The largest of the Internet travel sites, Expedia.com serves an estimated 25 million customers each month. Partnered with multiple global distribution systems for travel vendors, the site is able to buy in bulk and ensure a wide variety of choices at competitive rates, some of them guaranteed to be the best on the Web.
The Basics
Designed to be user-friendly and make tailoring your own trip a breeze, Expedia allows travelers to arrange flights, cruises, rental cars, hotels and local activities for any destination in the world, on their own or sold in packages. In addition, Expedia regularly offers special sales and promotions, as well as a range of attractive money-saving services. For flight searches, Expedia returns the least expensive itineraries that match your criteria and schedule. A wealth of information is given for customers searching for cheap hotel rooms, including hotel features, photos, room descriptions, guest reviews and ratings, and dining and shopping options nearby. Customers can open a personal account, which serves as a record of previous trips, or proceed as a one-time "guest." Customized vacation packages can then be purchased or simply saved to your own personalized itinerary file.
Other Major Services
- Fare Alert: This customized tool allows travelers operating in Windows to receive, on their desktops, price alerts for their chosen destinations. Users can also plug in target rates and be notified if and when they become available.
- Last-minute deals: Under the "Deals and Destinations" tab, Expedia lists flights, hotels, car rentals, and vacation packages available for travel within the next two weeks. You can also sign up to receive a daily e-mail with the latest discounts worldwide.
- Business travel: An entire section of the site is dedicated to business travelers and offers a set of tools designed to meet their specific needs for airfare searches.
- Maps: Detailed street maps and driving directions are available for locations throughout North America and Europe.
- "Stuck at the Airport" original content: Writer Harriet Baskas reports on the facilities and services at more than 65 airports worldwide.
- Rewards: A link to the "Thank You Network" allows Expedia users to earn points for travel booked on the site.
- 24-hour toll-free telephone assistance
A Few Competitors
Expedia's closest competition comes from Travelocity and Orbitz, which are among the largest full-service online travel booking agencies offering similar services. The Web sites for many individual airlines also provide comprehensive travel planning at competitive rates.
What Makes Expedia Noteworthy
Expedia is big and getting bigger, with an increasingly broad global presence. Its parent company, Expedia Inc., has expanded by creating 16 individual country sites and investing in some of the most popular travel sites on the Web, including TripAdvisor.com, Hotwire.com, and Hotels.com. Expedia is also the official travel sponsor of the NFL, and as such is able to offer travel incentives to some 170 million football fans. Expedia Inc. was named America's third most-admired Internet company in 2008 by Fortune magazine.
A Brief History
Launched in 1995 as a subsidiary of Microsoft, Expedia became a publicly traded company in 1999. It was subsequently purchased by USA Networks (now InterActive Corporation, or IAC). The website, along with IAC's other travel-related companies, was then spun off in 2005 as part of a new public company, Expedia, Inc.
Ownership
Expedia.com is owned by Expedia Inc. The company headquarters are located at 3150 139th Avenue SE, Bellevue, Wash., 98006.
