Skift Take

The PayPal tweak is in Priceline's interests because just about anything that makes booking a hotel easier should bolster business. It is possible that Priceline can reduce its credit card costs when travelers use PayPal, as well.

Priceline updated its Priceline Hotels, Flights and Cars iPhone app, optimizing it for iOS 7.  While most of the changes are design-oriented, one noteworthy tweak is that Priceline makes it easier than previously to pay with PayPal.

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When you are ready to book a room at Courtyard by Marriott Boston-Cambridge, for example, and tap on “credit card,” a bright Pay with PayPal button may appear as an alternative, positioned above the Credit Card payment option.

However, where the PayPal option appears in the app varies because Priceline is still conducting A/B testing on it, says spokesperson Leslie Cafferty.

“Paypal is fully integrated into the iOS 7 app,” Cafferty says. “It’s an option for Name Your Own Price, Express Deals and most retail hotels.”

For people who prefer the security and convenience of PayPal, they now have an easy way to use the service through Priceline.

Priceline also provides the option to tap on a phone icon, and to book by phone.

Other changes in Version 11.0 include 2D imaging on hotel details pages, maps appearing before anything for Name Your Own Price and Express Deals for selection purposes, and faster hotel checkout screens, among others.

For more about the “look and feel,” and functional tweaks in Priceline’s updated iOS 7 app, see the gallery above.

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Tags: priceline

Photo credit: Priceline optimized its iPhone app for iOS 7, emphasizing Express Deals. Name Your Own Price bidding is still very much part of the mix, but playing a secondary role. Priceline

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