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Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a company that operates a commercial website that helps users obtain discount rates for travel-related items such as airline tickets and hotel stays. The company is not a direct supplier of these services; instead it provides comparative pricing from an assortment of service companies. It is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States.

Priceline was the brainchild of digital entrepreneur Jay S. Walker; the company's origins were closely tied with Walker's company Walker Digital. Hong Kong company Cheung Kong Holdings later purchased a significant portion of Priceline's stock.^[1]

History

It first gained prominence for its Name Your Own Price system, where travelers would name their price for airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals and vacation packages. The price would be compared to undisclosed prices in the Priceline database, with the purchaser knowing the location and name of the rental car company, airline or hotel only after the purchase had gone through, with no rights to cancel. (According to the web site, the no-cancellation no-refund policy is because Priceline offers the price to the hotel, airline or car rental agency with the promise that the service would be sold and the seat or hotel will be filled or the car will be rented.)

Priceline's cut of the proceeds was the difference between the price an individual named and the price charged by the service establishment. More recently, it has moved to a more traditional model where travelers are presented prices and are also told the name of the establishment. Travelers can still choose to name their price for airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars. The number of airlines, hotels and car rental company participants in the name your own price program has increased as these suppliers utilize this opaque market Priceline created to sell their perishable inventory without lowering prices through other traditional sales channels. Priceline now also sells discounted cruises, as well as tours and attractions.

Priceline.com also experimented with selling gasoline and groceries under the Name Your Own Price model in 2000, at the height of the dot-com bubble, through a partially-owned affiliate, WebHouse Club. Priceline also got into the online auction business with Priceline Yard Sales, where individuals would use the Priceline system to haggle for various second-hand items and trade them in person. Priceline also sold long distance telephone service and automobiles under the Name Your Own Price model. All of these experiments were terminated in 2002. Another experiment, the Name Your Own Rate system for home loans, continues under a license with EverBank. In 2002 Priceline licensed its “Name Your Own Price” travel system to eBay.

Priceline returned to its original focus on travel products, such airfares and rental cars, with the addition of cruise sales and a special emphasis on hotel bookings in its commercials. During November 2007 Priceline “permanently” eliminated all booking fees on published airfares.

Spokespeople

For years, Priceline's official spokesperson has been William Shatner, who agreed to do the spots for free in exchange for stock in the company.^{[citation needed]} The arrangement turned out to be quite profitable for Shatner, who sold much of the stock shortly before its value plummeted in the dot-com bust. An early ad campaign featuring Shatner had him belt out popular songs in spoken word, in the style of his album, "The Transformed Man". He was "replaced" in 2004 by his "Star Trek" co-star, Leonard Nimoy. Shatner still appeared in spots for Priceline, running into Nimoy as his replacement. When that campaign ended Shatner again became Priceline's sole spokesperson. In 2007 a new ad campaign by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners had Shatner take on the role of Priceline's Negotiator. One of Shatner's early commercials for the company had him sitting in a spaceship's captain's chair, in loving tribute to his famous Star Trek role.

In September 2008 in a Saturday Night Live skit during the opening monologue by Olympian Michael Phelps, Shatner rose from the audience to give Phelps tips on product endorsements. Priceline has been parodied in other Saturday Night Live skits and on the Tonight Show by Jay Leno.

Acquisitions

Agoda.com

In November 2007 Priceline acquired the Bangkok and Singapore-based Agoda^[2], an online hotel reservations service which providing a service similar to Priceline's but specializing in Asia Pacific. Agoda's network includes 8,000 hotels in Asia and more than 49,000 worldwide.^[3]

Booking.com

Priceline is the parent company of the European organisation Booking.com. Booking.com is a hotel reservations agency specializing in Europe established in 1996.

Active Hotels

In November 2006, Active Hotels Limited merged some operations with Booking.com. The company’s physical locations and personnel are not affected by the name change and its websites will continue to be marketed with differentiated products targeting their loyal and growing customer groups.

Priceline branding

As such, Priceline, Booking.com, Active Hotels and Agoda are separately branded for dissimilar demographics. However each company is regulated and integrated into the Priceline business model.

Footnotes

^ "priceline.com Incorporated: Ownership". MSN Money. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
^ "Priceline.com Acquires Asian Online Hotel Reservation Service Agoda Company".
^ "What is Agoda?". Retrieved 2008-05-07.

External links

[1] "priceline.com Incorporated: Ownership". MSN Money. Retrieved 2006-12-20.

[2] "Priceline.com Acquires Asian Online Hotel Reservation Service Agoda Company".

[3] "What is Agoda?". Retrieved 2008-05-07.

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 ==Spokespeople==
-For years, Priceline's official spokesperson has been [[William Shatner]], who agreed to do the spots for free in exchange for [[stock]] in the company.{{Fact|date=September 2008}} The arrangement turned out to be quite profitable for Shatner, who sold much of the stock shortly before its value plummeted in the [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com bust]]. An early ad campaign featuring Shatner had him belt out popular songs in [[spoken word]], in the style of his album, "[[The Transformed Man]]".  He was "replaced" in 2004 by his "[[Star Trek]]" co-star, [[Leonard Nimoy]]. Shatner still appeared in spots for Priceline, running into Nimoy as his replacement. When that campaign ended Shatner again became Priceline's sole spokesperson. In 2007 a new ad campaign by [[Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners]] had Shatner take on the role of Priceline's Negotiator.
+For years, Priceline's official spokesperson has been [[William Shatner]], who agreed to do the spots for free in exchange for [[stock]] in the company.{{Fact|date=September 2008}} The arrangement turned out to be quite profitable for Shatner, who sold much of the stock shortly before its value plummeted in the [[Dot-com bubble|dot-com bust]]. An early ad campaign featuring Shatner had him belt out popular songs in [[spoken word]], in the style of his album, "[[The Transformed Man]]".  He was "replaced" in 2004 by his "[[Star Trek]]" co-star, [[Leonard Nimoy]]. Shatner still appeared in spots for Priceline, running into Nimoy as his replacement. When that campaign ended Shatner again became Priceline's sole spokesperson. In 2007 a new ad campaign by [[Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners]] had Shatner take on the role of Priceline's Negotiator. One of Shatner's early commercials for the company had him sitting in a spaceship's captain's chair, in loving tribute to his famous ''Star Trek'' role.
 In September 2008 in a [[Saturday Night Live]] skit during the opening monologue by Olympian [[Michael Phelps]], Shatner rose from the audience to give Phelps tips on product endorsements. Priceline has been parodied in other ''Saturday Night Live'' skits and on the [[The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno_(1992_TV_series)|Tonight Show]] by [[Jay Leno]].