Priceline.com Lets Web Developers Tap Travel Services

Priceline.com on Wednesday launched a self-service system for web developers to add the online travel agency's hotel-room booking service to their sites.

Called FlexRez, the distribution platform enables Web-site operators to offer Priceline.com's service under their own brand. There's no charge for the service, and Web-site owners earn a commission on reservations.

Web-site operators register for FlexRez on the web, and receive an email within six business hours with a user name, password and site ID. The system provides two technology options, depending on the level of the host site's sophistication.

For advanced sites, an XML gateway is available to call the Priceline.com network, giving users access to content, the ability to query room availability, and book hotels.

For other sites, the system offers a PageBuilder toolkit that creates a hotel reservation application that resembles the hosting site. PageBuilder doesn't require knowledge of HTML or XML, and provides users with several customizable page templates. After completion, the hotel sales application is hosted by Priceline.com, which is based in Norwalk, Conn.