Priceline.com’s Hotel Negotiator app for the iPhone & iPod Touch

Just what you’ve always wanted — William Shatner in your pocket. Priceline launched an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch last week and it has already made it to the No. 3 spot for travel apps on the iTunes store. Priceline’s “Hotel Negotiator” is a handy, free app that starts off with a Negotiator karate chop followed by a menu page,  where you can shake your iPhone or iPod Touch to find recent “Name Your Own Price” hotel deals that were booked in your area and then book a deal yourself. You can also select a city from its top 50 destinations. Click “Browse” at the bottom of the screen to get hotel recommendations, see reviews, prices and book a hotel without using the “Name Your Own Price” feature.

When I tried the app under the “Name Your Own Price” feature (versus Browse), the Hotel Negotiator showed me a deal for $100 at a three-and-a-half star hotel in San Diego’s North County Coastal area. I liked that they map out exactly where the hotel would be located since part of the compromise with using Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price” deal is that you don’t find out which hotel you’ll be staying at until they’ve booked it on your credit card.

It’s particularly helpful that they tell you how much of a percentage savings you’re getting on normal rates. I also found it helpful that you can see a list of nearby deal scores because if you’re familiar with that area, you can consider driving a little bit farther to get a better deal. For example, a three-star hotel for $85 was found in North County Coastal between Oceanside and Encinitas with a savings of 39%. But I found that someone scored a $60 price for a three-and-a-half star hotel in the Del Mar - Solana Beach - Rancho Santa Fe  area for a savings of 60%. That’s only a 10-30 minute driving difference.

If you click on “More Tools” from the menu bar, you’ll find links to other travel resources where you can search for flights, rental cars, and access “My Deals” and “My Trips” if you already have a Priceline account and want to access your stats.

I think it’s a handy app for travelers who already use Priceline, but if you’re new to Priceline, I’d check out the main website first for more information on how “Name Your Own Price” works.

Here’s a video demo and you can download the Hotel Negotiator app here.

Caveat: I did not test the app all the way through the hotel booking procedure.

– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger

[Images: iPhone screen shots of the Hotel Negotiator app; courtesy of Priceline]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 4:54 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Deals, Hotels, News, Tips & Advice, Travel Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.