Expedia.com, launched in 1996 as Microsoft Expedia Travel Services, was one of the first online travel agencies. The name ‘Expedia’ was formed by combining the words ‘Speed’ and ‘Exploration’. Expedia went public in 1999, just as the dot-com bubble was forming, and has since played a significant role in revolutionizing and democratizing travel by empowering customers to manage their travel plans. The company has built and leveraged proprietary technology to connect partners and their inventory to travelers, and its platform is driven by 70+ petabytes of data and has a backing of 20+ years of innovation. The company's mission is to "power global travel for everyone, everywhere", and its goal is to build great products that facilitate connections between travelers and partners.
Over the past 25 years, Expedia has grown significantly and expanded to multiple global locations, including the United Kingdom. To make this move into the UK market, the company acquired Travelocity, incorporating in September 1999 in the UK. Expedia UK offers a wide range of services, including flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and other activities to travelers across the UK. To help with decision-making, the platform also has travel guides and other resources for customers to find relevant information. The website can be accessed in English and multiple other languages. As of March 2023, the website had total visits of 6.8 Mn, with customers visiting 6 pages on average. In the UK, key competitors include trivago, Opodo, and FirstChoice.
Expedia has established itself as one of the leading online travel agencies (OTAs) in the UK, providing customers with access to a vast inventory of travel options and deals. With the expanse of the UK, from England to Scotland, to Northern Ireland and Wales, Expedia offers an excellent blend of travel options. In addition to standard travel services, Expedia UK offers a loyalty plan called Expedia Rewards, allowing customers to earn points on eligible bookings that can be redeemed for subsequent travel reservations. This also allows travelers to access Member Prices while logged into their account. Being a multi-tier offering, higher spending and point usage can allow access to higher tiers that offer more perks. Expedia also offers a Best Price Guarantee, promising customers the best possible price on their bookings. At the same time, they offer the Price Match Guarantee, through which if a customer finds a lower price for the same flight or hotel within 48 hours of booking, Expedia will refund the difference and also offer a 5-pound travel voucher.
Customer service and support are available 24/7 through a virtual bot to assist travelers with their issues and queries. If the answers don’t suffice, customers can connect with an agent. Expedia UK has won numerous awards for its travel services, including “Best Online Travel Agent” at the British Travel Awards for 10 consecutive years from 2010 to 2019.
Expedia's London offices are close to the Angel Tube, located in the London Borough of Islington. Employee get-togethers, hackathons, Thursday evening socials, and other fun activities are hosted here.