Expedia.com has made changes to its service policies, eliminating change fees and cancel fees on all hotel, car rental and cruise reservations and on virtually all flight reservations. In addition, Expedia.com no longer charges online air booking fees.

Published: 28 May 2009

Expedia.com has made changes to its service policies, eliminating change fees and cancel fees on all hotel, car rental and cruise reservations and on virtually all flight reservations. In addition, Expedia.com no longer charges online air booking fees.

The decision to eliminate its air booking fees for flights booked online follows a promotion-based trial which began in March.

Eliminating the fees, which usually run between $7 and $12 a ticket, allows the online agencies to list the same prices that can be found on airlines’ own websites. The agencies hope the move will encourage more people to book with them directly, rather than using the sites to do price comparisons and then going to the airline sites to book.

As per the information available, flights that are part of certain package deals will still be subject to a fee when reservations are changed or cancelled. Expedia.com said it will resume charging $20 to make a flight booking over the phone, a fee that was halted during the promotion.

The removal of Expedia.com change fees and cancel fees on all hotel, car rental and cruise reservations and on nearly all flight reservations is new for Expedia.com.

Role of online intermediaries

Online intermediaries continue to play a vital role in the travel supply chain and in 2008 they generated an estimated US$45,141 million in revenue from US airline consumers or 34 percent of the online airline market, according to EyeforTravel Research’s North America Online Travel Report 2009.

“By 2012, we expect this share to decline marginally but maintain about a third of US online airline expenditure. It is therefore important to plan mixed distribution strategies for this market,” said Amy Scarth, Head of Research at EyeforTravel.

The report has revealed that online intermediaries have a higher penetration of the online market for outbound travel. For example, in 2008 about 30 percent of online domestic travel expenditure was via online intermediaries and 40 percent of online outbound travel expenditure.

Overall, the online penetration of the US airline market reached an estimated 54 percent in 2008. Airline suppliers and intermediaries have successfully pushed the use of online channels year on year. “In 2009 it is expected that just over 60 percent of the US airline market will be online and this is also expected to grow further to reach almost 70 percent by 2012,” said Scarth.

EyeforTravel Research’s North America Online Travel Report 2009

For more info, contact:
Amy Scarth
+44(0)207 3757545
or info@eyefortravelresearch.com