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Priceline.com Releases Results Of New Year's Eve Travel Survey; Las Vegas is the Top Party Spot in the U.S., While U.K. Residents Prefer London to Ring in the New Year
27 December 2005

priceline.com

NORWALK, Conn.| According to a new priceline.com(R) (Nasdaq: PCLN) hotel survey, Las Vegas is the most-preferred New Year's Eve party spot for Americans, while London is #1 among Britons ringing in the New Year.

The survey, which measures consumer travel intentions, is based on a total of more than 21,000 actual hotel reservation requests made by American and U.K. priceline.com customers for the New Year's Eve period.

Today's hotel survey uncovered some shifts in Americans' party plans. California and Florida showed big gains in attracting New Year's travelers. Last year, California cities took none of the top 20 spots on priceline.com's most popular destinations list. This year, California has 5 of the top 20 spots. Similarly, Florida cities took 6 spots in the top 20 this year, compared to 3 last year.

Major parade and celebration sites also did well. #3 on the list was New York City's Midtown West neighborhood, home to Times Square. Philadelphia, with its annual Mummer's Parade, ranked #38. The Los Angeles area, home to the Rose Bowl Parade, took numerous spots on the list.

Many Americans were headed overseas to celebrate New Year's Eve. International destinations have made a slow, steady recovery since 9/11. This year, destinations making the list included London, Paris, Sydney and Bangkok.

Britons, by contrast, were fairly consistent in their New Year's Eve plans compared to last year. For the 2nd straight year, London was the favorite destination on the Top 50 List, followed closely by Edinburgh. Outside of the U.K., France took four additional places on this year's list and the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Italy (Rome) appeared on the list for the first time.

Here are the complete results for each survey:

Priceline.com's Top Destinations for New Year's Eve 2005 | (U.S. Residents)

Priceline.co.uk's Top Destinations for New Year's Eve 2005 | (U.K. Residents)

Priceline.com said it still has hotel rooms, airline tickets, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises available for New Year's. Priceline.com customers now have two options for their travel purchases. They can choose from thousands of flights, hotels and rental cars, all with their own displayed special prices. Or, for deeper savings, they can use priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) services, where customers pick the price and priceline.com selects the itinerary.

Here are some examples of successful Name Your Own Price offers made by priceline.com hotel customers for the New Year's Eve period.* For additional savings examples, visit www.priceline.com.

Priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) reservation service is different from fixed-price travel sites. With priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) reservation service, the exact hotel is show only after purchase. See website for other details. Name Your Own Price(R) hotel examples shown are for offers booked between November 5, 2005 and December 5, 2005 for check-in between December 29, 2005 and January 3, 2006 and include all applicable taxes and service fees. There is no guarantee that hotels or prices will be available. Actual prices and availability are always subject to change.

Priceline.com | www.priceline.com is a travel service that offers leisure airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. Priceline.com recently expanded its services, so customers now have a choice: they can pick from a broad selection of published flights, hotels, rental cars and packages at published prices or, for deeper savings, they can use priceline.com's Name Your Own Price(R) service for their travel needs. Priceline.com also has a personal finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through an independent licensee. Priceline.com operates one of Europe's fastest growing hotel reservation services through Activehotels.com, Activereservations.com, Bookings.net and priceline.co.uk. The company also operates the following travel web sites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including priceline mortgage and certain international licensees.

CONTACT
Brian Ek
Phone: 203/299-8167
Email: brian.ek@priceline.com

ORGANIZATION
Hospitality NetThe Priceline Group
www.priceline.com
800 Connecticut Ave.
USA - Norwalk, CT 06854-1631
Phone: (203) 299-8142
Fax: (203) 299-8903




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