Buoyed perhaps by the launch of a same-day hotel booking service on its mobile app, Priceline has launched a similar service for its global hotel service Booking.com.
The move is also a shot across the bows of the growing HotelTonight service, which seemingly established the market for mobile-led, same-day bookings when it launched in late-2010.
The idea has since been replicated, at least on the main website rather than solely for mobile, by Expedia.
Booking.com Tonight with initially be available only for Apple devices via the iTunes appstore (Android version likely to follow) and will use last-minute inventory from its portfolio of 200,000 properties in 165 countries.
The app works by giving the user a list of all available hotels in the immediate area of the device which have same-day availability, with a two-step process if the user wishes to book from the handset.
The booking confirmation is saved on the device (for check-in) and then a map with directions is displayed.
The difference between the Booking.com app and the existing Priceline Tonight-Only app is in the spread of hotel content – with the latter purely focused on the US, having launched with hotels in 30-odd cities in September last year.
Booking.com says it secured $1 billion in transactions via mobile devices in 2011, with 40% of mobile bookings being made for the same day.
Booking.com says same-day reservations may secure up to 50% off the regular rate for a property, not far off the 70% discount which HotelTonight promises users can achieve with some of the hotels it works with.
Validation of the marketplace for same-day bookings via mobile devices was illustrated again last November when HotelTonight secured Series B funding to the tune of $9 million in a round led by Battery Ventures.
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About Kevin May
Very bold move by Booking. Are these rates ‘app only’?
Nope these rates are also available on the web.
@M Albert – sure. just repeating what a PCLN official told me re registation for deals.
@oz – you can get them as flash sales on the website, but you can’t see them unless you register.
@Kevin – not just flash sales. These “last minute deals” will come up in the search results also. No need to register to get these deals.