We'll come right out and admit it: we have used Priceline's Negotiator before and like what it did for us. Even the omnipotent appreciate discounts and the thrill of chasing a deal. Still, we're not sure how we feel about sitting down to make serious travel reservations on our iPhone. Sure it's the internet just like we get on our laptop, but it just doesn't feel as official. But like Priceline could give a crap how we feel, since they've just released their own iPhone travel app.

The app of course focuses on good old William Shatner, aka The Negotiator, and his special Priceline ability to let you list your own nightly hotel rate blindly for a hotel (after choosing star rating and neighborhood), and possibly be accepted for over 50% off published rates. Our two most recent experiences at the hands of Captain Kirk got us 5-star hotel rooms in both Berlin and Chicago for $80 a night, so maybe if we don't even use a computer to make the reservation we'll be even more cavalier? So long as the app is free, which it is, we'll be fiddling with it. Who can resist a free travel app anyways?

Related Stories:
· Priceline Launches iPhone App For Hotel Bidding [USAToday]
· iPhone: Priceline's new app is best for last-minute hotel bids [BudgetTravel]
· iPhone Travel Apps coverage [Jaunted]
]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-30T11:24:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/7/153231/295

No need to hold a bikini car wash to pay for your vacation with the new Priceline trip protection.

What was very en vogue in the last quarter of 2008 and at the start of 2009 has suddenly become en vogue again. But we won't complain because it's actually a good thing. Priceline.com has announced it will offer a full cancellation and refund for anyone who books a trip on their site and then loses their job. From the press release:

The expanded trip protection is available for priceline.com’s vacation packages, Name Your Own Price® hotel rooms, published-price and Name Your Own Price® airline tickets, and rental cars booked as an add-on to any priceline.com travel reservation.

However, as this is part of Priceline's optional travel insurance you need to select this option in order to get a refund. But um, we hope that won't happen because we want you to keep your job! Trip protection costs as little as $16 for a flight and $5 a night for a hotel reservation. ]]> juliana 2009-10-07T16:33:55-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/13/135515/329

Priceline is dicey for some things, good for others, and fantastic for a very few. There's an anti-Priceline argument to be made for airlines because flying is enough of a hassle without adding in unpredictability. Hotels are much better, since if you're flexible on location you can pretty much control everything else. Rental cars, however, are all the way at the great end of the "Priceline is awesome" spectrum, since car companies are functionally interchangeable and for the purposes of a short trip, a car is a car is a car.

Name-Your-Own-Price car rentals come with the usual Priceline disadvantages. As always, bids are non-refundable and changes are unavailable. Car rentals specifically also come with the caveat that you can't bid on one way trips.

That said, car rentals also come with the usual array of advantages. Just out of the box, you're likely to get 20%-30% off the discount price. You can push the price down even more by using the usual array of insider Priceline strategies.]]> Omri 2009-08-14T10:24:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/27/143020/464

I don't know about you, but I've always done well by bidding for hotel rooms on Priceline. Sure, not knowing where you might end up is unnerving, but you can limit your downside by focusing on four- and five-star properties and doing a little bit of research. The discounts more than make up for any imperfections. In the past I've gotten great rates at hotels like the Strand Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, the Renaissance M Street in Washington, D.C., and the Crowne Plaza Key West La Concha, and now when I book a trip it's almost second nature to cobble together a bidding strategy and then click over to Priceline. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-06-27T14:30:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/18/75611/6539

If our recent one-way road trip got you all worked up and you feel the need to get behind the wheel of a rental car, you might want to check out the current deals on hand at Priceline.

Now that William Shatner, aka The Negotiator, is clearly jealous of all the Star Trek movie attention, he's been slashing rental car rates on Priceline in hopes of getting the attention back on him. Using the site’s Name Your Own Price feature you can save up to 30% off published rates, which is the usual deal they always offer. However, now they are promoting rates over 50% off in some of your favorite cities. Boston and Tampa seem to be two great places to start a trip, since economy cars start at only $13 a day. That leaves a lot of left over cash to spend on lobster, chowder, and whatever food Tampa offers—Applebee’s?

When you use Priceline’s bidding system, you won’t know what car company you’ll get until your price has been accepted. However, they do only work with the big boys of the rental wreck industry, so you’ll likely be behind the wheel of a Hertz, National, Avis, or Alamo offering.

If you scored a great deal thanks to The Negotiator, be sure to brag about it in the comments below.

Related Stories:
· Priceline Rental Car Spring Promotion [Official Site]
· Priceline Travel Hacks Work For International Hotels Too [Jaunted]
· Rental Cars coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Official Site] ]]> kjb 2009-05-18T11:19:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/15/144125/825

Priceline's in the news this morning for their new Bring-A-Friend bonus, where you get $100 in Priceline credit when you book two or more hotel rooms at the same time for the same trip. We also know that many of you are going to Europe this summer, and we've even gotten a question from someone about using Priceline to book international hotels. So off we go.

The formal and informal rules for booking international hotels - the bidding process and the tricks that you can use to beat it - are basically the same as for domestic hotels. You put in the price, the star-level, and the locations that you're willing to accept.

Priceline spits out whether or not they managed to get you a room at that rate. If your bid fails you get to bid again, but you have to either reduce the star level or add another acceptable location. You can't just increase your price, which is the incentive to get you to bid higher initially.]]> Omri 2009-05-15T16:47:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/6/134216/8484

Jaunted weekend editor Victor Ozols escaped from New York over the Labor Day holiday for a blissful getaway to Washington D.C. He recounts the hits and misses of his time in the nation's capital in this three-part series.

After getting cleaned up from our museum adventure, we walked down M Street in Georgetown. I grew up in Northern Virginia but really couldn't claim any good knowledge of DC prior to this trip, so I actually thought Georgetown was the hip place to hang out. John pointed out the preponderance of "popped-collar douchebags" in G-town, and he was right, though they didn't particularly bother us. Adams Morgan and the U Street Corridor (with places like the Black Cat) are much hipper locales. But we didn't really care, and enjoyed our stroll through Georgetown, peering into several restaurants before finally deciding to dine at Ristorante Piccolo on 31st Street. Our meal was an enjoyable disaster. ]]> Victor Ozols 2008-09-06T13:42:16-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/