Expedia owns Orbitz, Travelocity, and Hotels.com?!

Ken g6

Programming Moderator, Elite Member
Moderator
Dec 11, 1999
16,343
4,022
75
I guess it was the expedient thing to do. ;)
 

Luna1968

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2019
1,202
680
136
speaking of travel agencies. Thomas Cook shut down and lots of people are stranded.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,134
2,446
126
Oh well, at least we have Trivago and Hotwire... oh, wait. Dammit. They own those, too.

I'm surprised that Expedia group hasn't bought Priceline or AirBnB as well. I guess that they're worried that might be a bridge too far for anti-trust regulators to pass?
 
  • Like
Reactions: clamum and Exterous

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,479
3,597
126
Oh well, at least we have Trivago and Hotwire... oh, wait. Dammit. They own those, too.

I'm surprised that Expedia group hasn't bought Priceline or AirBnB as well. I guess that they're worried that might be a bridge too far for anti-trust regulators to pass?

Trivago used to be a great site - till they bought it and killed 95% of its utility.

I think that if they bought Priceline (and Booking.com) then there would be issues with anti-trust laws. They're probably happy avoiding those and still having a huge chunk of the market
 

clamum

Lifer
Feb 13, 2003
26,252
403
126
definitely with brand name sunglasses...Luxottica pretty much owns it...
I was surprised to learn that Expedia owns all those, but Luxotica is just atrocious. They own SO MUCH glasses stuff it's un-f'ing-believable. It's a crock of f'ing B.S.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spacejamz

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
We use Kayak a lot. It looks like Booking Holdings owns:
Kayak
Booking.com
Priceline
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captante

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,164
1,637
126
It's like that with pretty much everything.
Sad but true.
All the consolidation has more or less killed all competition and everything has like 2 or 3 real competitors who all agree not to compete too hard.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
I never understand those websites. They are never cheaper than the official websites as far as airfare (for me at least).

As far as hotels, they might be better than the base price of some places - but if you have the right corporate codes and such I can always get a Marriott for under $100 usually. I also just have higher standards these days where I refuse to stay in hotels where the room door connects directly with the outside.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
I never understand those websites. They are never cheaper than the official websites as far as airfare (for me at least).

As far as hotels, they might be better than the base price of some places - but if you have the right corporate codes and such I can always get a Marriott for under $100 usually. I also just have higher standards these days where I refuse to stay in hotels where the room door connects directly with the outside.


In addition a lot of the time you lose out on certain protections provided when purchasing directly from the carrier. Frankly if the price gap is smallish I prefer to go straight to the source. (Kayak can be very useful to find a flight though)

I take the same approach with hotels.

And what exactly is wrong with a hotel room door leading directly to the outside? :p
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
In addition a lot of the time you lose out on certain protections provided when purchasing directly from the carrier. Frankly if the price gap is smallish I prefer to go straight to the source. (Kayak can be very useful to find a flight though)

I take the same approach with hotels.

And what exactly is wrong with a hotel room door leading directly to the outside? :p
Eh, just not in college anymore. When I was young and broke I didn't care but after earning more wealth and having a wife + kid that's just my bottom standard for the minimum I'm willing to stay in.

You're also spot on as far as protections. When I book with Marriott I can cancel my reservation at any time up to 2 days before the stay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Captante

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Eh, just not in college anymore. When I was young and broke I didn't care but after earning more wealth and having a wife + kid that's just my bottom standard for the minimum I'm willing to stay in.

You're also spot on as far as protections. When I book with Marriott I can cancel my reservation at any time up to 2 days before the stay.


Seriously now I do appreciate the security/comfort level of a couple additional layers between my bedroom door and mother-nature's cold drafts/critters! One time in an Econo-lodge I found a pile of leaves from Autumn-passed under the bed!

But there's also something to be said for not climbing stairs and/or schlepping inside to an elevator even if somebody else carries the bags. Also kinda like being on the ground floor asleep 20 feet from my car. (especially if I'm on a ski-trip with a shit-ton of gear)
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
I never understand those websites. They are never cheaper than the official websites as far as airfare (for me at least).

As far as hotels, they might be better than the base price of some places - but if you have the right corporate codes and such I can always get a Marriott for under $100 usually. I also just have higher standards these days where I refuse to stay in hotels where the room door connects directly with the outside.
The reason we use Kayak is it allows you to search +/- 3 days around flight dates and displays all possible prices without having to search each date individually. I don't think other sites have this.

Hotels.com we use all the time because of the rewards... book 10 nights get 1 free. I never deal with credit card rewards that give you travel bonuses (rather take the constant 2% cash back) so this is ideal for us.

Also, we do a lot of hotels for travel sports. Basically the prices from sites are all similar so where you book from doesn't matter much, it's the hotel-specific reward perks that separate. Like a higher level of Hilton Honors gives you free breakfast buffet when otherwise it's like $15pp. We only have the free level for each, but asked nicely and they gave us the buffet last time.
 
Last edited:

Exterous

Super Moderator
Jun 20, 2006
20,479
3,597
126
I never understand those websites. They are never cheaper than the official websites as far as airfare (for me at least).

For the large hotels chains that's pretty much par for the course. But I've had good success stacking sales with promo codes for non-large chain hotels for notable discounts compared to booking directly. Around a 16% discount is fairly standard when it works but I've gotten up to 50% when the stars align.

I think we have similar access to Marriott discounts but I have yet to figure out the rhyme or reason behind their, IHGs and Hiltons code pricing. I have a mix of stays at all of them coming up because their discounts can vary geographically. So similar category and located marriott will be notably cheaper than the other two but go to another city and all of a sudden IHG is $50 less a night.

Also - all three occasionally forget to adjust pricing for the higher rooms. So the code pricing for the deluxe king is the same as the standard king room.
 
Nov 8, 2012
20,828
4,777
146
They should merge the names and call it YouTube...

a821.gif