Priceline Review

Priceline pioneered the "Name Your Own Price" model for hotel bookings in the late 1990s and remains a significant player in the online travel space as part of Booking Holdings. While the original auction-style bidding has been largely phased out, its spiritual successor, Express Deals, continues to offer substantial discounts by hiding the hotel name until after you pay. Express Deals are Priceline's signature feature and its biggest draw. The concept is simple: you see the hotel's star rating, guest rating, general area, and amenities, but not its name. In exchange for this uncertainty, you get discounts of 20-60% off the standard rate. Experienced Priceline users have developed techniques for identifying the hidden hotels based on the clues provided, which can turn Express Deals into a reliable way to book quality hotels at deeply discounted prices. Beyond Express Deals, Priceline offers standard hotel booking, vacation packages, flights, car rentals, and cruises. The platform lists over 1 million properties and benefits from its parent company's massive inventory. The VIP program provides additional discounts and perks for repeat customers. While the website feels somewhat dated compared to Booking.com, the unique pricing model makes Priceline worth checking for every hotel booking.

Priceline's standard hotel search is functional but unremarkable. The results page shows hotels with prices, ratings, and basic information in a familiar layout. Filters cover price, star rating, guest rating, amenities, and property type. The map view works well for location-based searching. Nothing about the standard search experience stands out as exceptional or problematic. Where the search becomes interesting is in the Express Deals section. Here, the listings show a star rating, guest review score, general neighborhood, select amenities, and a heavily discounted price, but no hotel name. The challenge and the appeal is figuring out which hotel is being offered. Priceline provides enough clues that experienced users can often narrow it down to one or two possibilities. The app includes a "Price Negotiator" feature that functions as a simplified version of the old Name Your Own Price model. You select a hotel category and area, then suggest a price. Priceline either accepts or counters. While the discounts through this feature are more modest than Express Deals (typically 10-25%), it adds an interactive element that some travelers enjoy.

Priceline's pricing story has two distinct chapters: Express Deals and everything else. Express Deals deliver genuine, significant savings. In our testing, the average Express Deal discount was 35% off the publicly displayed rate for the same hotel, with some deals reaching 50-60%. For travelers who are comfortable with the uncertainty of not knowing the exact hotel, these savings are real and substantial. Standard hotel pricing on Priceline is less competitive. Without Express Deals, Priceline's rates are generally comparable to or slightly higher than Booking.com and Expedia. The platform does not consistently offer the lowest standard rates, and travelers who do not use Express Deals may find better prices elsewhere. The bundle pricing for flight+hotel packages is competitive, with savings similar to what Expedia offers (10-25% compared to separate bookings). The VIP program adds another pricing tier, with member-only deals offering an additional 5-15% off select properties. Between Express Deals, VIP pricing, and bundles, Priceline offers multiple avenues for savings, though the best deals require willingness to accept some uncertainty.

Express Deals remain Priceline's most distinctive feature. The hidden-hotel discount model is unique in the travel industry and provides a genuinely different approach to hotel booking. For budget-conscious travelers who prioritize price over brand preference, it is an effective tool that has no real equivalent on other platforms. The mobile app extends the Express Deals experience and adds the Price Negotiator feature, which is exclusive to the app. The app also includes booking management, push notifications for deal alerts, and mobile-exclusive discounts on standard bookings. The interface is clean on mobile, arguably better designed than the desktop experience. Priceline's trip bundling tools allow you to combine flights, hotels, and car rentals in a single booking with package discounts. The bundling interface walks you through each component sequentially and shows the running savings total, making it clear how much you are saving compared to individual bookings. While not as polished as Expedia's bundling experience, it gets the job done effectively.

Priceline's VIP program is a straightforward loyalty system that rewards repeat bookings with access to exclusive deals and additional perks. The program is free to join and provides immediate access to VIP-tagged properties that offer extra discounts, free amenities, or room upgrades. The VIP program does not have the traditional tier structure seen in Booking.com Genius or Expedia One Key. Instead, it functions more like a members-only deal club where the benefits are tied to specific properties rather than your booking history. This means a first-time VIP member gets the same benefits as someone who has booked 50 times, which is simpler but less rewarding for truly loyal customers. The program's value varies depending on your destination and travel dates. In some markets, VIP deals offer meaningful savings of 15-25%, while in others the VIP-tagged properties are limited and the discounts are modest. The lack of a cumulative rewards system means Priceline does not build the kind of long-term loyalty that points-based programs can generate.

Priceline offers customer support through phone, chat, and a help center. For standard bookings with free cancellation, the self-service tools handle cancellations and modifications efficiently. The help center covers common scenarios and is reasonably well-organized. For Express Deal bookings, the support experience is more challenging. Since these bookings are non-refundable and non-cancellable, the options for recourse are limited if you are dissatisfied with the hotel. Priceline's support team can assist if the hotel does not match the description provided in the Express Deal listing (e.g., wrong star rating or missing amenities), but general dissatisfaction is not grounds for a refund. Phone support wait times average 15-30 minutes, with longer waits during peak travel periods. Agent quality is generally adequate for routine issues. For complex problems involving Express Deals or bundled bookings, escalation may be necessary, and the resolution process can take several days. The support experience is average for the industry but not a standout in either direction.