Priceline scraps ‘Name Your Own Price’ for flights

(Source: Internet)

Priceline.com has eliminated its “Name Your Own Price” product for flights, but the same feature for hotels and car rentals is still active, a spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

“There’s been a dramatic evolution in both technology and consumer behavior when it comes to booking travel,” Priceline.com’s Flavie Lemarchand-Wood said.

Lemarchand-Wood pointed to a new strategy that Priceline.com announced earlier this year, which “will help customers connect with deals faster and more easily than before.”

In a release earlier this year, Priceline.com said it was focused on a new product strategy “focused on personalization and speed” with an easy-to-use experience that has cross-platform capabilities (at the time, Priceline.com cited the high number of consumers using a mobile platform to book travel).

On Friday, Lemarchand-Wood said Priceline.com users would still be able to access Express Deals for flights in the absence of Name Your Own Price for flights. That will give customers “deep discounts without bidding to make the booking experience easier to use, mobile-friendly, with no extra steps.”

“Express Deals for flights, available across all platforms, provides savings up to 50% off published rates and reveals the exact itinerary and airline carrier immediately after purchase,” she said.

Priceline has had the “Name Your Own Price” model since Jay Walker launched the website in 1997.