Priceline.com Sees Increase In Last-Minute Airline Ticket Availability As Thanksgiving Draws Near; Also Still Available for the Holiday - Rental Cars and Hotel Rooms

Business Wire, Nov 14, 2002

Business/Technology Editors & Travel Writers

NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2002

Maybe procrastination pays off after all.

With the Thanksgiving holiday only two weeks away, priceline.com(R) (Nasdaq: PCLN) today said that it has recently received a fresh supply of additional airline tickets for last-minute travel around the holiday. The discounted tickets are from major airlines that sell tickets through priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(sm) travel service.

Priceline.com also said that it has rental car and hotel room availability for the Thanksgiving period. More than 8,500 brand-name hotels and all five of the U.S.'s largest rental car chains sell their products through priceline.com.

"Peak travel days, such as the day before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after, are filling up fast, which they historically do," said priceline.com Chief Operating Officer Mitch Truwit. "But the good news is, there are still tickets available for travel on the so-called off-peak `shoulder' days, like the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the Monday after. Last-minute travelers aren't shut out if they still want to fly home for the holiday."

According to priceline.com, last-minute travelers will find the best ticket availability and get the deepest savings if they travel on November 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, and December 2, 3, 4, and 5. Based on current purchase activity, priceline.com customers can save up to 40 percent or more over published retail prices if they book on these best days to travel. On other, heavier-travel days, savings will be more modest.

Some sample priceline.com savings include:

- Henry L. paid $232 for a round-trip ticket from Minneapolis to New York, leaving Nov. 22 and returning Nov. 30 - a savings of $227.

- Amar C. paid $347 for a round-trip ticket from San Francisco to Boston, leaving Nov. 22 and returning Dec. 1 - a savings of $305.

- Christina T. paid $173 for a round-trip ticket from Washington to Chicago, leaving Nov. 25 and returning Nov. 29 - a savings of $159.

- Anne F. paid $213 for a round-trip ticket from Philadelphia to Austin, leaving Nov. 22 and returning Nov. 29 - a savings of $204.

Travelers booking priceline.com hotel rooms for the Thanksgiving holiday are finding savings of up to 50 percent or more on their rooms. Priceline.com rental car customers are finding that they can still get a rental car for the Thanksgiving weekend at savings of up to 20 percent over published retail prices.

About Priceline.com

Priceline.com offers products for sale in four categories: a travel service that offers leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises; a personal finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through an independent licensee; an automotive service that offers new and used cars; and a telecommunications service that offers long distance calling services. Priceline.com also owns the Internet domain names and trademarks of LowestFare.com, another Web-based travel site. Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including pricelinemortgage and certain international licensees.

Information About Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict; therefore, actual results may differ materially from those expressed, implied or forecasted in any such forward-looking statements. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions including, without limitation, "may," "will," "should," "could," "expects," "does not currently expect," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "targets," or "continue," reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: adverse changes in general market conditions for leisure and other travel products as the result of, among other things, terrorist attacks or hostilities; adverse changes in the Company's relationships with airlines and other product and service providers including, without limitation, the withdrawal of suppliers from the priceline.com system; the effects of increased competition; systems-related failures and/or security breaches; the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property rights; losses by the Company and its licensees; final adjustments made in closing the quarter; legal and regulatory risks and the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. For a detailed discussion of these and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company's most recent Form 10-Q, Form 10-K and Form 8-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.