Priceline Debuts New AI-Powered Trip Intelligence Features To Save Consumers Time and Money

With a major upgrade to Priceline's proprietary GenAI assistant Penny and 30+ new features, Priceline improves the travel experience with the industry's most comprehensive set of AI tools

NORWALK, Conn., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Priceline, the pioneering travel innovator, today unveiled its Winter 2024 Product Release featuring a new generative AI-powered slate of features, including major upgrades to Penny, its AI-powered travel assistant. The latest additions to Priceline's Trip Intelligence suite make it the travel industry's most comprehensive array of AI tools - including more than 30 new features to dramatically streamline the travel planning and booking process.

At a time when overwhelming choice and options mean consumers spend an average of two full work days - 16 hours - on trip research and booking,(1) Priceline's smarter, faster, and more proactive tools can significantly reduce the time a customer spends on travel planning. The upgraded Trip Intelligence suite builds upon six months of real-world conditions and proprietary marketplace intelligence accumulated from Priceline's millions of customers since the technology debuted in Priceline's hotel category in June. The response has been overwhelmingly positive; the company estimates that travelers who used Penny saved an average of nearly ten minutes per trip compared to those who called customer support. Priceline is now rolling out Penny across all categories: hotel, flights, car rental and vacation packages.

The enhanced Priceline Trip Intelligence suite debuts at a time of changing consumer demands and behavior. More customers seek ways to reduce the time and complexity in researching and booking trips, and they're increasingly looking to AI to help them solve these challenges. Priceline's study found that more than half of travelers say they'd use AI tools to cut down on time, eliminate hours of onerous research and secure the best deals. Of those familiar with generative AI, the vast majority (73%) said they're receptive to using generative AI and believe it will streamline travel planning and booking. And further, 65% said it would make traveling easier and more enjoyable.((1))

For its Winter Release, Priceline's dedicated team of AI experts, prompt engineers, product developers and data scientists built integrated technology atop Google Cloud's Vertex AI and OpenAI's GPT-4 Turbo to significantly expand Penny's capabilities and trip-planning impact sitewide. Penny can now save customers precious time by planning and modifying their trips - whether they need assistance with destination recommendations, finding the best deal or accessing always-on, personalized customer service. Priceline is also introducing personalized GenAI itineraries within its iOS App. No need to do lengthy research making plans - the upgraded App will now generate a suggested itinerary for you down to dining and activity options for your stay. Other time-saving features include a new wallet for organizing deals and coupons, ways to enable customers to skip check-in lines, and more.

"After six months of expert, on-the-job training, Penny is ready to deliver an even more cohesive and personalized booking experience that saves people time and hassle," said Brett Keller, CEO, Priceline. "This is a continuation of Priceline's tradition of revolutionizing travel with pioneering technology. We began fully integrating generative AI early last year, and our tools and features will only get better as customers and partners engage with them more and more."

Priceline customers can expect to find over 30 new features and upgrades starting today, including:

    --  Penny: Increasing its remit beyond the hotel category to flights, car
        rentals and vacation packages, Penny, the GenAI-powered travel
        assistant, is now ready to greet travelers on the Priceline home page,
        taking them from inspiration through planning, booking and even
        modifying their dream trip after they've booked.
        --  Discover with Penny: Discover new destinations directly from the
            Priceline home page, with Penny intelligently suggesting relevant
            properties and travel packages reflecting specific needs and
            personal travel styles as customers search for the right match. For
            example, "suggest sunny and family-friendly destinations within a
            three hour flight of NYC."
        --  Troubleshoot with Penny: Quickly modify itineraries, connect with
            live help agents, check the status of a refund, and access important
            travel information - available all in one place by chatting with
            Penny.
    --  GenAI Itineraries: Leveraging GPT-4 Turbo, Priceline iOS app users can
        automatically craft in-depth itineraries for their entire trip,
        including can't-miss activities, restaurants and nearby attractions.
    --  Priceline Wallet: A one-stop portfolio feature enabling Priceline
        customers to save coupons, monitor expiration dates, and track airline
        credits in a single location.
    --  Price Watch: To ensure customers never miss a deal, they can now track
        desired flight itineraries (including flexible options and multiple
        airports for fare comparison) in the Priceline App, and receive prompt
        notifications when prices change.
    --  Cabin Comparisons in Search: Results for all domestic flight searches
        are enhanced with cabin and seat comparisons, enabling customers to
        quickly evaluate cabin attributes, pricing, upgrade options, and other
        enhancements.
    --  Skip the Counter and Online Rental Car Check-In: Priceline customers can
        skip the rental car counter or significantly reduce counter wait times
        by checking-in online ahead of time with select partners.
    --  Multi-Passenger Cancellation and Rebooking: Bypass speaking with an
        agent and rebook tickets for select airlines for the whole family with
        airline credit, directly with Priceline. (Coming Soon)
    --  Priceline App Experience: Major design improvements implemented across
        all platforms, including overhauls for iPad and Android. The inclusion
        of Trip Timeline also affords users an at-a-glance view of all upcoming
        travel dates in one place. Beginning in March iPhone users will receive
        Live Activity updates on their lock screen containing useful real-time
        information about their flights. Additionally, a new iOS integration
        allows users to begin searching for hotel deals and car rentals from the
        convenience of Spotlight Search.
    --  Offers in the PayPal App: Priceline has joined forces with PayPal for
        the upcoming launch of their new offers platform. Beginning later this
        year, Priceline expects to provide personalized cash-back offers to
        consumers in the PayPal app for use when purchasing their travel on
        Priceline and checking out with PayPal - helping them get to their happy
        place for a happy price.

Priceline continues to swiftly travel into new territories of customer satisfaction, propelled by their data-driven, technology-powered philosophy of innovation. With Penny's new feature set and category defining Trip Intelligence suite, Priceline promises to get their customers to their happy place at a happy price even faster - and with more confidence - than ever before.

"Booking with confidence and saving time are absolutely key for our customers," said Kevin Heery, Chief Product Officer. "Our expanded Trip Intelligence suite will enable Priceline to further anticipate travelers' needs, helping them book their trip with ease and peace of mind seamlessly and faster than ever before."

To celebrate the launch of the new Trip Intelligence features, Priceline is offering a 10% discount on Express Deals(?), exclusively through Penny. Simply ask Penny, "can you get me a deal?" to reveal the code and book by February 27th to take advantage of this special offer.

The new features are now live across Priceline. Customers can experience the power of Penny and the broader GenAI-enhanced Trip Intelligence suite by visiting priceline.com/2024winterrelease. For additional press materials and research highlights, visit press.priceline.com.

About Priceline
Priceline, part of Booking Holdings Inc. [NASDAQ: BKNG], has been a leader in online travel for twenty-five years. Priceline's proprietary deals technology pairs negotiation with innovation to analyze billions of data points to generate deep discounts for customers they can't find anywhere else. Travelers have access to millions of hotels, flights, alternative accommodations, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and experiences from trusted brands in over 116 countries around the world, 24/7 customer service and incremental savings when becoming a Priceline VIP. By making affordable travel within reach for all, Priceline helps millions of customers each year be there for the moments that matter to them. Because where your happy place meets your happy price, that place is Priceline.

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     (1)Based on a survey conducted online with The Harris Poll on behalf of Priceline from January 24 - 26, 2024 amongst a nationally
      representative sample of 3,024 U.S. adults ages 18 and older

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SOURCE Priceline