often-overlooked things such as the "cost of coordination" among its brands, and puts effort into maintaining the culture that got it here.

Jeffery Boyd doesn't want to meddle in Priceline's business on a day to day basis, which may provide angst to some investors. Still, incoming CEO Darren Huston has capably led Priceline's prized asset, Booking.com, over the last two years, so he's got the pedigree in what promises to be a fascinating new era in online travel.