Expedia Kicks off Campaign

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. October 14, 2008

JANUARY 18, 2006. Expedia.com is embarking on an initiative which it hopes will set 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 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 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 http://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: http://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.'"