Founded in 1996, this top travel agent is one of the world’s leading full-service online, helping travellers easily plan and book their Expedia holidays from the best selection of holiday packages, flights, hotels, rental cars, rail, cruises, attraction, and much more.
A global site with more than 40 languages. Owned by a larger group that includes some of the world’s leading online travel agents.
The Expedia US Group covers almost every point of you researching, planning, and booking your holiday or travel. The Group has over 200 Travel Booking sites in 70 countries, over 24,000 employees in more than 30 countries. The company also supplies 1 million properties, over 175 rental car companies, 12 cruise lines over 35,000 activities, and over 500 airlines.
IATA & ATOL Protection:
When creating a flight-inclusive package holiday “all-inclusive holidays” on this top travel agents website, you are financially protected by the ATOL scheme (ATOL Number 5788. However: the ATOL protection does not apply to all travel services listed on their website and the company mentions that “you may still be financially protected when booking certain travel services listed on this website”
If your package holiday is ATOL protected Expedia does send a certificate with your booking confirmation, IF that certificate is not attached to the booking confirmation you will not be protected for your package holiday selection.
IATA (International Air Transport Association) Accredited Agent – a member of the trade association for the world’s airlines, representingr 290 airlines and 82% of total air traffic.
What Expedia Holidays are on offer?
With this top travel agent, you can find top deals on Expedia holidays around the world. From cheap city breaks and last-minute deals on luxury all-inclusive holidays, you’ll find them all. The company also offers thousands of great hotel deals suitable for every pocket.
A great selection of accommodations from bed & breakfast and cheap hotels to five-star and luxury. Whatever you are looking for from all-inclusive holidays on the beach in Tenerife to a city break in New York they have it all at your fingertips.
Cheap Holiday Deals
With Expedia Holidays it is very easy to peace together with the perfect cheap holiday deals, as you can make your travel deal even cheaper by booking a package holiday or all-inclusive holidays. There is also the option to book flights and hotels separately, offers on cheap holiday deals, and more. Really with this top travel agent, it doesn’t matter how you book your Expedia holidays, the Travel Deals and discounts from this top travel agents can save you money.
2021 Black Friday Travel Deals
This top travel agent has reserved their best savings for Members Only, which is Free to and very quick to join. Just sign up or in to your Expedia Members account to access the biggest Member-Only Black Friday Sale, with thousands of hotels at 30% OFF or more through to the end of November 2022.
Payments Methods:
How do you pay for your All-inclusive Holidays with this top travel agency?
When booking a holiday you must make a single payment online using a Debit Card like Maestro, Mastercard Debit, Visa Electron, Visa Debit, and Delta. Using a credit card. For US customers you can use your Nectar points to pay for Flight + hotel and Flight + Hotel + Car holiday bookings with Expedia Holidays. More info here…
Other Payment…
..options include Credit and Debit Cards from companies like VISA and MasterCard with no restriction to where they are issued. PayPal fast and secure way to pay, although you need to follow the PayPal Terms & Conditions.
How to use an Expedia discount code:
Choose a hotel or Expedia holidays package, and follow the booking process to the payment page.
Under “How would you like to pay?”, select Enter an Expedia discount code.
Enter your code and select Apply Discount code.
To save a discount code to your account:
When you receive an Expedia discount code via email, you can save the voucher to your account by selecting the link in the email.
To use a saved voucher code:
- Sign in to your account.
- Go to My Account and select Voucher Code.
- Select Use Voucher Code next to the coupon you want to use.
- Search for eligible travel
- Select the option you would like to book
Saved voucher codes also show up as a payment option when you make a booking while signed in to your account. On the payment page under “How would you like to pay?”, select the voucher you would like to use.
Holidays Booking Mobile App:
Want to put your whole trip in one app or take a shortcut to your Expedia holidays? This is what the App offers you in one place. If you are searching for a hotel now and want to earn double points towards free travel on all your purchases. Access your travel plans even without any Wi-Fi and receive important alerts when you need them.
All of this in one simple app from this top travel agent where you can bundle your all-inclusive holidays, access thousands of reviews to help you find the best place to stay. Search for a flight only and keep all your important details offline and ready to go.
Download the Expedia US App and:
- Access to chat support
- Free Cancellation on selected hotels
- Make changes to your booking
- Expedia Rewards:
- Why join Expedia US Rewards?
Expedia US Rewards, where you can save an average of £35 for every cheap holiday deals booking with your points. With Expedia US Rewards, you will get an Extra 10% or more on selected hotels. You can use your points to save on future travel plans.
Earn points on every trip, with Expedia US Rewards for every £1 you spend you earn 2 points, except for flights where you earn 1 point for every $5 you spend (double these points with the App). Upgrade to Silver or Gold membership status and earn points even faster. (Table with the Points earning scheme).
Is Expedia safe?
Just how safe is Expedia to use for booking your travel arrangements?
We always encourage our members to book their flight and accommodation separately, so it’s a question we get quite often here at The Getaway Lounge.
Expedia is a very safe platform for you to book travel arrangements for your next trip. In fact, they’re one of the biggest and most active booking sites in the world, meaning they are very well equipped to safely manage a range of enquiries and potential problems.
But we can totally understand why you might be suspicious.
Besides, if you haven’t booked with them before it’s only natural to be cautious.
So, in this post we’re going to explain exactly why you don’t need to worry about that, whilst covering some frequently asked questions so you can better decide for yourself.
Is Expedia reliable?
Expedia have been established for many years now, and they are just as reliable as many of the other top sites.
In fact, they’re one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world.
Yes, they’ve been accused of pressure selling techniques in the past – but this is a practise which is common with many companies across the globe!
And following a recent investigation undertaken by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) – all booking sites have now agreed to being more honest and transparent.
The changes have been swiftly implemented, and it’s clear to see that all involved will continue to be monitored.
Are Expedia reviews accurate?
There’s no hiding from the fact that Expedia have accumulated a lot of bad reviews over recent years.
But then again you have to put this into perspective.
Each day, hundreds of thousands of bookings are made on their platform!
And it’s inevitable that many of those who have a bad experience will share it online.
But the real problem does not usually lie with the platform – it lies with the accommodation or airline itself.
A lot of the time it will feel like Expedia have cancelled your reservation or got mixed up with dates and preferences for example.
When in a matter of fact, it probably wasn’t their fault at all.
They are a reservation site and have no say in how the hotel or airline is operated, nor do they have any authority to argue on your behalf.
So, the best way to avoid any nasty surprises is to read the hotels / airlines reviews carefully – the people you’re relying on to deliver what you’ve paid for.
Besides, those that don’t have any problems will rarely feel the need to post anything in the platform’s favour.
Those who have a great stay or flight might give the company a positive review through Expedia, but they’re unlikely to review the platform direct!
Are Expedia ATOL protected?
The law states that your holiday must be protected if it is a package holiday.
And so if you decide to arrange a trip yourself and book your flights and accommodation separately, you won’t be ATOL protected with Expedia.
If you choose to book a package holiday however, you may be covered by the scheme.
Are Expedia covered by ABTA?
ABTA is designed to cover holidays bought in the US that don’t include flights.
Expedia are therefore not a member of this scheme.
Is my money safe with Expedia?
Absolutely – your credit card information and personal data is secure in the system.
They only collect your information in order to make a reservation with the accommodation or airline itself.
In fact, you could argue that making a booking through Expedia is actually safer than going direct!
Especially if you’re travelling abroad to places without the best functioning websites or technology.
Why should I use Expedia?
Expedia have an incredibly user-friendly interface, an impressive selection of hotels, flights and competitive prices.
Not only do they offer great flexibility, but you can really focus in on your preferences.
For example, you can sort your search by lowest price first, read online reviews and enable other useful filters such as proximity to the city centre for any accommodation.
The latter is one of our favourite filters which many people overlook.
Especially if you’re just going away for a short break, we think it’s usually best to be within walking distance from the centre if possible.
That said, these properties often come with a price.
Not unless you sacrifice other luxuries like space, or an ensuite bathroom for example.
Otherwise, you can always have a scan through the interactive map to see if there’s any public transport nearby, like a metro!
This is particularly handy if you’re staying somewhere famously expensive like Rome or Paris for instance.
How does Expedia work?
Traditionally, travel arrangements were booked through an agent who specialise in hotels, flights and everything else in between.
Today, sites like Expedia handle everything to provide much greater flexibility with the help of their easy-to-use platform.
It just takes a little bit more digging around, but once you’ve gotten used to the platform, you’ll be glad you took the time to master it.
Each listing should have plenty of images you can flick through, with a comprehensive description on the location, things to do around the property, and facilities etc.
Make sure you take a good look at the reviews left by guests and you’ll soon have a good idea as to where you’d like to stay.
How can I mitigate the risk of there being any problems?
Assuming you’ve done a little research before booking your accommodation or flight, 99% of the time you shouldn’t have to worry about anything.
That said, there would be no harm in taking some precautions to mitigate any miscommunications between Expedia and the hotel.
For example, you could confirm directly with the hotel that they have received your reservation.
If you have any further requirements such as the balcony view, or breakfast included – you could even go as far as double checking this with the accommodation provider.
This way you can be even more certain that they’re expecting you, and everything should be in order.
You shouldn’t have to do any of the above, but I guess you might find it necessary.
Conclusion
Expedia is a very safe platform for you to book your next trip with.
They might not be ATOL or ABTA protected, but this is true for all “non package” holidays!
If you don’t like the idea of not being covered however, then a travel agent may be your best bet.
Similarly, if you don’t like the idea of having to browse through the platform, we would recommend a travel agent.
Otherwise, Expedia is a great option.