NORWALK, Conn.--()--Call ‘em the Comeback Kids. Las Vegas and Europe have returned as popular leisure travel destinations for the Memorial Day holiday period, according to priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN).
“The last time Las Vegas occupied the top spot on our Memorial Day list was 2005, so this return to the top should be welcome news for Las Vegas’ tourism industry”
Today, priceline.com released the results of its 7th annual survey of the 50 most-popular Memorial Day holiday destinations. The survey is based on thousands of hotel room booking requests made by priceline.com Name Your Own Price® hotel service customers for the upcoming May 23-25 long weekend. Because the survey is based on actual booking requests, and not on consumer preference polls or votes, priceline.com believes its annual survey is one of the more accurate predictors of holiday travel trends.
Priceline.com said it still has hotel rooms, airline tickets, vacation packages, rental cars and cruises available for the big weekend, often at significant discounts over other online travel reservation services. Bargain hunters will appreciate the fact that, in addition to its Name Your Own Price® services, priceline.com charges no booking fees on published-price airline tickets and has chopped its booking fees on thousands of hotels around the world. For full details visit http://www.priceline.com.
This year, the Las Vegas Strip was the #1 most-popular destination on the top 50 list. “The last time Las Vegas occupied the top spot on our Memorial Day list was 2005, so this return to the top should be welcome news for Las Vegas’ tourism industry,” said priceline.com’s in-house travel expert Brian Ek.
Four European cities made the list this year – London (#27), Rome (#38), Barcelona (#42) and Paris (#43). European travel for the holiday was helped by an improving exchange rate (1€ = $1.35) and international airfares that have dropped as much as 20% in the last 45 days. “The combination of exchange rates and low travel costs could make this the summer or fall to see Europe,” Ek added.
The Priceline Top 50 Destinations List for Memorial Day 2009
#1 Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity South
#2 New York City, Chelsea Area
#3 New York City, Times Square/Theater District
#4 Boston, Copley Square/Theater District
#5 Chicago, Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area
#6 Seattle, Downtown/Pike Place
#7 Las Vegas, Strip Vicinity North
#8 San Francisco, Union Square West/Nob Hill
#9 New York City, Empire State Building Area
#10 San Diego, Downtown & Harbor Island
#11 Chicago, North Michigan Ave./River North Area
#12 New York City, Midtown East
#13 Austin, Downtown
#14 San Diego, Coastal Area
#15 San Antonio, Riverwalk
#16 Oahu, Waikiki Beach Area
#17 Washington, White House/Downtown
#18 Vancouver, Downtown
#19 Orlando, Universal Studios/Sea World
#20 Maui, Wailea/Makena
#21 Miami Beach
#22 Miami, South Beach
#23 Orlando, Disney World Vicinity
#24 Boston, Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall/Financial District
#25 Orange County, Disneyland Area
#26 Key West
#27 London, Mayfair/Soho
#28 Ottawa, Ottawa/Hull
#29 New York City, Central Park South
#30 Niagara Falls, St. Catharines
#31 Montreal
#32 San Francisco, Union Square East
#33 San Diego, Point Loma/Shelter Island/Old Town
#34 New York City, Midtown West
#35 Niagara Falls, Buffalo/Amherst
#36 Toronto, Downtown
#37 Charleston, Downtown
#38 Rome, Central Area
#39 Chicago, Lincoln Park
#40 Napa, Napa/Sonoma
#41 New York City, Madison Square Garden/Convention Area
#42 Barcelona, La Rambla/La Barceloneta
#43 Paris, Eiffel Tower/Port De Versailles/Montparnasse
#44 Charleston, Mount Pleasant/Isle of Palms
#45 Providence, Downtown
#46 Monterey, Monterey/Pacific Grove
#47 Boston, Fenway Park Area
#48 Hilton Head Island
#49 Savannah, Historic District
#50 New Orleans, French Quarter
Here are some of Priceline.com’s best deals for Memorial Day travelers.
Name Your Own Price® Hotel Rooms
http://www.priceline.com/hotels/
Priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price® hotel service is different from fixed-price hotel reservation services. With priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price® service, customers choose the city, zone, star level, dates and per-night price they want to pay for their rooms. Customers receive their specific hotel information after the transaction is completed. The examples below are samples of successful Name Your Own Price® offers made recently by priceline.com customers and do not include taxes and fees. Prices are based on double occupancy. Prices and availability are not guaranteed and are subject to change at any time.
- 3 stars, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, $70 a night.
- 3 stars, Las Vegas, $99 a night.
- 3.5 stars, New York, $179 a night.
- 4 stars, Chicago, $109 a night.
- 3 stars, Orlando, $69 a night.
- 4 stars, San Diego, $99 a night.
Priceline Airline Tickets
http://www.priceline.com/flights/
Here are some examples of published-price, round-trip airline tickets that were available as of May 15, 2009. Prices include all taxes and fees. Prices are not guaranteed and are subject to change at any time.
- Washington, DC to Orlando, 5/22-26, $239
- New York City to Las Vegas, 5/23-27, $309
- Atlanta to New York, 5/22-26, $360
- New York City to London, 5/22-26, $461
- Los Angeles to Honolulu, 5/21-27, $586
Priceline Vacation Packages
http://www.priceline.com/vacationpackages/
Priceline Vacation Packages are priced per-person, double occupancy, and include hotel, round-trip airfare, taxes and fees. Sample packages were available on May 15, 2009. Prices and availability are not guaranteed and are subject to change at any time.
- Las Vegas, $399 per person (5/23-25). Includes round trip airfare from San Francisco and 2 nights accommodations at the 4 star Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino.
- New York, $272 per person (5/23-25). Includes round trip airfare from Baltimore-Washington and 2 nights accommodations at the 4 star Le Parker Meridian Hotel.
- Orlando, $271 per person (5/23-25). Includes round trip airfare from Atlanta and 2 nights accommodations at the 3 star Courtyard Marriott Orlando Hotel.
- San Diego, $270 per person (5/23-25). Includes round trip airfare from Phoenix and 2 nights accommodations at the 3 star Staybridge Suites Sorrento Mesa Hotel.
- San Francisco, $200 per person (5/23-25). Includes roundtrip Airfare from Los Angeles and 2 nights accommodations at the 3 star Handlery Union Square Hotel.
- London, $650 per person (5/30-6/6). Includes roundtrip airfare from New York and 6 nights accommodations at the 3 star Copthorne Effingham Park Hotel.
Name Your Own Price® Rental Cars
http://www.priceline.com/rentalcars/
Priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price® rental cars service is different from fixed-price rental car services. With priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price® service, customers choose the pickup and dropoff locations, dates, car type and per-day price they want to pay. Customers receive their specific rental car company information after the transaction is completed. The examples below are samples of successful Name Your Own Price® offers made recently by priceline.com customers and do not include taxes and fees. Prices and availability are not guaranteed and are subject to change at any time.
- Las Vegas, full-size, $16 a day
- Orlando, mid-size, $14 a day
- Chicago, compact, $14 a day
- Phoenix, compact, $13 a day
- San Diego, compact, $14 a day
- San Francisco, economy, $13 a day
Priceline’s Memorial Day lists for previous years are all available on www.priceline.com in the press releases area of the investor relations section.
About Priceline.com® Incorporated
Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) www.priceline.com provides online travel services in 28 languages in over 78 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Included in the priceline.com family of companies is Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service, priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Agoda.com, an Asian online hotel reservation service. Priceline.com believes that Booking.com is Europe’s largest and fastest growing hotel reservation service, with a network of affiliated Web sites. Booking.com operates in over 70 countries in 22 languages and offers its customers access to over 66,000 participating hotels worldwide.
In the U.S., priceline.com gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises than any other Internet travel service. In addition to getting great published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com’s TripFilter advanced search technology, customize their search activity through priceline.com’s Inside Track features, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.
Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also has a personal finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through an independent licensee. Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including priceline mortgage and certain international licensees.
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