Last Updated: February 22, 2024
Because of its alluring flight, room, or other travel-related deals and easy-to-use interface, you may be keen to make a booking through Expedia.
But before diving into your booking through its platform, let’s take a moment to understand what exactly Expedia is and how it works.
So by the time you finish this read, you’ll possess a comprehensive grasp of Expedia.
Let’s get started.
What Is Expedia?
Expedia is an online travel agency that allows users to find, compare, and reserve travel services like flights, accommodations, cruises, and rental cars, provided by various travel service providers.
Basically, Expedia brings together various travel services from multiple service providers like hotels, airlines, and car rentals and puts them in one place (on its website) in an easy-to-use way so that people can book their travel directly.
In this way, Expedia provides users with enhanced flexibility to access a wide array of travel services conveniently without having to visit each provider’s website individually.
Besides, Expedia isn’t just a booking platform.
It’s a comprehensive travel search engine, that enables users to refine their searches by using the filter option to locate travel services based on their preferences such as budget, stops, ratings, hotels, airlines, hotel amenities, and more.
Moreover, it shows users details about the offerings of travel providers, including their policies, property images, baggage information, amenities, seat maps, nearby locations, and other relevant information.
Expedia also lets users share their past experiences about the hotel they stayed in by writing reviews that help people who might be thinking about booking rooms on Expedia to make the right decision based on other people’s experiences.
In short, through Expedia’s website or app, travelers can access a myriad of travel options, compare prices, review feedback, and easily make bookings.
How Does Expedia Work?
Expedia acts as a middleman that connects travelers who reserve travel services via its platform with travel providers such as hotels, and airline and car rental agencies featured on its site.
Expedia neither has direct ownership of the airlines, hotels, car rental companies, etc nor runs them directly but acts as a third-party platform that only manages transactions and the overall booking process between users and these travel providers.
Let’s shed light on a step-by-step process of how Expedia works:
- Travel Service Providers Partner With Or List On Expedia: Travel service providers like airlines, hotels, and car rental companies partner with or list their services on Expedia to make them accessible to travelers for convenient sale.
- Expedia Works Together With Travel Providers: Expedia connects with its partner travel providers to obtain real-time updates on inventory, pricing, availability, and other essential details.
- Travelers Look For Travel Services: Travelers search for travel services like rooms, flights, or car rentals through Expedia’s site or app by providing their travel details, including destination, dates, and other preferences.
- Expedia Gathers And Presents Info: Expedia first collects data from its affiliated travel providers based on user search queries and then presents it to them on its platform.
- Compare And Filter: Users can compare different travel options and also filter their search based on preferences such as price, location, amenities, ratings, and more which allows them to get travel options that meet their requirements.
- Proceed To Booking Stage: Once users find their required travel service, they can proceed to the booking process where they need to put their booking details, such as full name, passport number (if necessary), email, and any other requirements.
- Pay To Reserve: Users need to enter their payment details to reserve their booking. Being a mediator, Expedia facilitates the transactions between users and travel providers.
- Users Receive Booking Confirmation: After Expedia receives the payment, it sends users a booking confirmation email which contains all their travel information such as seat and room details, amenities, and more. This confirmation is usually sent to users through email but they can also access it within their Expedia user profiles.
- Expedia Confirms Booking With Travel Provider: Expedia either notifies the travel provider about the user’s reservation or in some cases, especially for flights, handles the reservation directly with the travel provider on behalf of the user.
- Providing Booking Itinerary At Check-In: When checking in at a hotel, boarding a flight, or picking up a rental car, users need to provide the booking itinerary issued by Expedia.
- If Everything Goes Smoothly:
- Expedia allows users to submit reviews to share their experiences about the services they’ve used. This helps both Expedia and travel service providers improve their services and also helps other travelers make a well-informed decision about their booking through Expedia.
- Expedia earns a commission from travel service providers for various services, including facilitating bookings, providing exposure, paying its staff, acting as a distribution channel, covering technological expenses, and assisting in customer acquisition due to its extensive user base.
- If Something Odd Happens: If users face any issues with their bookings, they must contact Expedia for assistance instead of reaching out to the travel service provider directly because Expedia, being a mediator, is liable for resolving issues, addressing concerns, and ensuring a satisfactory outcome for its customers.
In essence, Expedia serves as a middleman linking users with different travel service providers, providing a convenient platform for users to search, compare, and book travel services all in one place.
That’s it!
So this was all about what Expedia is and how it works.
Still, if you have any questions or want to add more about Expedia, feel free to let me know in the comment section below.
