Expedia.com
is embarking on an initiative which it hopes will set a new industry standard for empowering consumers in booking travel. The effort builds on Expedia’s extensive service offerings,
original content and technology to deliver tremendous value to consumers on
top of the company’s transactional abilities for booking airfare, hotels or
other trip components.  To help launch the program, Expedia is introducing
three customer-centric product initiatives:  a Best Price Guarantee; Your
Personal Trip Guide, which brings Expedia’s extensive travel data and
information directly to bear on designing customers’ personal travel
itineraries; and the Expedia Promise, which outlines the company’s commitment
to stand behind its customers through the entire travel experience.
  Marking its tenth year in the online travel industry,
Expedia is once again reinventing the way people plan and purchase
travel—with unique offerings to enhance the overall travel experience, from
providing travel inspiration and ideas, to recommending itineraries for
customers’ destinations, all while delivering consumers confidence and
assurance of value and service.  Besides guaranteeing the best online price
for consumers’ travel purchases, the three new initiatives provide the
personal feel of a high-quality travel agent, all within the
Expedia.com web site.

  An Industry-Transforming, Consumer-Focused Value Proposition
  “Expedia’s innovative approach raises the bar in empowering customers to
enjoy their trip, and we believe these new initiatives will give customers
even more compelling reasons to book travel with us,” said Steven McArthur,
president, North America Leisure Travel Group at Expedia.  “Expedia’s
pioneering role in developing the online travel sector has educated consumers
about the wealth of available travel information and the ease of planning and
executing their bookings,” he added.  “After a decade of industry-leading
innovation, we have helped our customers become more sophisticated and
discerning purchasers of travel services.  Our new initiatives extend our
enduring commitment to meeting customers’ needs, especially as they become
evermore focused on personal service and attention.”

  Expedia’s Three New Customer-Centric Initiatives

  — Best Price Guarantee gives travelers the assurance that they are
receiving the best value possible when planning a trip through Expedia.  If a
customer finds a lower price online for the same trip—whether airfare,
hotel, vacation package, car rental, cruise, or destination activity or
service—within 24 hours of booking at Expedia.com, Expedia will reimburse
the difference and also give the customer a $50 coupon for future travel.(1)
“This is the best and most comprehensive offering available anywhere in online
travel,” said Sally McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising and
retail operations at Expedia.  “We are committed to giving our customers
unparalleled travel selection, value and service. Customers making their
travel plans through Expedia will now have even greater confidence that they
are obtaining the best fares and room rates available—all backed by the
industry leading guarantee.”  More information is available at
http://www.expedia.com/guarantee.

  — Expedia is also launching the industry’s first interactive and
up-to-date personalized web site, Your Personal Trip Guide, created for every
traveler who books a flight as part of their trip. Your Personal Trip Guide
will provide Expedia customers with detailed destination information,
including recommended itineraries for the customer’s length of stay, all in
one place that is available to the customer at all times leading up to their
trip—they can even share it with friends and family. Expedia customers will
access their Personal Trip Guide through a personalized URL contained in their
post-purchase email. The feature gives Expedia customers
anytime-, anywhere-access to the travel intelligence they need leading up to
their trip.

  — The Expedia Promise is the company’s public statement to customers
about the superior level of service they can expect from Expedia. “The Expedia
Promise is the foundation of our relationships with customers,” said Donna
Wells, senior vice president of marketing at Expedia.  “Our goal is to be a
valued asset to our customers from the moment they first start thinking about
taking a trip to the time they return home, and to ensure their entire travel
experience is enjoyable,” she added. The seven principles that underscore The
Expedia Promise are available on the Expedia website at:
http://www.expedia.com/promise.

  Expedia will showcase its new positioning in all communications with
customers, including a nationwide ad campaign by Deutsch Los Angeles that
captures the excitement of travel, and spotlights the customer-centric
initiatives. The new ads will also feature the company’s new tagline, “Enjoy
your trip.”
  “In delivering our customers their Personal Trip Guide, and backing our
service with a best-in-class price guarantee, all tied together with our
promise to stand behind our customers, Expedia is raising the bar by
empowering consumers to enjoy their trip,” Mr. McArthur said. “Every touch
point we have with customers—whether on the phone, in their online
experience, or at our in-destination locations—will support our pledge to
be ‘Your Personal Travel Company.’”
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