Expedia Offers “Personal Pricing” on Hotel Rooms
REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 8, 1999 — Wouldn’t it be great if you could simply state the price you’re willing to pay for a hotel room, and then quickly get a reservation at a quality hotel that fits the bill perfectly? Now you can, with the new Hotel Price Matcher from Expedia.com.
Expedia.com has introduced a way to let travelers submit a price for a hotel room and get access to extremely competitive rates that would not otherwise be available to them. With this release, Expedia.com becomes the first full-service online travel site to offer a personal pricing feature.
With Hotel Price Matcher, customers simply tell Expedia.com their dates of travel, the class of hotel they prefer (from one to five stars), and their destination, including the neighborhood of the city in which they want to stay. They then submit the price they are willing to pay for a room, and within moments they’re told whether their request has found a match. Hotel Price Matcher bookings are non-refundable and cannot be canceled, but if a higher-class room is available at the customer’s requested price, they’ll receive an automatic upgrade.
As stated in the Hotel Price Matcher promise, Expedia.com commits to customers that they will be matched with name-brand hotels or quality independent properties. Other important customer service benefits include a 12-month credit card guarantee, a privacy policy backed by TrustE, and 24-hour customer service via a toll-free number. Hotel Price Matcher is available for the top online U.S. destinations, including New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Orlando and Hawaii.
According to Richard Barton, business unit manager at Expedia.com, Hotel Price Matcher raises the bar for online travel.
“Whether customers are price-sensitive or hotel-chain loyal, Expedia.com is able to accommodate their preferences, because travelers now have the option of choosing a hotel and getting a price, or choosing a price and getting a hotel.”
Expedia.com equips its customers with valuable tools to make informed decisions about the price they request. Detailed maps and area descriptions highlighting points of interest and significant cultural, architectural and social details help customers choose neighborhoods more effectively, and a list of the approximate standard published rates helps customers determine a price to request.
The new Hotel Price Matcher joins a host of other new hotel-related features on Expedia.com. The Hotel Wizard allows customers to find a hotel near an address, access complete lists of hotels in cities worldwide within one click, and sort hotel search results by chain, price, city and distance from an address or attraction.
This announcement signifies Expedia.com’s drive to maintain its leadership position within the online travel industry. According to Media Metrix, Expedia.com was the most visited online travel site during the past four months, with 4.2 million visitors in July alone. Second quarter sales surpassed $183 million, more than triple the sales for the same period in 1998.
To launch the new service, Expedia.com is offering a special promotion, giving Hotel Price Matcher customers $25 spending money on their credit cards if their request is matched. The offer is available from September 9 until October 6, 1999.
