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Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: March 20th, 2025

Founded in 1997, Priceline is a travel site that helps consumers find and book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and vacation packages. The company has several other brands and subsidiaries under its umbrella in order to help customers receive the best deals on travel accommodations.

Keep reading for details about Priceline, plus read Priceline reviews from real customers.

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The Good

  • Family of Brands
  • Travel Accommodations
  • Navigation
  • Hotel Guidebook

Family of Brands

For over 20 years, Priceline has cultivated and evolved its travel booking service to keep travelers coming back as often as possible. The company's family of brands includes Booking.com, Kayak, Agoda.com, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable, just to name a few. As part of The Priceline Group, Priceline travelers can expect to see results comprised of information from thousands of booking sites.

Travel Accommodations

Priceline seeks to give its customers as much freedom as possible by allowing them to name their preferred price and bid for their trip accommodations. Travelers can book the following through Priceline's platform:

  • Hotels
  • Flights
  • Rental cars
  • Vacation packages
  • Cruises

Navigation

Priceline has made it so that its platform is easy to navigate, offers some of the best deals in the industry, and gives travelers the "low down" on each vacation and travel package that is offered on its website. Consumers can search for vacation options by destination or star rating in order to quickly find what they are looking for.

Hotel Guidebook

One of the best services offered by Priceline is its hotel guidebook, which helps travelers understand the features and services that they will receive from each hotel that they are considering.

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The Bad

  • Pricing Discrepancies
  • Limited Foreign Listings
  • Travel Insurance Concerns

Pricing Discrepancies

There are some discrepancies in terms of pricing that Priceline customers should be aware of. For instance, resort fees are not included in bidding, which means that even if a customer gets a hotel deal on Priceline, they could be subject to additional resort fees of $25 or more. This obscure part of its terms of services could greatly inflate travel prices for customers who purchase a stay at a hotel or resort.

Limited Foreign Listings

For American consumers looking to travel internationally, Priceline is not the optimum first choice due to its limited offerings for out-of-country accommodations. Priceline's foreign vacation deals are limited to the following destinations:

  • Puerto Rico
  • The Caribbean
  • The Bahamas
  • Cancun

Travel Insurance Concerns

While Priceline does offer travel protection, there are some concerns about this feature. For example, the company's travel protection coverage is not available outside of the United States. Although Priceline does a nice job of meeting the needs and interests of those traveling within the U.S., the needs and interests of individuals traveling outside of the country are not covered. Travelers should also be aware that Priceline's travel protection does not cover voluntary trip changes or cancellations.

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The Bottom Line

Priceline offers booking for several travel accommodations, including flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and vacation bundles. The company also provides effective navigation and a hotel guidebook to help customers quickly find exactly what they are looking for.

However, Priceline's foreign listings are limited and its travel insurance is not available outside of the United States. Additionally, consumers should be aware that they may be subject to additional resort fees not included in their initial bid.

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Star Rating

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1.4

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500 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

6%

4 grade

4%

3 grade

2%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

86%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Mary Ann Linsell Cranford, NJ

I booked a hotel on Priceline yesterday October 23rd for a King Size Bed at Holiday Inn Newark Airport. Not sure whose fault or responsiblity but I got a special price and when I got to the hotel last night IT WAS BEING COMPLETELY RENOVATED!! They gave out a paper with an upgraded hotel called the Crowne Point near Neark Airport. Wasn't upgraded, I had already paid on Priceline. I was charged extra costs. Didn't get the bed I wanted. The place was horrendous, dirty. Staff rude. Furniture torn. I asked front desk if it was sanitized he was nasty and said we wouldn't be open. No dining little cafe, food terrible. Priceline wouldn't help, Crowne Point wouldn't they said there is a contract with Holiday Inn. Well why would you contract with them when they are under renovation. Not safe area. Worst experience ever

4 years ago

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Shane Madaras Kent, WA

I tried to postpone my car rental due to the covid shut down and was told "no changes cancellation or refunds". My trip was booked back in January for May 16th and New York is shut down until the 15th. The Canadian border closure was just extended which means my trip is put on hold. I tried to just get a credit, not a refund and was shot down twice stating some fine print in the agreement I signed when I paid said No refunds. I find it very shady that a credit at a minimum is not allowed during this Crisis/ lockdown when almost every business is offering at least a credit for future use. I couldn't even access the additional insurance page to add protection to try and cover the purchase. This is not the first time Priceline has giving me this "READ THE FINE PRINT” B.S cop out. But it will be the last.

4 years ago

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Jeffrey Ford Sylvania, OH

The car rental Priceline put us through was Dollar rent a car. I got an automated text from some other affiliated car rental company to call when I arrived at the airport. I called and a person with a very heavy accent who was not local said "sorry, we rented out all car including the one you reserved. Very sorry, nothing we can do" Priceline should not work with such crappy companies. I gave two stars because we also booked a hotel and that at least worked.

1 year ago

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Aarin Walker Greenwood, IN

Offers good price comparisons, but beware of entering payment info! I entered my payment info and then entered a discount code. Priceline submitted my payment instead of checking if the code worked. I entered codes before entering my payment info and it would verify if the code worked or not, so I know it wasn't user error. DO NOT ENTER PAYMENT INFO until you are ready to book

4 years ago

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Tanya Rodie Macon, MO

Customer service sucks... Been trying to get my deposits back now for 4 days when the hotel person said it would be returned the next day... It's put a damper on my bills being paid. Maybe if lifeline would actually care about the customer and not leave them on read with messages they wouldn't get bad reviews. And maybe if the hotel ppl wouldn't lie to customers... I'm fed up. And believe I should be compensated for the lies and time lost and wasted on trying to get my money back.

4 years ago

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Susan Brittain New Freedom, PA

I booked a hotel through Priceline and it was an absolutely horrible delapitated room. It was run down, dirty and nothing like their website described it as. I think Priceline should eliminate hotels when they get a certain amount of negative feedback about one specific hotel.

5 years ago

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Bill England Spring, TX

We booked a reservation for the Driskill in Austin for SXSW which was cancelled due to the over reaction to the Covad virus. I was hoping Priceline would be easier to work with but they will not allow us to cancel the room.

5 years ago

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Review Source

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Lacey Horne Salt Lake City, UT

Have been very disappointed with Priceline their star ratings are NOT accurate especially when comparing the same hotel locations with other sites. We ended up staying in a really gross hotel because of this and they were. It willing to help us out AT ALL. Buyer beware!!

5 years ago

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teri Indianapolis, IN

no receipt ' did not get the room I requested ' and when I called they lied and said I did not ask for a certain room I asked for beach front ocean front

2 years ago

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Sami Charlottesville, VA

Dishonest service and price gouging when we needed to change or cancel flight. Walked away from what we paid and bought a new ticket from another company.

3 years ago

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Moirraine Campbell

Not fun to do - and Priceline needs to revisit and revise hotel STARS 3 is not 2.5 -- 3 is NOT 3.5 or 4

6 years ago

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Kimberly Bronson Idaho Falls, ID

Just doesn’t compare with other travel companies.

7 years ago