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Travelocity Launches First Comprehensive Online Local Car Rental Site

Consumers Can Also Take Advantage of First-Ever Local One-Way Car Rental Option Online and Upfront TotalPrice Feature with Price Guarantee

SOUTHLAKE, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 25, 2004– Travelocity(R), the first online travel site to take the guessing out of rental car taxes and fees with its award-winning TotalPrice(SM) for Cars feature, today becomes the first to offer a comprehensive listing of neighborhood car rental locations and one-way car rental booking options between neighborhood and airport locations. Additionally, Travelocity has further enhanced TotalPrice by becoming the first major online travel site to guarantee that the TotalPrice quoted, which includes the base rate, taxes and fees, is within one percent of the price given during the booking process. If not, Travelocity will pay the difference back to the consumer.

“Local car rentals are the fastest growing segment in the rental car industry,” said Tracey Weber, vice president air and car for Travelocity. “More and more travelers are using neighborhood rental car locations to keep mileage low on their vehicles, and the reliance on mass transit in large urban areas has translated into a growing number of city dwellers renting cars for road trips.”

Car rental shoppers now have faster and easier accessibility to more than 20,000 neighborhood and airport locations across the world. Travelocity customers now also have the ability to pick up and drop off a car at different rental locations, even in different states.

Additional enhancements to Travelocity’s car rental functionality include:

  • A new geo-coding system that provides rental car shoppers with timesaving ways to search for a car rental location by address, ZIP code or nearby attraction
  • Search results include a new display grid offering the TotalPrice and daily rental rate, along with a map highlighting the closest, most relevant location options
  • In keeping with Travelocity’s new look and feel throughout the entire site, an arched progress bar has been added to the top of each page on the car rental section to further assist consumers during the shopping and booking process
  • Local and one-way car rental options will also be available on Travelocity Business(SM)

“Travelocity has a strong history of innovation, and these new car features help ensure we are on the cutting edge of the industry,” Weber said. “Our goal is to be an advocate for our members by giving them straightforward and competitive pricing and the best choices when looking for car rentals to meet their specific needs. With these new features, we feel we have taken another giant step toward achieving this goal.”

About Travelocity

Travelocity’s industry-leading technology and straight-talking, honest information help travelers take more rewarding and affordable trips. With 44 million registered users and booking nearly $4 billion of travel in 2003, Travelocity(R) negotiates thousands of low-priced deals with the world’s most reputable travel providers — top airlines, hotels, car rental companies, cruise lines, and other destination attractions and services. Additionally, Travelocity offers deeply-discounted rates for weekend getaways and dynamic packages through its Last Minute Deals and TotalTrip(SM) shopping engines, and provides customer service support over the phone 24 hours a day. Based in Southlake, Texas, Travelocity also operates Travelocity Business(SM) for corporate customers, powers international travel Web sites in eight languages, and has been recognized for its consumer advocacy and global leadership in online travel. More information about Travelocity is available at www.travelocity.com. Travelocity is owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG), a world leader in travel commerce. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at www.sabre-holdings.com.


    CONTACT: VOLLMER
             Judy Haveson, 212/554-7425
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             chintan@vollmerpr.com

    SOURCE: Travelocity

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