BOOKING HOLDINGS 
By NORWALK, Conn., Dec. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Priceline.com, a leader in mobile travel and part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), announced today the launch of a newly designed iPhone App for Apple's latest iOS7 mobile operating system. The app, which is Passbook-enabled for hotels, lets travelers browse and book hotel rooms, rental cars and airline tickets, and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store.
Today's announcement is part of priceline.com's continuing commitment to develop customized native apps for the expanding universe of mobile phones, tablets and other devices. "Within iOS7, the Priceline app is able to strip away earlier 'boxy' looks and extra screens to create a visually engaging experience where travelers have all the necessary information in front of them, even on a small screen, and can effortlessly make travel plans and book their reservations," said John Caine, Chief Product Officer of priceline.com.
Numerous enhancements are built into the new app, including:
- Native iOS7 look and feel. Gone are the boxy bordered icons and buttons, and lighter iOS7 type colors and fonts are easy on the eyes.
- Appealing 2D imaging. Priceline.com leveraged parallax scrolling technology to give hotel detail screens a sense of depth and increased perspective.
- Zoom-able location maps begin with the close-in perspective to give travelers a quick view of the hotel's exact location. Descriptions also prominently show each hotel's customer satisfaction scores, including how previous guests rated its cleanliness, staff, dining and location.
- Bedding options are front-and-center on the room rate selection screen for published priced hotels when available.
- Maps are now displayed for Name Your Own Price® and Express Deals® up front, before a traveler selects a neighborhood and desired star level.
- Faster hotel checkout screens with fewer required fields. The app makes it even easier to pay with PayPal at most hotels.
Other enhancements include a one-screen calendar for fast selection of travel dates, and simplified browsing and booking paths for airline tickets and rental cars. The Priceline.com app for iOS7 can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/priceline-hotels-flights-cars/id336381998.
Priceline.com's apps for iOS devices are among the most popular in the travel category, and its newly released iPad app recently was featured in the iTunes store.
Priceline.com's app upgrade comes just in time to help holiday travelers navigate the sometimes bumpy roads of holiday travel. In priceline.com's 2013 Holiday Travel Survey, it was revealed that consumers place high value on their travel apps, both for the information and services they provide, and for the peace of mind they offer travelers who are normally stressed-out on the road. In fact, for the current holiday season, 65% of smartphone owners admitted to being optimistic about their holiday travels. This percentage wasn't so high for non-smartphone owners. In addition, travelers who had upgraded their iPhones to iOS7 were twice as likely to be unfazed by their end-of-year travels when compared to those who have not yet upgraded.
About priceline.com
Priceline.com, part of The Priceline Group [NASDAQ: PCLN], gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available, or the recently added Express Deals®, where travelers can take advantage of hotel discounts without bidding.
SOURCE Priceline.com
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