Re: Expedia Starts Accepting Bitcoin for Hotel Bookings
Expedia, the big online travel site, announced on Wednesday it will begin accepting bitcoin for hotel bookings through its website.
Thus it is becoming the first major travel-agency to take the digital currency.
If the reception is good, the company said it expects to bring bitcoin to its other service lines as well.
Don't tell me this isn't great news!
Thus it is becoming the first major travel-agency to take the digital currency.
If the reception is good, the company said it expects to bring bitcoin to its other service lines as well.
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Expedia is the latest big-name retailer to embrace bitcoin. Overstock.com started accepting it in January, and the Chicago Sun-Times began accepting it in April. Dish Network announced in May that it would start accepting bitcoin. There are other travel-related services out there that take bitcoin, some smaller individual travel agencies and 9Flats, an online apartment rental site. CheapAir.com began accepting it in November. But none have the size or exposure of Expedia, which bills itself as the worlds largest full-service travel site.
Don't tell me this isn't great news!
Unfortunately, it isn't.
Walk-in rates at hotels and direct airline and vehicle bookings are almost always cheaper than booking through sites like Expedia.
Frequent travelers rarely use Expedia. In fact, first-time users are usually crestfallen once they see the prices when checking in at hotels.
There is a reason why Expedia, Orbitz, Agoda, etc are all struggling - they do not have the volume to negotiate larger deals within the very fragmented travel and tourism industries.