Priceline.com Releases Results Of New Year's Eve Travel Survey; Las Vegas is the Top Party Spot in the U.S., While U.K. Residents Prefer London to Ring in the New Year

Business Wire, Dec 26, 2005

NORWALK, Conn. -- According to a new priceline.com(R) (Nasdaq: PCLN) hotel survey, Las Vegas is the most-preferred New Year's Eve party spot for Americans, while London is #1 among Britons ringing in the New Year.

The survey, which measures consumer travel intentions, is based on a total of more than 21,000 actual hotel reservation requests made by American and U.K. priceline.com customers for the New Year's Eve period.

Today's hotel survey uncovered some shifts in Americans' party plans. California and Florida showed big gains in attracting New Year's travelers. Last year, California cities took none of the top 20 spots on priceline.com's most popular destinations list. This year, California has 5 of the top 20 spots. Similarly, Florida cities took 6 spots in the top 20 this year, compared to 3 last year.

Major parade and celebration sites also did well. #3 on the list was New York City's Midtown West neighborhood, home to Times Square. Philadelphia, with its annual Mummer's Parade, ranked #38. The Los Angeles area, home to the Rose Bowl Parade, took numerous spots on the list.

Many Americans were headed overseas to celebrate New Year's Eve. International destinations have made a slow, steady recovery since 9/11. This year, destinations making the list included London, Paris, Sydney and Bangkok.

Britons, by contrast, were fairly consistent in their New Year's Eve plans compared to last year. For the 2nd straight year, London was the favorite destination on the Top 50 List, followed closely by Edinburgh. Outside of the U.K., France took four additional places on this year's list and the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Italy (Rome) appeared on the list for the first time.

Here are the complete results for each survey:

Priceline.com's Top Destinations for New Year's Eve 2005
(U.S. Residents)

#1   Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity
#2   New York City, Upper Midtown
#3   New York City, Midtown West
#4   Orlando, Universal Studios/Sea World
#5   Oahu, Waikiki South
#6   New York City, Upper West Side
#7   Miami, South Beach Area
#8   Las Vegas, West of Strip
#9   Chicago, North Michigan Ave. Area
#10  Orange County, Disneyland Area
#11  San Francisco, Union Square West
#12  Orlando, Disney World Vicinity
#13  Key West
#14  Maui, Wailea
#15  Atlanta, Downtown
#16  Orlando, West Disney Area
#17  Ft. Lauderdale, Beach Area
#18  Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey/Santa Monica
#19  San Diego, Coastal Area
#20  San Francisco, Union Square East
#21  New York City, Midtown East
#22  San Juan
#23  Washington, DC, White House Area
#24  Los Angeles, Beverly Hills/West Hollywood
#25  Los Angeles, Hollywood
#26  South Lake Tahoe
#27  Orlando, Winter Park
#28  Nashville, Downtown
#29  Thailand, Phuket
#30  Chicago, Millennium Park
#31  London, Westminster
#32  Maui, Ka'anapali
#33  Sydney, City Centre
#34  San Antonio, Downtown/Riverwalk
#35  Los Angeles, Downtown
#36  Tempe
#37  Miami, Southwest
#38  Philadelphia, Downtown
#39  Naples (FL)
#40  Los Angeles, Airport Area
#41  Oahu, Waikiki North
#42  Miami Beach
#43  San Diego, Downtown/Harbor Island
#44  London, Soho/Mayfair
#45  New York City, Midtown South
#46  Thailand, Bangkok
#47  Paris, St. Germain/Latin Quarter
#48  Miami, Downtown
#49  Boston, Downtown
#50  Scottsdale

Priceline.co.uk's Top Destinations for New Year's Eve 2005
(U.K. Residents)

#1 London, #2 Edinburgh, #3 Manchester, #4 Paris, #5 Glasgow, #6
Cardiff, #7 Birmingham, #8 York, #9 Leeds, #10 Liverpool, #11
Newcastle Upon Tyne, #12 Newquay, #13 Dublin, #14 Blackpool, #15
Brighton, #16 Nottingham, #17 Madrid, #18 Isles-les-Villenoy, #19
Harrogate, #20 Aberdeen, #21 Bournemouth, #22 Magny-le-Hongre, #23
Newbridge, #24 Norwich, #25 Rome, #26 Bristol, #27 Swansea, #28 Bussy
Saint Georges, #29 Newcastle, #30 Oxford, #31 Scarborough, #32
Sheffield, #33 Torquay, #34 Barcelona, #35 Cheltenham, #36 Derby, #37
Bath, #38 Chester, #39 Amsterdam, #40 Cambridge, #41 Darlington, #42
Reading, #43 Albertville, #44 Lognes, #45 Perth, #46 Serris, #47
Southampton, #48 Tournon/Albertville, #49 Annecy, #50 Basildon.

Priceline.com said it still has hotel rooms, airline tickets, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises available for New Year's. Priceline.com customers now have two options for their travel purchases. They can choose from thousands of flights, hotels and rental cars, all with their own displayed special prices. Or, for deeper savings, they can use priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) services, where customers pick the price and priceline.com selects the itinerary.

Here are some examples of successful Name Your Own Price offers made by priceline.com hotel customers for the New Year's Eve period.* For additional savings examples, visit www.priceline.com.

--4-star hotel, Las Vegas Strip Area $225 per night

--4-star hotel, New York City's Midtown West Area $150 per night

--3-star hotel, Orlando's Disney World Vicinity $60 per night

--4-star hotel, Miami's South Beach Area $125 per night

--4-star hotel, London's Marble Arch Area $71 per night

--3-star hotel, Philadelphia Downtown Area $80 per night