Expedia throws down the gauntlet on booking fees with new multi-million dollar campaign

The world's largest online travel company, Expedia, has launched a new multi-million dollar marketing and advertising campaign in Australia and New Zealand. The campaign, which focuses on flight booking fees, throws down the gauntlet with local competitors who continue to charge their customers booking fees which, according to Expedia, offer no value to customers.

Research* commissioned by Expedia late last year found that almost three quarters of Australians and New Zealanders are angered when websites charge fees and believe they should not be charged.

Nicolas Chu, General Manager, Expedia Australia and New Zealand, said: "Australians and New Zealanders should be made aware of the amount of money they pay in fees, particularly flight booking fees, with other travel websites. These fees offer absolutely no value whatsoever to the traveller. At Expedia, we believe we should put the traveller first, not how much money we can make from them in fees."

The campaign includes a 30-second television spot currently airing in Australia and New Zealand encouraging consumers to think twice about where they book their flights.



About 18 months ago, Expedia removed booking fees on all flights booked through its Australian and New Zealand websites, Expedia.com.au and Expedia.co.nz. The two websites subsequently also eliminated Expedia change and cancellation fees on all flights, hotels, packages and car reservations booked on the sites.

While Expedia.com.au continues to lead the campaign against fees, some online travel agents (OTAs) in Australia continue to charge customers fees of up to $50 to book a flight. They also charge various fees to change/cancel a flight, hotel or package.

*Research conducted by Sweeney Research among 800 Australians and 300 New Zealanders.

**Comparison table of flight booking fees charged by the various OTAs.

Charges incurred by booking an International flight – Australia OTAs:

Travel Company - Charges for International flight bookings

Expedia Free

Webjet $49.90 per booking

Webjet $35.90 (New Zealand and Pacific flights only) per booking

Jetabroad Up to $30 per booking

BestFlights $18.95 per booking

Wotflight $16.95 per booking

Harvey World Travel $14.95-$19.95 per booking

Travel.com.au $14.95 per booking

Lastminute.com.au $14.95 per booking

Charges incurred by booking a Domestic flight – Australia OTAs:

Travel Company - Charges for Domestic flight bookings

Expedia Free

Webjet $30.90 per booking

Jetabroad $27 per booking

BestFlights $18.95 per booking

Wotflight $16.95 per booking

Flight Centre $16.95 per booking

Escape Travel $16.95 per booking

Harvey World Travel $14.95-$19.95 per booking

Travel.com.au $14.95 per booking

Lastminute.com.au $14.95 per booking

**About the charges

1.    The above fees were found by searching for flights on the websites of each of the above travel companies at 10:30 am (AEST) on Monday, 7 March 2011. Therefore, the fee comparison is based on the information provided by those companies about the additional fees they may charge when booking a domestic or international flight online.

2.    This table is only meant to give an idea of the additional fees there are often charged by other travel companies and is not a quote or an assessment of the airfare price differences between travel companies.  Some travel companies also charge different booking fees for bookings made over the telephone.



About Expedia.com.au

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world's leading online travel company, operates Expedia.com.au™ (http://www.expedia.com.au/) in Australia. Expedia helps Australians plan and book their travel by providing a personalised service, the latest technology and a wide selection of holiday packages, cheap flights, hotel bookings, car hire, in-destination attractions & activities, adventure tours and travel insurance to suit their travel needs.

Expedia, Expedia.com.au, the Airplane logo and Where You Book Matters are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the US and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2011 Expedia, Inc.  All rights reserved.