14 DAY TRIAL // Priceline.com has released Hotel Negotiator, an application for iPhone and iPod touch featuring William Shatner (Star Trek’s Captain Kirk). The application allows travelers to use their devices and quickly book last-minute hotel rooms using priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price hotel service. According to Priceline, the method also enables users to save up to 50% over published hotel rates.
“Our Hotel Negotiator App is designed for travelers who are on the road or at an airport and decide at the last minute that they need a room for the night,” priceline.com Chief Marketing Officer Brett Keller said. “The app also works for travelers who prefer to make their hotel arrangements after they’ve arrived in a city and have become familiar with the geography. Hotel Negotiator lets them use their iPhone or iPod touch to quickly negotiate the price and book a room from priceline.com’s comprehensive assortment of quality hotel rooms up until 11:00 p.m. ET on the night they need the room.” According to priceline.com, Hotel Negotiator includes the following key features:
The Priceline Negotiator - Activate the Hotel Negotiator App and The Priceline Negotiator (William Shatner) gets the whole phone vibrating as he punches his way through the screen.
Winning Bids recommendations - Choose a city and the Hotel Negotiator App displays multiple recent winning bids made by other priceline.com customers for hotels in different parts of the city at different star levels.
Shake-Down geo-locator-triggered hotel search - Shaking the device establishes the traveler’s location using location-based features and then performs a Winning Bids search for hotels in the surrounding areas.
One-Page checkout - A specially designed one-page checkout screen speeds users through the bidding process.
Instant Bid Results - Users will know instantly whether their bid is accepted. If it is, they’ll receive all the details on their hotel and its location.
Native iPhone navigation - Users will instantly recognize the slides and wheels that help them navigate through the Hotel Negotiator shopping and booking experience.
For those who are not in the mood to negotiate, the Hotel Negotiator app also contains an option for browsing priceline.com’s range of published-price hotels for a particular city or town. By choosing a city or by shaking the device, browsing is initiated, at which point a selection of hotels within that specific area is brought up.