New survey finds a majority of people have tried the ancient art of haggling

Forget Stimulus II – 79% think consumers would start spending again if merchants were willing to negotiate prices

NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2009-- A new survey on the art of negotiating was released today, and William Shatner is grinning from ear to ear. Mr. Shatner plays The Priceline Negotiator, who tirelessly works to educate consumers on the art of negotiating, and to help priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) customers get the best deals on travel.

An online survey conducted the week of July 20 by Opinion Research Corporation sampled 1,043 consumers and found that 64% of them have negotiated or haggled on a purchase. Men (71%) are much more likely to haggle than women (58%). Southerners (70%) are more likely to haggle than folks from the Northeast (55%).

The survey results were released in conjunction with today’s launch of the new priceline rewards Visa Card - a rewards card issued with Barclaycard that lets cardholders make a purchase, collect rewards points and redeem accumulated points to pay for items on their credit card. See related release at http://pcln.com/guxh.

The Opinion Research survey also found that:

• When asked about the lack of consumer spending in the current economic environment, 79% felt that consumers would be more inclined to spend money if more merchants were willing to negotiate on purchases.
• When given a list of candidates who might qualify as “the BEST negotiator out there,”
  • 30% of men chose themselves (15% of women chose themselves)
  • 12% of men chose their spouse (21% of women chose their spouse)
  • 10% chose William Shatner
  • 9% chose President Barack Obama
• When asked for the most unusual item they’d ever negotiated, responses ranged from a belt buckle with a tarantula encased in glass, a goat, a wooden mermaid, a body piercing, dental work, cow manure, a maid’s uniform, pantyhose, and some items and services not mentionable in a family news release.

About Priceline.com^® Incorporated

Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) www.priceline.com provides online travel services in 29 languages in 78 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Included in the priceline.com family of companies is Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service, priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Agoda.com, an Asian online hotel reservation service.

Priceline.com believes that Booking.com is Europe’s largest and fastest growing hotel reservation service, with a network of affiliated Web sites. Booking.com operates in over 70 countries in 24 languages and offers its customers access to over 71,000 participating hotels worldwide.

In the U.S., priceline.com gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises than any other Internet travel service. In addition to getting great published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com’s TripFilter advanced search technology, customize their search activity through priceline.com’s Inside Track features, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also licenses its business model to independent licensees.

About Barclaycard US

Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., Barclaycard US creates customized, co-branded credit card programs for some of the country’s most successful travel, entertainment, retail and financial institutions. The company employs 1,400 associates and was named a Top Employer in Delaware in 2009. For more information please visit www.barclaycardus.com.

About Barclaycard

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Global and Retail Commercial Banking division, is a leading global payment business which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future. It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organizations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

In addition to the UK and US, Barclaycard operates in Europe, Africa and the Middle and Far East.

Key facts published in February 2009:

• number of UK customers: 11.9m
• number of International customers: 11.8m
• number of retailer/merchant relationships: 88,000

Source: Priceline.com Incorporated

Press:
Priceline.com
Brian Ek, 203-299-8167
brian.ek@priceline.com
or
Barclaycard US
Kevin Sullivan, 302-255-8637
ksullivan@barclaycardus.com
or
Investor Relations:
Priceline.com
Matthew Tynan, 203-299-8487
mtynan@priceline.com