Expedia Kicks Off Industry-Leading Branding Campaign With Three Consumer-Centric Initiatives
Including Best Price Guarantee and Personal Trip Guide for Travelers
Expedia.com (R), the world's leading
online travel site, is embarking on a groundbreaking initiative that
sets 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 as a trailblazer 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 trusted 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
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: 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.'"
About Expedia.com
Expedia.com is the world's leading online travel provider,
helping more than 25 million travelers per month easily plan and book
travel. Expedia.com ( http://www.expedia.com/ ) aims to provide
personalized service, the latest technology and the widest selection of
vacation packages, flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and
in-destination activities, attractions, and services. With the Expedia
Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com promises to offer to its customers the
best rates available online for all types of travel, making it the most
comprehensive customer guarantee in online travel. Expedia.com is an
operating company of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) CST: 2029030-40
(1) Airfares must be at least $6 less than on Expedia.com
(inclusive of taxes and fees). Other restrictions apply. See site for
full details.
Source: Expedia.com
BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 17, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --