How to Save on Travel & Entertainment at Priceline in January 2026

Priceline as a Premier Destination for Travel Deals

Priceline began its journey as a revolutionary force in the travel industry, originally famous for its "Name Your Own Price" model that allowed users to bid on travel services. Over the years, the brand has evolved from that singular bidding concept into a comprehensive, full-service travel marketplace that prioritizes speed, ease, and deep discounts. Today, Priceline is best known for its "Express Deals" and "Pricebreakers" formats, which have modernized the opaque deal model to offer substantial savings with significantly less friction than the original bidding system. The platform has expanded far beyond just hotel bookings to become a central hub for flights, rental cars, cruises, and local experiences. To support modern travelers, Priceline heavily promotes its mobile app, which features exclusive "Tonight Only Deals" for last-minute savings and includes Penny, an AI travel assistant designed to help users navigate options and secure the best possible rates.

The core of Priceline’s value proposition lies in its ability to offer premium travel experiences at budget-friendly prices, specifically targeting value-conscious leisure and business travelers. The company engages users through a gamified approach to savings, where the thrill of "deal hunting"—such as finding a four-star luxury resort for a two-star price—keeps users returning. This strategy is supported by the free Priceline VIP loyalty program, which rewards frequent travelers with better discounts, and a steady stream of email-only coupons and Priceline travel promo codes that provide exclusive access to special promotions. By allowing users to choose their preferred way to shop—either selecting a specific "retail" hotel for certainty or choosing an Express Deal to trade brand visibility for discounts of up to 60%—Priceline caters to both planners who need specific amenities and flexible adventurers looking for the lowest possible price.

Priceline Value Programs and Benefit Integration: The "Deal-Negotiating" Experience

Priceline VIP Loyalty Program

The Priceline VIP Loyalty Program is a free, multi-tiered system designed to incentivize repeat customers with escalating benefits and deeper discounts. Unlike many airline or hotel status programs that require paid memberships or thousands of dollars in spending, Priceline VIP is accessible immediately upon signup.

Enrollment is automatic when a user creates an account. Members advance through four distinct tiers—VIP Member, VIP Blue, VIP Gold, and VIP Platinum—by completing "trips." A trip is defined as any finalized booking bundle or individual service confirmation. As members climb the ladder, the savings become more substantial.

Priceline VIP Rewards Visa Card

For travelers who want to fast-track their status, the Priceline VIP Rewards Visa Card acts as a powerful tool. It is a co-branded credit card that accelerates a user's status within the VIP program while earning points for future travel.

The primary allure of this card is the immediate status upgrade; cardholders are automatically granted VIP Gold status, bypassing the requirement to book five separate trips. Financially, the card rewards loyalty by offering 5X points for every $1 spent on Priceline bookings and 1X points on all other purchases. These points can be redeemed as statement credits to directly offset the cost of travel purchases.

New cardholders are typically incentivized with a sign-up bonus, receiving a substantial amount of bonus points after meeting a minimum spending requirement within the first 90 days of account opening.

Unique Deal Formats and Promotions

Priceline distinguishes itself from competitors through unique booking formats that trade transparency for price. The excitement of uncovering these hidden gems is similar to finding Groupon's top vacation discounts, where flexible travelers are rewarded with the best market rates.

Express Deals

This is Priceline's signature savings engine and the successor to the bidding model. In this format, users are shown the star rating, general neighborhood, comprehensive amenity list, and guest review score of a hotel, but the specific name of the property is hidden until the payment is processed. By allowing premium hotels to sell off their excess inventory anonymously without damaging their public retail pricing, Priceline can offer discounts of up to 60% off.

Pricebreakers

This is a semi-opaque format that offers a middle ground for those hesitant to book fully blind. Priceline displays three specific, highly-rated hotels and offers one low bundled price. The user is guaranteed to stay at one of those three specific properties, but the final assignment is revealed only after booking.

Bundle and Save

This feature encourages users to book multiple travel components—such as a flight and hotel, or a hotel and rental car—in a single transaction. By bundling these services, users can unlock package savings that are often deeper than booking each element individually.

Email-Only Coupons

To keep engagement high, Priceline sends regular newsletters to subscribers containing exclusive coupon codes. These codes often provide an extra 5% to 10% off Express Deals or retail bookings, allowing savvy shoppers to stack discounts.

The Priceline Travel Marketplace

Hotels

Hotels remain the core product at Priceline, with inventory ranging from budget-friendly motels to high-end luxury casino resorts in destinations like Las Vegas and Orlando. The platform offers three distinct ways to book accommodation. "Retail Bookings" are standard reservations where the name of the hotel and the price are shown upfront, offering maximum certainty. "Express Deals" hide the hotel name to provide savings of up to 60%, ideal for flexible travelers. "Pricebreakers" offer a compromise, grouping three disclosed hotels under one low price, with the final selection revealed post-booking.

Flights

Priceline operates a robust flight search engine that aggregates fares from major domestic and international airlines. Users can book complex itineraries, including round-trip, one-way, or multi-destination flights. The search results are comprehensive, allowing users to easily find and compare American Airlines flight deals alongside options from other major global carriers. A key feature for bargain hunters is the "Price Drop" section, where Priceline highlights specific routes that have seen significant recent price reductions—such as Denver to Las Vegas or Atlanta to New York City—allowing flexible travelers to capitalize on sudden dips in airfare.

Rental Cars

The platform serves as a major aggregator for rental cars, offering vehicles from trusted global brands like Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, Budget, and National. Similar to hotels, Priceline applies its "Express Deal" model to rental cars. Users can select a vehicle class (e.g., "Mid-size SUV") and see the price upfront, but the specific rental agency is revealed only after booking. This method allows users to save up to 40% off standard rental rates.

Cruises

Priceline provides a full-service cruise booking platform that competes with dedicated cruise agencies. Users can search by destination (including popular routes like the Caribbean, Alaska, and Europe), by cruise line (featuring major players like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian), or by departure port. To entice bookings, Priceline often negotiates exclusive bonuses that are not available directly through the cruise lines, such as significant onboard spending credit, prepaid gratuities, or specialty dining packages.

Packages and Experiences

Beyond basic transport and lodging, Priceline helps travelers build complete itineraries. "Vacation Packages" allow users to customize their trips by bundling flights, hotels, and cars for a single price. The "Experiences" section, powered by partners, gives travelers access to over 300,000 activities worldwide, ranging from museum tickets and guided city tours to theme park entry. Notably, Priceline features dedicated booking portals for Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, frequently offering special room rates for onsite hotels that include park perks.

Change, Cancellation and Refund Policy: Important Booking Terms

The Golden Rule: Priceline is a Middleman

It is crucial for shoppers to understand that Priceline acts as an intermediary agent. While they facilitate the transaction and process the payment, the specific rules regarding refunds, changes, and service delivery are generally dictated by the underlying travel provider—be it the airline, the hotel property, or the car rental agency—unless the user has booked a specific Priceline "deal" format.

Express Deals and Pricebreakers Policy

The deep discounts associated with Express Deals and Pricebreakers come with strict conditions. These bookings are almost exclusively Non-Refundable and Non-Changeable. This is the fundamental trade-off for receiving a discount of up to 60%. Travelers should review the Priceline cancellation policy carefully before confirming these deals. Once these bookings are confirmed, they cannot be canceled for a refund or modified to different dates unless the traveler has purchased travel insurance and the reason for cancellation is a covered event under that policy.

Standard ("Retail") Hotel Bookings

For standard hotel bookings where the name of the property is known upfront, the cancellation policy is variable. Some rates are advertised as "Free Cancellation" up to a certain date (usually 24 to 48 hours before check-in), while others are marked "Non-Refundable" in exchange for a slightly lower nightly rate. This information is clearly displayed in the booking summary before checkout, and users should review it carefully.

Flights

Flight cancellations generally follow the specific fare rules of the airline. Most bookings made on Priceline adhere to the US Department of Transportation's 24-hour rule, which allows for a full refund if the flight is canceled within 24 hours of purchase, provided the flight is at least 7 days away. Beyond that window, Basic Economy fares are usually non-changeable and non-refundable. Standard Main Cabin fares may offer flight credits for future travel if canceled, though cash refunds are rare unless the airline itself cancels the flight.

How to Initiate a Cancellation

All cancellations, changes, or modification requests must be processed through the "My Trips" section on the Priceline website or mobile app. For complex issues, users can utilize the customer service chat function powered by Penny, the AI assistant, or contact customer support directly.

Levels of Engagement and Benefit Access

Priceline VIP Tiers

The Priceline VIP program is structured to guide users from casual usage to power-user status, with each tier unlocking new layers of savings.

• VIP Member (Blue): This is the starting point for all registered users. The requirement is simple: 0-1 completed trips. Despite being the entry tier, benefits include immediate access to hotel savings up to 50% that are not visible to guest users. This entry-level access provides value that often rivals Expedia's best travel offers for new members.
• VIP Silver: Once a user completes between 2 and 4 trips, they graduate to Silver status. This tier unlocks "Insider" pricing, providing access to deeper discounts on hotels and rental cars compared to the Blue tier, incentivizing the user to return for their next few bookings.
• VIP Gold: Achieved after 5 to 24 completed trips—or instantly by holding the VIP Rewards Visa Card—Gold status is where the benefits ramp up significantly. Gold members gain access to hotel savings of up to 60%, receive significantly better coupons for Express Deals (often with higher percentage-off values), and enjoy deeper rental car discounts.
• VIP Platinum: This elite status is reserved for travelers with 25+ completed trips. Platinum members enjoy the highest level of savings available on the platform, receive the most valuable premium coupons, and perhaps most importantly, gain access to a dedicated, priority customer service line to resolve issues quickly.

Smart Ways to Save and Maximize Value on Priceline

Embrace the Opaque

For travelers visiting major tourism hubs with high inventory density—such as Las Vegas, Orlando, or New York City—using Express Deals is the single most effective way to save money. If you are not loyal to a specific hotel chain and simply want a high-quality room in a good location, this option consistently beats retail pricing.

Become a "Deal Detective"

Savvy users can often identify an Express Deal hotel before paying. By noting the star rating, the specific neighborhood, the number of guest reviews, and the amenity list, a user can open a second browser tab and compare these details against the "Retail" list for the same area. Usually, only one hotel will match all the criteria perfectly, effectively revealing the "mystery" deal.

Always Bundle

If a trip requires both a flight and a hotel, users should never book them separately without checking the Bundle and Save price first. Airlines and hotels often allow Priceline to show lower private rates when they are packaged together, resulting in a total cost that is often significantly cheaper than the sum of the individual parts.

Read All Fine Print

It is vital to pay close attention to Resort Fees and incidental costs. In destinations like Las Vegas or Miami, hotels charge a mandatory nightly resort fee that is collected at the front desk. Travelers looking to save even more should also consider the cost of parking; sometimes using Uber's convenient ride services or airport transfers can be cheaper than paying daily rental car and valet fees.

Join VIP (It's Free)

The simplest way to save is to never search as a "guest." Always sign in before searching. Simply being logged in as a VIP Blue member can reveal lower prices ("Member Deals") that are strictly hidden from non-logged-in users.

Consider the Credit Card

For frequent travelers, the Priceline VIP Rewards Visa offers a substantial shortcut. By offering automatic Gold Status, the card immediately improves the quality of coupons and discounts a user sees on the site, regardless of how many trips they have actually booked.

Use Email Coupons

Users should sign up for the "Exclusive Email-only Coupons" newsletter. Priceline frequently sends out unique promo codes for an extra 5% to 10% off Express Deals. These codes can typically be applied at checkout on top of the already discounted rate for maximum savings.

Program Enrollment, Account Management and Card Cancellation

Enrollment/Application Process

Joining the savings ecosystem is straightforward. Priceline VIP enrollment is automatic and completely free when a user creates an account on Priceline.com or downloads the app. There are no forms to fill out beyond basic registration. For the Priceline VIP Rewards Visa Card, the application is available online through the Priceline website. Approval is subject to credit checks and financial review by the issuing bank.

Account Management

Managing travel and rewards is centralized. The Priceline Account allows users to view upcoming itineraries, access past trip details, and track their VIP progress via the "My Trips" dashboard. The "Wallet" icon allows users to securely store payment methods for faster checkout. However, Credit Card Account management—such as making payments, viewing statements, or disputing charges—is handled through the online portal of the issuing bank, not directly on the Priceline travel site.

Cancellation/Changes

Regarding cancellations, there is a distinction between the loyalty program and the financial product. A Priceline Account remains active indefinitely unless the user requests deletion. To cancel or close a Priceline Credit Card, the cardholder must contact the issuing bank directly. It is important to note that closing the card will result in the immediate loss of automatic VIP Gold status and the forfeiture of any accumulated points that have not yet been redeemed.

Key Terms and Conditions for Priceline Programs and Bookings

Non-Refundable Deals

It cannot be overstated that Express Deals, Pricebreakers, and other "Deep Discount" offers are strictly non-refundable, non-changeable, and non-transferable. Users should only book these if their travel plans are 100% firm.

Resort Fees and Taxes

The price paid on Priceline typically covers the room rate and government taxes. It usually does not cover mandatory property fees (resort fees) or incidental deposits required by the hotel at check-in.

Priceline as Intermediary

Priceline acts solely as an agent. They do not own or operate the hotels, planes, or cars. Service issues—such as a dirty room, a delayed flight, or a specific car color availability—are the responsibility of the service provider, though Priceline customer service can assist in mediating disputes.

Promo Code Exclusions

Coupon codes generally come with specific terms; they have expiration dates and may not be valid for all rental car brands or specific hotel chains. They typically cannot be applied to "Pay at Hotel" bookings where payment is not collected by Priceline.

Offer Subject to Change

All promotions and program details are governed by the Priceline terms and conditions, and the company reserves the right to modify VIP program benefits, deal availability, pricing algorithms, and coupon values at any time without prior notice.

How We Find and Publish Deals

Our dedicated team of deal curators is on a constant mission to find the very best Priceline deals for you, our readers. We scour every corner of the internet, monitor their site for new promotions, and verify each offer to ensure it provides real value. This tireless effort means you can trust that the deals you see on DealNews are current, accurate, and the best available.