Priceline, Travelocity and Expedia Compete With iPhone Apps

(MoneyWatch) 
Priceline.com unveiled its Hotel Negotiator and application for iPhone and iPod Touch last week, joining Travelocity.com's and Expedia.com's applications at the Apple Online Store. Priceline's offering features William Shatner as the Priceline Negotiator, and operates much like the Web site offering a variety of last-minute hotel rooms at discounted prices. The application also features hotel listings, customer reviews, maps, pictures and weather.

However, competitors Travelocity and Expedia launched their applications earlier this year so Priceline looks like it's coming late to the game. Not so, said Priceline.com spokesman Brian Ek, who said most of online travel agency competitors are supplying "reskins" of their Web sites, or simply the Web site with a slightly different look. Ek says that Priceline did the same thing until its latest launch on Oct. 26.

However, how much profit can be gained from such applications are difficult to measure (and Priceline refused to tell me.) One company executive told me that usage rates and booking travel are still pretty low. That makes it hard to figure out if companies are doing this primarily to make money in the future or show they can match or beat the competition in technology. I'm voting for the latter. Who wants to be known as the old grandma in online travel?

"It's still very early in the game for mobile applications," Ek told BNET. "No one knows how long it will be for these to catch on. So for now, it builds experience in the mobile space of what works and what doesn't, and it's a nifty little tool for customers on the road."

Orbitz.com spokesman Brian Hoyt said that his company still hasn't joined in the iPhone application craze, but instead relies on its mobile phone tools it launched in 2006. Hoyt said that the company may release its application in 2010.

"Just because you don't have an app on the iPhone doesn't mean you missed out on the market," he said. "We're still trying to find that killer app that gains higher adoption."