Last Updated: March 29, 2023
Is Priceline Legit? (Read This Before Booking)
When we book any kind of vacation, we are always looking to get the best deal on everything we can. Whether it is rental cars, hotel bookings, flights, and more, we want to save money.
Priceline is a website that offers cheap desks on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and vacation packages, and it is not a bad place to find a deal for your upcoming trip.
But, is Priceline legit and how does it work? I will answer these questions in detail for you so that you can use Priceline safely and find the best deals possible.
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What Is Priceline & How Does It Work?
Priceline acts as a middleman between you and the service you are booking, whether it is for flights, hotels, rental cars, and more.
When you search the Priceline website for your chosen service, you get a massive amount of search results. This allows you to see all your options in one place and choose the right one for, like a hotel room.
You can then book your hotel through Priceline, it then confirms your booking with the hotel and confirms it with you. The site makes money on its booking fees and by taking a commission on your booking from the travel provider.
The great thing about using Priceline is that you get all your options in one search and can select from the best deal. The downside is that your booking is with Priceline, not the provider and this can mean missed bookings or trouble when you have to change dates or cancel.
Is Priceline Legit?
Yes, Priceline is a reputable company and is one of the oldest booking websites. It has been around since 1998 when it started out booking empty seats on flights and has grown to add hotels, packages, rental cars, cruises, and even experiences.
Millions of people use the Priceline website every month and is part of Booking Holdings, which also owns booking.com and Agoda, it is part of a true travel behemoth.
Is Priceline Legit For Hotels?
Priceline is legit for hotels. Hotel rooms booked through Priceline are real and your booking will be confirmed with the hotel and the confirmation sent back to you.
It is also always worth reconfirming directly with the hotel as Priceline does book millions of rooms and some can get missed.
Is Priceline Legit for Car Rentals?
Yes, Priceline is also legit for car rental services. You can book a car with trusted car rental providers all over the world.
Is Priceline Legit for Flights?
Priceline is also a legit website to book flights through. The only annoying thing is that it is not updated in real-time while you are booking flights and therefore when you go to book a flight, it can sometimes suddenly become unavailable.
Is Priceline Safe & Reliable?
Yes, Priceline is safe and reliable to book your travels through. Their systems are encrypted to keep your personal data safe, their partners on the ground are trusted, and generally, you get exactly what you are expecting when you book through Priceline.
Their “Express Deals” & “Pricebreakers” service is when the reliability side of things falls down. These services give you great deals but you do not know exactly what hotel, for example, you will end up staying at until you have paid.
Why Is Priceline So Cheap for Flights & Hotels?
There are numerous reasons why Priceline is so cheap for flights and hotels. The first is their use of a merchant model which involves buying seats on flights and rooms at hotels in bulk for massive discounts.
Priceline then takes these bookings and adds a markup when selling them to you and me. They can therefore track the pricing on other sites and always offer the same or a better deal making their hotels and flights the cheapest.
This is also how Priceline is able to offer its “Best Price Guarantee.” If you are a VIP rewards member you are entitled to the Best Price Guarantee policy which says you will receive a refund for the difference.
Since Priceline is constantly changing its prices to be the cheapest, this rarely happens.
Tips for Getting a Good Deal on Priceline
There are some great ways to use Priceline in order to get the best deal possible and this involves using some of their special deal options as well as other tricks of the trade.
Delete Your Browser History
Websites like Priceline use cookies and caches to track user behavior on their sites. This means they will know the previous price you saw and when you search again, will usually up the price to convince you to book.
If you delete all your browsing history, you take this power away from Priceline and can usually find the price you saw the first time around.
Use Express Deals
Priceline’s Express Deals can get you up to 60% off your hotel booking but there is a catch. When booking your express deal, all you will know about the hotel is its location, amenities, number of stars, and rating, you will not know the exact hotel you are getting.
This is a great way of saving some money if you are flexible and don’t mind too much about the exact hotel you are getting.
Use Pricebreakers
Priceline Pricebreakers is another great way to save on hotels. It will give you the choice of 3 hotels for a very discounted rate and once your booking is complete, you will be informed which one of the three you are staying at.
The deals are not quite as good as Express Deals but at least you will have been able to check out all 3 hotels properly before booking.
Become A Priceline VIP Member
You can save a ton on travel by joining the Priceline VIP loyalty program. This will give you access to a huge amount of deals that are only available to members, and it is free to join.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are the benefits of Priceline?
There are quite a few benefits to booking with Priceline, the first of which is the travel search. It makes life very easy when you can see all your flight or hotel options in one place so you can compare and book the right one for you.
Priceline’s deals are also excellent and are usually the cheapest and if they are not, they have their best price guarantee policy to back it up.
When booking flights through Priceline, you also get a 24-hour window to cancel them for a full refund. They are also offering flexibility on cancellations for both rental cars and hotels for more bookings to make travel a bit easier.
Priceline does not have hidden fees, they only add taxes and a service fee to your booking, none of which is hidden as far as I can see.
Does Priceline get cheaper the closer to the date?
Generally speaking, Priceline gets cheaper closer to the date and then much more expensive in the few days before the date.
About the Author Roger Timbrook
Roger is a little obsessed with travel. He has been to over 40 countries, broken 3 suitcases and owned over 10 backpacks in 12 months. What he doesn't know about travel, ain't worth knowing!
