Expedia United Kingdom
In 1996, Expedia.com was launched on the world-wide-web and was one of the first online travel agencies: Microsoft Expedia Travel Services. ‘ Expedia ’ was born out of the words ‘Speed’ and ‘Exploration’. The company went public in 1999, just as the dot-com bubble was bubbling up.  Expedia has played a significant role in revolutionizing and democratizing travelby empowering customers to manage their travel plans. Under the aegis of a leading technology organization, they built and leveraged proprietary technology to connect partners and their inventory to the travelers.

The company lives by the mission to “power global travel for everyone, everywhere”. Their goal is to build great products which facilitate connections between travelers and partners.The Expedia platform is driven by 70+ petabytes of data and has a backing of 20+ years of innovation.

Over 25 years, the company burgeoned significantly and spread to multiple global locations, including United Kingdom. Acquiring Travelocity was important to make this move into the country. They were incorporated in September 1999 in the UK. They offer a wide range of services such as flights, hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, and other activities to travelers across the UK. To help with the decision-making, they also have travel guides and other resources using which the traveler can find relevant information. With its user-friendly website and mobile app, customers can easily search and book travel arrangements to meet their unique needs and preferences. The website can be accessed in English and multiple other languages too. As of March 2023, the website had total visits of 6.8 Mn, with customers visiting 6 pages on an average. In the UK, key competitors include trivago, Opodo, and FirstChoice.

In this region, Expedia has established itself as one of the leading online travel agencies (OTAs), providing customers with access to a vast inventory of travel options and deals. Considering the expanse of the UK, from England, to Scotland, to Northern Ireland and Wales, Expedia offers an excellent blend of travel options. In addition to standard travel services, Expedia UK offers a loyalty plan called Expedia Rewards, allowing customers to earn points on eligible bookings which can be redeemed for subsequent travel reservations.This also allows the travelers to access Member Prices while logged into their account. Andbeing a multi-tier offering, greater the spends and use of the points will allow access to higher tiers which offer more perks. They also offer a Best Price Guarantee, promising customers the best possible price on their bookings. At the same time, they offer the Price Match Guarantee, through which if a customer finds a lower price for the same flight or hotel within 48 hours of booking, Expedia will refund the difference and also offer a 5-pound travel voucher.

They provide 24/7 customer service and support through a virtual bot to assist travelers with their issues and queries. If the answers don’t suffice there is also the option of connecting with an agent.

Expedia UK has won numerous awards for their travel services, including “Best Online Travel Agent” at the British Travel Awards for 10 consecutive years from 2010 to 2019. 

Their London offices are very close to the Angel Tube, located in the London Borough of Islington. Employee get-togethers, hackathons, Thursday evening socials and other fun activities are hosted here.