Why Did Priceline Discontinue Its ‘Name Your Own Price’ Option For Flight Bookings?

PCLN: Priceline Group logo
PCLN
Priceline Group

On September 1st, Priceline.com discontinued its Name Your Own Price model for flight bookings. Under the aforementioned model, travelers could submit their desired price for a flight and only after a carrier accepted the bid, would the traveler know the name of the airline and the flight schedule.

The Name Your Own Price model allowed Priceline’s customers in the U.S. to bid for services at discounted prices. However, the lagging demand for this service had been dampening Priceline’s domestic business over the last few years. One of the primary reasons for waning demand for the opaque model is that shoppers aren’t aware of the quality of the travel product purchased, until they have paid for it. Priceline.com is currently undergoing a turnaround plan, the marketing campaign for which had started earlier in 2016. The removal of the service might be a part of the turnaround plan. However, Priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price for hotels and car rentals, offering discounts up to 60% and 40% will still be available for now.

According to one of Priceline’s spokespersons, the Express Deals for flights will continue providing deep discounts of up to 50% to Priceline’s customers. Along with the discounts, Express Deals also reveals the name of the carrier and the flight itinerary immediately upon purchase.

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Notes:

1) The purpose of these analyses is to help readers focus on a few important things. We hope such lean communication sparks thinking, and encourages readers to comment and ask questions on the comment section, or email content@trefis.com
2) Figures mentioned are approximate values to help our readers remember the key concepts more intuitively. For precise figures, please refer to our complete analysis for Priceline

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