REPEAT/Where in the World Will People Ring in the New Millennium?

Business Wire, June 21, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 1999--

Nationwide Survey by Preview Travel and Samsonite Reveals the

Majority of Travelers Have Not Made Plans for New Year's

It's a question being asked in almost every party conversation or lunch room discussion, "What are you doing to celebrate the millennium?"

Nearly 77 percent of people who responded to a national survey (conducted by leading online travel provider, Preview Travel Inc. (NASDAQ:PTVL), and luggage manufacturer, Samsonite) do not have an answer to this question. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that although 37 percent of respondents indicated they plan to take a trip to ring in the new year, nearly 93 percent have not yet made reservations.

The survey also revealed the following millennium travel statistics:

-- Home Sweet Home: Nearly 24 percent of individuals polled will

celebrate at home, 19 percent will go to a party and eight percent

will dine out.

-- Parisian Soiree: When asked to choose anywhere in the world to ring

in the New Year, 13 percent chose Paris, the City of Lights; 12.7

percent chose the island of Fiji; and 12.6 percent chose Sydney in

the "land down under." Approximately 10 percent of respondents

would like to celebrate with Mickey Mouse in Orlando, Fla.

-- No to New York: Despite its well-known New Year's Eve countdown,

surprisingly only five percent of respondents want to ring in 2000

in New York City. Other destinations that ranked low in the poll

included Athens, Rome and London.

-- Procrastinating Travelers: Although stories abound of booked hotels

and limited airline flights, 93 percent of those who plan on

traveling have not yet made reservations.

-- Beach-Bound: The sea is the vacation of choice for the millennium

celebration -- 30 percent would like to take a cruise, while 28

percent would opt for a beach vacation.

Approximately 17,000 visitors responded to the Preview Travel/Samsonite Survey 2000. Results were collected from May 12-June 10 and currently are posted at Preview Travel's Web site at www.previewtravel.com.

About Preview Travel

Preview Travel is a leading provider of online travel services for leisure and small-business travelers. It offers one-stop shopping for airline tickets, vacation packages, car rentals, hotels and cruises, as well as integrated access to travel information, merchandise, news and world-class customer service.

Preview Travel's trained travel agents provide customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a toll-free number and email. Preview Travel has a growing community of more than 7 million registered members and reported gross bookings of $200.1 million in 1998 and $76.7 million in First Quarter 1999.

Preview Travel was one of the Top 50 Most Visited Web Properties on the Internet according to Media Metrix (April 1999) and was ranked the Number One Online Travel Service by Gomez Advisors (Summer 1999).

The company operates its own award-winning Web site at www.previewtravel.com and the primary travel service on America Online at AOL keyword: previewtravel. In addition, Preview Travel provides the primary travel services on AOL.com, Excite, Lycos, Snap and USA Today.

About Samsonite

Founded in 1910, the Samsonite Corp. (www.samsonite.com) is the world's leading luggage company and the global manufacturer and distributor of a full range of luggage products, including softside and hardside suitcases, garment bags, business cases, and other travel bags under the Samsonite, American Tourister and Lark brand names.