Expedia Begins Partnership With Amadeus

Long-Term Agreement Is Part of Expedia's Multiple Global Distribution System Strategy, and Offers Greater Flight Selection to More Destinations for European Travelers

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) , the world's leading online travel company, today announced the activation of a long-term technology partnership with Amadeus IT Group, a global leader in technology solutions for the travel and tourism industry.

Connectivity with Amadeus is being activated in two phases: selected Expedia points of sale in Europe are currently booking select flight segments through Amadeus during the first phase, while the second phase will enable Expedia's points of sale in the Asia-Pacific region to utilize Amadeus in the third quarter, 2006.

The partnership with Amadeus represents a significant step for Expedia, which has committed to a multi-GDS strategy in order to provide customers with an improved experience by presenting greater flight selection and more destination options.

"The connection with Amadeus is a major milestone because it will offer greater options and redundancy regarding Expedia's connectivity to airlines, as well as provide our customers a richer shopping experience," said Paul Brown, president of Expedia's Partner Services Group. "This agreement gives Expedia a greater degree of flexibility around our access to the best fares and inventory availability, and further differentiates our value proposition to both travelers and select airline partners."

"We are excited to strengthen our relationship with an industry leader such as Expedia," said Gillian Gibson, vice president, Amadeus Multinational Customer Group. "Our low-fare search technology and full content agreements with leading airlines have made us a partner of choice for online travel agencies in Europe and help us to help Expedia better meet the needs of its customers worldwide."

About Expedia, Inc.

Expedia, Inc. is the world's leading online travel company, empowering business and leisure travelers with the tools and information they need to easily research, plan, book, and experience travel. Expedia, Inc. also provides wholesale travel to offline retail travel agents. Expedia, Inc.'s portfolio of brands include: Expedia.com(R), hotels.com(R), Hotwire(R), Expedia(R) Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor(TM) and Classic Vacations(R). Expedia, Inc.'s companies also operate internationally with sites in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and China, through its investment in eLong(TM). .

Source: Expedia, Inc.
BELLEVUE, Wash., May 11, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

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