Dennis Schaal, Skift
Military family members notice when businesses are military-friendly. This deal with the Pentagon is certainly a win for the Priceline brand, if not a gargantuan boost for its business. Plus, it seems as though the Pentagon will be responsible for a lot of the marketing.
5 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Southwest has perennially been a thorn in the side of online travel companies that lusted after getting access to its flights and fares. But no one can credibly argue that Southwest's insistence on direct distribution hasn't worked for the airline. Its competitors and peers inside and outside of the airline industry can only be jealous.
5 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
The acquisitions of Active Hotels and Bookings B.V., which led to the creation of Booking.com, transformed parent company Priceline.com, and online travel history. Take a look at Priceline's fourth quarter of 2005 financial results, and you'll be able to see the journey in process.
11 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
The stars were seemingly aligned when Booking.com made its move. The big U.S. players were too comfortable with their huge margins from the merchant model; Booking.com focused on independent hotels; and search engine marketing was on the rise. Still, it was the entrepreneurs and dealmakers who made it all happen.
11 months ago
Tom Lowry, Skift
This is the oral history of Priceline's two deals, the acquisitions of Active Hotels and Bookings B.V., that created Booking.com, and continue to shape the course of online travel and the competitive landscape today. The twin transactions were among the greatest Internet deals of all time, and their lessons are relevant to startups and dealmakers in any industry.
12 months ago
Seth Borko, Skift Research
Online travel agencies remain essential to the travel industry as consolidators of, and clearinghouses for, advertising dollars throughout the space. We do not see OTAs being removed from this position easily, but challenges are growing by the day.
1 year ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer is ordinarily far from being the most-compensated CEO in online travel. This year represented an unusual payout for him. But Skift's annual survey reveals that most online travel CEOs are often more handsomely compensated than what the top bosses in other industries receive, on average.
1 year ago
Grant Martin, Skift
Priceline showed up with a new brand and better partner access last week, which should please those who use the Points International network.
1 year ago
Grant Martin, Skift
New functionality added by Points International grants users of that network access to the Priceline library of hotels. That's great for frequent flyers — especially those with miles to burn.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Who remembers Star Trek anyway? It's likely that just as many people or more know actor William Shatner through his Priceline advertising gig. Are big-name celebrities better in commercials than owls, gnomes, and belt-less soap opera stars? We're not sure of his return on investment, but at this point he can almost name his own price.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
If you follow the money, you'll see that Booking.com, for good reason, is the parent company's favored brand even in the United States. Priceline, though, does have brand recognition and will try to make the most of it given the hand that it has been dealt.
1 year ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Evolve or be crushed. That's CEO Glenn Fogel's philosophy about business in general and Booking Holdings in particular. But the move toward becoming more of a full-service online travel agency comes with the risk of losing focus on accommodations. No one ever said all this online travel agency stuff is easy.
1 year ago