An online travel agency, Expedia.com Inc. is owned by Expedia Group, which is based in Seattle, WA. It is engaged in the business of online travel shopping. Expedia Inc’s holdings also include Hotels.com, CheapTickets, Orbitz, Hotwire Group, Travelocity, and Trivago. The company also once owned TripAdvisor prior to 2011, when it became a public company. However, contrary to popular opinion, Expedia.com doesn’t own Kayak.com or Booking.com, which are owned by Priceline.com Group.
Expedia.com Inc was founded as a division of Microsoft on October 22, 1996, by Rich Barton. Key people currently at the top are the chairman, Barry Diller, (who also founded USA Broadcasting and the Fox Broadcasting Company and was inducted in 1994 into the Television Hall of Fame), and CEO, Peter Kern.
Expedia Pros and Cons
Pros:
3. Expedia.com has the ability to purchase airline tickets in bulk and therefore get a discount.
4. Expedia.com shows any airlines’ extra fees along with the flight prices for a transparent view of what consumers are really paying for their airfare.
5. Personal data and credit card information stays secure in the Expedia system. In fact, travel bookings via Expedia.com are actually safer than direct bookings.
6. Expedia.com rewards points are a bonus for frequent travelers.
7. Expedia is a stand-out among the $100B+ travel industry’s many travel agents.
Cons:
1. Booking fees can range from $2.99 to $12.99, however, this is standard among members of the travel industry including CheapTickets, Travelocity, and Orbitz.
2. Some airlines offer huge discounts, while others offer none at all. So, it’s not always the cheapest price with Expedia since, for some airlines, it can be cheaper to book directly with the airline.
3. The perks of direct dealings with some hotels outweigh the savings you believe you’re getting when you book with an online travel shopping site like Expedia.
Expedia Customer Support
Expedia.com offers 24/7 customer support for dealing with customer frustration. In addition, the company works diligently with its suppliers for the purpose of getting completely accurate information so that their customers never run into any unpleasant travel surprises.
Expedia Cancellation Policy
You have the ability to cancel any Expedia.com flight directly on the Expedia travel booking platform, however, cancellation fees could apply and are dependent upon the specific airline. The US Department of Transportation is currently requiring all airlines to offer free 24-hour flight cancellation when travelers are going to or from the United States and, of course, this includes any travelers who have booked flights through Expedia with a few minor exceptions.
Expedia- Can You Book a Cruise, Hotel, Flight, and Rental Car?
Expedia.com overall usefulness can be measured via its massive inventory coverage, which includes more than 400 bookable airlines and 435,000 bookable hotels. And, yes, you can book everything travel-related on the Expedia travel booking platform.
Expedia Ease of Use
The entire travel process can prove very stressful and that’s exactly why a service like Expedia.com can help by reducing the stress. It’s also why Expedia.com has gained such a strong following. They make discovering travel options easy with their filters, search widgets, and user-friendly informative messaging, text descriptions, map views, and rating snapshots.
And their “recommended” section is powered by some amazingly sophisticated algorithms that use the data collected from previous travelers and accumulates insight into everything that could be relevant to the next customer. Everything is presented in the best way possible for helping customers to become fully aware of their optimum options so that they make an informed decision.
Does Expedia Offer Good Last-Minute Deals?
Do They Offer Good Monthly Payment Plans for Your Vacation?
Yes, Expedia.com users can make payments for hotels in monthly installments ever since an online lender called Affirm announced it would be offering its services on Expedia. So, bookings of over $200 can be paid in installments and travelers can locate this feature on their travel booking platform simply by selecting a hotel and flight package and then clicking on the tab marked “Monthly Payments”.