Jan 26th, 2012 at 10:00AM: Expedia's Vacation Deprivation study is an annual analysis of vacation habits across multiple countries and continents. Taken from the results of a survey by Harris Interactive, 7,083 respondents were surveyed in total across 20 countries with some surprising results.
"226 million vacation days will go unused this year resulting in some 50 million Americans becoming vacation deprived," travel ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Expedia posts
Vacation deprivation study says beach vacations rule
Jan 26th, 2012 at 10:00AM: Expedia's Vacation Deprivation study is an annual analysis of vacation habits across multiple countries and continents. Taken from the results of a survey by Harris Interactive, 7,083 respondents were surveyed in total across 20 countries with some surprising results.
"226 million vacation days will go unused this year resulting in some 50 million Americans becoming vacation deprived," travel ...Trippy launches, aims to transform travel planning into a social experience
Sep 18th, 2011 at 12:00PM: When it comes to travel planning, your friends are the best source of information. Such is the motto of just-launched social networking site for travel planning, Trippy.
Using a simple integration with Facebook, members can create trip planning templates with the click of a button. Fill in just a few details and the site will auto-populate suggestions for hotels, activities, and restaurants, ...Expedia a step closer to ditching TripAdvisor
Jun 22nd, 2011 at 9:00AM: Travel industry ... welcome to high finance! By the end of the year, online travel agency Expedia is expected to spin off its TripAdvisor unit in an initial public offering, according to MarketWatch. And, the deal could be worth as much as $4 billion.
Think about it: all those hotel reviews you've written, photos you've posted and advice you've sought could be worth as much as Facebook ...The anatomy of Expedia's Best Rate Guarantee failure
May 31st, 2011 at 9:30AM: Shortly into my third week in the battle to get over $1000 refunded by Expedia's Best Rate Guarantee program, despair sets in. The thin, smooth glass on the surface of my smartphone is caked with layers of sweat and the anytime and rollover weekend minutes that I once cherished are now memories long lost. I've started telling the agents in the call center which options they need to be choosing on ...Road test: Expedia's Rewards Program
May 24th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
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Expedia launched a reward program last month in a what might be an effort to recapture some of the market share that they're slowly losing to the airlines and their respective websites. A spend-based program, users receive points in direct proportion to the amount of money that they spend on the site. Those points are earned in addition to any points ...Online travel company lawsuits heat up, cool off
Mar 27th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
Going back more than 10 years, U.S. city and state governments have been suing online travel sites for underpaying general excise and hotel taxes. Now, lawsuits filed years ago are being heard and the story continues as mixed verdicts come in.
First, here's the beef. Online travel companies purchase unused hotel room inventory and then sell those rooms to consumers at a marked-up price. ...Judge blocks Sabre, gives American Airlines a break
Jan 11th, 2011 at 8:00AM: I guess it would make sense for American Airlines to turn to litigation. After all, this approach worked well against Orbitz.
Here's the situation: the battle between airlines and online travel agencies escalated from the beginning of November – with American's announcement that it would pull out of Orbitz – through the new year. The latest move was by global distribution system ...Five reasons why you're wrong about American Airlines and the booking battle
Jan 7th, 2011 at 11:00AM: Everyone seems to think this is about the passengers. It's not. In true airline industry fashion, nobody cares about the customer.
Okay, now that I have your attention, an analyst note from Avondale Partners was sent to me last night. While most people don't get excited about this sort of thing, I have to admit that I still do. Nerdy, maybe. Insightful ... in this case, it definitely is.
The ...American Airlines is talking to Expedia and Orbitz (about the WRONG stuff)
Jan 5th, 2011 at 1:00PM: American Airlines isn't giving up. Despite having pulled out of Orbitz and been booted by Expedia, the company says it's still talking to the two online travel agencies and is hopeful for a resolution. According to Dow Jones, these are "active discussions" and that American Airlines is "comfortable" with booking results.
Nonetheless, American is still betting on Direct Connect as its preferred ...Can travel booking sites endure the airline onslaught?
Jan 4th, 2011 at 12:00PM: American Airlines wanted out of Orbitz ... and then it was bounced by Expedia (preemptively, it seems). Delta wanted out of CheapOair ... and OneTravel ... and BookIt. Nobody knows what's next, but it appears that something is on the horizon, given the magnitude of change in the airline/online travel agency landscape over the past few weeks. I wrote a month ago that a "brand war" was brewing, a ...Expedia suspends sale of American Airlines flights [BREAKING]
![Expedia suspends sale of American Airlines flights [BREAKING]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2011/01/photofuelsmartplaneinairlarge_thumbnail.jpg)
Jan 1st, 2011 at 9:30AM: I just heard from a spokesman for Expedia a few minutes ago that it has suspended the sale of flights by American Airlines. Expedia revealed the following to Gadling:
"We have been unable to reach an agreement with American Airlines due to American Airlines' new commercial strategy that we believe is anti-consumer and anti-choice. American Airlines is attempting to introduce a new direct ...Lies, discrimination and combat: American Airlines claims sales increase post-Orbitz
Dec 30th, 2010 at 2:00PM: Yesterday, American Airlines announced that it was thanking its customers for their continued loyalty to the airline. It was a fairly predictable move, following the airline's decision to pull out of Orbitz ... which was followed quickly by Expedia's making it more difficult to find American Airlines fares.
At the same time, the company engaged in a bit of chest-thumping – again, expected ...Is American Airlines making a "reckless rodeo bet"?
Dec 24th, 2010 at 9:00AM: American Airlines' decision to pull out of Orbitz has triggered a war in the travel industry, as airlines and online travel agencies vie for ownership of the customer. The latest step was Expedia's decision to minimize the exposure of American Airline options in searches on its site, likely a play to reduce the risk of a move by American to pull out of Expedia, too.
According to a statement by ...Expedia demotes American Airlines, airline booking war gets HOT
Dec 23rd, 2010 at 3:30PM:
Could the battle between airlines and online travel agencies have gotten any more intense? This week, American Airlines got the green light in court to yank its fares from Orbitz, and Delta announced that it was pulling out of several smaller sites – CheapOair, OneTravel and BookIt. Travel industry experts are saying it's about time, but that doesn't lessen the shock to the business, ...Brand Wars: The Airline Booking Battle Will Be Televised
Dec 6th, 2010 at 2:00PM:
Online travel agencies have had a solid run over the past two years. They picked up some market share as would-be travelers were willing to poke around a little more to score cheap tickets. High rates of unemployment and under-employment and general economic uncertainty, of course, were enough to make consumers value every dollar a little more. This opened an opportunity for online travel ...Business travelers want mobile, Expedia picks up Mobiata
Nov 22nd, 2010 at 3:30PM: I guess Expedia is watching the market. The online travel agency just snapped up mobile travel application developer Mobiata. Mobiata's claim to fame is FlightTrack, and the other apps in its portfolio include TripDeck, HotelPal, FlightBoard and FareCompare. For Expedia, it was a no-brainer, as 4 percent of its traffic is coming from devices, a number the company would like to kick a bit higher, ...Taxes could make discounted hotels more expensive
Oct 22nd, 2010 at 1:00PM: If your next hotel stay is more expensive than you expected, blame the government. State and local governments, still reeling from the recession, are looking for any source of revenue they can grab. And, they're next target seems to be online travel agencies.
Online booking sites, such as Expedia and Orbitz, negotiate a rate with hotels for available inventory, market it up a bit and pass it ...Online travel research made simple on Wanderfly.com
Oct 20th, 2010 at 2:30PM: With so many travel review sites available, it's often overwhelming to sort through published material about a property or destination. We've recently discovered Wanderfly.com, launched out of beta earlier this week. The site promises to provide travel recommendations targeted to budget, date and interest in as few as five clicks.
"On average, travelers spend 7 weeks visiting 25 sites* before ...Wanderfly.com travel-planning site launches in beta
Aug 4th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
A new travel-planning website and booking engine is launching this month in beta, and I was excited to give it a test run, having first heard about the site this spring at a EuroCheapo travel happy hour. Wanderfly.com is a "personalized recommendation engine" that takes your interests, budget, and even social network connections to give you inspiration and help you plan your next vacation. ...Expedia announces 2010 Insiders' Select hotel rankings
May 5th, 2010 at 4:30PM: The 2010 Expedia Insiders' Select hotel rankings provides Expedia customers with an annual list of the world's best hotels rated for quality and value as determined mostly by traveler reviews. These are hotels that routinely exceed customer expectations – in their customer service, amenities, competitive pricing and more.
Now, I'll admit that when I first saw the list, I was a bit puzzled ...
