Help With Cancelling a Priceline Reservation

Priceline is an online vendor of airline tickets, hotel rooms and rental cars at discount prices. To receive the low prices, customers may forfeit certain privileges, such as seeing all the details of the travel arrangements before purchase and the right to cancel or change a reservation.

Priceline offers two ways of purchasing airline tickets and rental cars: standard rates and "Name Your Own Price" rates. The latter is available at a much lower price, but does not allow refunds, changes or cancellations. In addition, travelers using the special rates may not learn the details of the itinerary before they make their purchase. A traveler using a "Name Your Own Price" airline ticket must be prepared to fly with any carrier or forfeit the money paid if he cannot use the airline ticket.

In addition to the "Name Your Own Price" fares, Priceline offers many tickets through a more traditional format, with all relevant information disclosed, including the name of the airline and layover times. Depending on the airline's policy, travelers may cancel or change these flights. On confirmed reservations for hotel rooms or rental cars, Priceline has no blanket cancellation policy. The individual hotel or rental car company controls cancellation policies. As one exception, Priceline allows its customers to cancel or exchange airline tickets purchased on the same day on a case-by-case basis. The tickets must have been purchased before 11:30 p.m. If an airline changes the itinerary of a flight, you also might be permitted to cancel the ticket without penalty. This is also subject to airline policy.

In many cases, people with travel insurance have more recourse in cancelling a reservation than under ordinary circumstances. Priceline offers travel insurance -- a product of the Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Co. -- but you must purchase it via the Priceline website at the same time as the reservation. While Priceline purchases usually are subject to the cancellation policies of the individual airline, hotel or rental company, you many cancel tickets you purchased on Priceline in combination with Priceline's travel insurance -- but in accordance with insurance policy rules. Unforeseen sickness, injury, death of a loved one or loss of a job are reasonable causes for cancellation.

To cancel a flight you purchased through Priceline, first contact the airline directly. All of the airlines represented through Priceline have their contact phone numbers and website addresses listed in Priceline.com's "Airline Customer Service Phone List," within the Frequently Asked Questions feature of the Help Center. Not all numbers are toll-free, so long-distance or international dialing charges may apply. If you wish to cancel a reservation you have made the same day, contact Priceline directly, either filling out the email contact form within the online Help Center, or calling the toll-free number.