We're not as-a-rule opposed to seeing travel advertising mascots getting killed. Last December, when Air New Zealand murdered off their spokespuppet Rico, we even declared ourselves to be fairly pleased. The borderline rapey rat-like character had become insanely grating even (especially?) for a felt puppet. So when the airline announced a viral Whodunit game where players tried to figure out Rico's murderer, we figured that was as good an excuse as any to be rid of him.

But today we weep. For today, Priceline kills off the Priceline Negotiator. The travel industry icon, played by William Shatner, has been the face of the travel bidding and booking company for 14 years. To give you an idea of how big a business and culture story this is, it's being run everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to Perez Hilton. They sound sad too. Not as sad as we are, of course, but it's there if you read between the lines. For his part Shatner describes himself as being "in grief mode."]]> Omri 2012-01-23T14:00:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/12/21/9432/3438
A shot from our tour of Tokyo-Haneda's new tech-heavy Intl Terminal

Even though you didn't make TIME Magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2010 like you did in 2006, that doesn't mean that other media outlets agree. In fact, AdAge has declared 2010 to be the Year of the Mobile Traveler, and we totally agree of course. What they don't realize is that while this year brought more people than ever to incorporate technology with travel, the next few years will be just as pivotal, and here's hoping even more so.

Just think about the new, fun things we started using this year: in-flight WiFi, paperless boarding passes, smartphone apps, iPads, 4G, and even location-based social networking like Foursquare. It's been a banner year for travel and tech, and here's to you that embrace it. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-12-21T09:34:25-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/4/1/163425/2017

Yes, what you see above is William Shatner putting a facial haired version of himself in a headlock. Of course it's all part of the April Fool's Day fun at Priceline as the "Evil Negotiator" took over the their Twitter today to announce special travel deals like "$5,000/night for a 1-star hotel in the lost city of Atlantis. Submarine fare not included!" and "$99,999/night for a hotel in the 4th Dimension!"

The Priceline gag is only one of the excellent April Fool's Day travel jokes on the 'net, and although Tnooz already did a round-up of the fake stories, we've been watching Twitter to see who's trying to put one over on travelers today. Check out our findings...

April Fool's among travel tweeters, after the jump! ]]> JetSetCD 2010-04-01T17:06:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/3/10/151951/375

Among the videos and shorts that funnyman Seth MacFarlane has sprinkled around the intertubes, the cartoons in his Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy are consistently among the most popular. The animated comedy web series - where classic cartoon characters pop up in hysterical albeit disturbing ways - catapulted MacFarlane's SethComedy YouTube channel into Most Watched Channel of the Week when it debuted. There's now a Cavalcade Hulu channel and the first season has even been released on DVD. That kind of popularity practically begs for digital sponsorship and advertising, and online travel agency Priceline has been more than willing to provide both.

The company has just inked a new deal with MacFarlane and - coincidentally - has chosen this month to announced a new and more generous best-rate-guarantee promotion. For a limited time, natch.]]> Omri 2010-03-10T16:18:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/23/1310/4606

Seriously, Shatner?

There've been Priceline gripes a-plenty, but we've also begrudgingly admitted to using "The Negotiator" to wrangle ourselves travel savings when it suits us. In our very, very, very last-minute search for holiday travel deals, what should we stumble upon than a menu of Flights Under $150, expiring tomorrow. *Flash-Act Now!-Flash*

Is The Shatner for real, though? Prices averaging at about $150 round-trip, with some departures the day before Christmas? We had to dig a little deeper to see if Captain Kirk was fooling us with that karate stance and winning grin.

What we found, after the jump. ]]> Heidi Atwal 2009-12-23T13:49:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/30/93748/342

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 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/