Priceline Makes Upgrades to ‘Penny’ AI to Save Consumers Time and Money

Priceline has unveiled its Winter 2024 Product Release featuring a new generative AI-powered slate of features, including major upgrades to Penny, its AI-powered travel assistant. The latest additions to Priceline’sTrip Intelligence suite include a comprehensive array of AI tools – including more than 30 new features to dramatically streamline the travel planning and booking process.

At a time when overwhelming choices and options mean consumers spend an average of two full workdays – 16 hours – on trip research and booking, Priceline’s smarter, faster, and more proactive tools can reduce the time a customer spends on travel planning. 

The upgraded Trip Intelligence suite builds upon six months of real-world conditions and proprietary marketplace intelligence accumulated from Priceline’s millions of customers since the technology debuted in Priceline’s hotel category in June. The response has been overwhelmingly positive; the company estimates that travelers who used Penny saved an average of nearly 10 minutes per trip compared to those who called customer support. Priceline is now rolling out Penny across all categories: hotel, flights, car rental, and vacation packages.

The enhanced Priceline Trip Intelligence suite debuts at a time of changing consumer demands and behavior. More customers seek ways to reduce the time and complexity of researching and booking trips, and they’re increasingly looking to AI to help them solve these challenges. Priceline’s study found that more than half of travelers say they’d use AI tools to cut down on time, eliminate hours of onerous research, and secure the best deals. Of those familiar with generative AI, the vast majority (73%) said they’re receptive to using generative AI and believe it will streamline travel planning and booking. And further, 65% said it would make traveling easier and more enjoyable.

Penny can now save customers precious time by planning and modifying their trips – whether they need assistance with destination recommendations, finding the best deal, or accessing always-on, personalized customer service. Priceline is also introducing personalized GenAI itineraries within its iOS App. No need to do lengthy research making plans – the upgraded App will now generate a suggested itinerary for you down to dining and activity options for your stay. Other time-saving features include a new wallet for organizing deals and coupons, ways to enable customers to skip check-in lines, and more.

“After six months of expert, on-the-job training, Penny is ready to deliver an even more cohesive and personalized booking experience that saves people time and hassle,” said Brett Keller, CEO of Priceline. “This is a continuation of Priceline’s tradition of revolutionizing travel with pioneering technology. We began fully integrating generative AI early last year, and our tools and features will only get better as customers and partners engage with them more and more.”

Priceline customers can expect to find over 30 new features and upgrades which started last week, including:

Penny: Increasing its remit beyond the hotel category to flights, car rentals, and vacation packages, Penny, the GenAI-powered travel assistant, is now ready to greet travelers on the Priceline home page, taking them from inspiration through planning, booking and even modifying their dream trip after they’ve booked.

Discover with Penny: Discover new destinations directly from the Priceline home page, with Penny intelligently suggesting relevant properties and travel packages reflecting specific needs and personal travel styles as customers search for the right match. For example, “suggest sunny and family-friendly destinations within a three-hour flight of NYC.”

Troubleshoot with Penny: Quickly modify itineraries, connect with live help agents, check the status of a refund, and access important travel information – available all in one place by chatting with Penny.

GenAI Itineraries: Leveraging GPT-4 Turbo, Priceline iOS app users can automatically craft in-depth itineraries for their entire trip, including can’t-miss activities, restaurants, and nearby attractions.

“Booking with confidence and saving time are absolutely key for our customers,” said Kevin Heery, Chief Product Officer. “Our expanded Trip Intelligence suite will enable Priceline to further anticipate travelers’ needs, helping them book their trip with ease and peace of mind seamlessly and faster than ever before.”

To celebrate the launch of the new Trip Intelligence features, Priceline is offering a 10% discount on Express DealsⓇ, exclusively through Penny.  Simply ask Penny, “Can you get me a deal?” to reveal the code and book by February 27th to take advantage of this special offer.

The new features are now live across Priceline. Customers can experience the power of Penny and the broader GenAI-enhanced Trip Intelligence suite by visiting priceline.com/2024winterrelease.