Expedia
Encyclopedia
Expedia is an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

-based travel website based in the US with localised sites for 21 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, UK, US). It books airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 tickets, hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 reservations, car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 rentals, cruises
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...

, vacation packages and various attractions and services via the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...

 and telephone travel agents. The site uses multiple global distribution systems
Computer reservations system
A computer reservations system is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies...

 like Amadeus
Amadeus CRS
Amadeus is a computer reservations system owned by the Amadeus IT Group with headquarters in Madrid, Spain. The central database is located at Erding, Germany. The development center is located at Sophia Antipolis, France...

 or the Sabre
Sabre (computer system)
Sabre Global Distribution System , owned by Sabre Holdings, is used by more than 55,000 travel agencies around the world with more than 400 airlines, 88,000 hotels, 24 car rental brands, and 13 cruise lines...

 reservation systems for flights and for hotels, Worldspan
Worldspan
Worldspan is a provider of travel technology and content and a part of the Travelport GDS business. It offers worldwide electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and e-commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations...

 and Pegasystems
Pegasystems
Pegasystems Inc. is a provider of Business Process Management software solutions and a Business rules Platform based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-History:Pegasystems was founded in 1983 by Alan Trefler...

, along with its own hotel reservation system for contracted, bulk-rate reservations. This last is shared with other Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington that operates several travel brands including Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Hotwire.com, Egencia , TripAdvisor, Expedia Local Expert, Classic Vacations and eLong. Expedia, Inc.’s companies operate more than 90 branded points of...

 sites.

In December 2010, Expedia removed AMR
AMR
-Companies:* AMR , a UK manufacturer of high-end audio systems* AMR Corporation, parent company of American Airlines* American Medical Response, a private ambulance operator* Arcata and Mad River Railroad...

, parent of American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

 and American Eagle Airlines
American Eagle Airlines
American Eagle Airlines is a brand name used by American Eagle Airlines, Inc. , based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Executive Airlines based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the operation of passenger air service as regional affiliates of American Airlines. All three airlines are wholly owned subsidiaries...

, listings from Expedia's site. The decision resulted from a dispute over the degree of access to the site's customers. AMR reversed its decision in April 2011, allowing tickets to once again be sold through the aggregate site.

Expedia was started by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, which they then spun off as a multi-billion dollar company because it was "no longer about software intensive technology" and they were "concerned that they would not do their best at this."

Expedia is very popular in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

and it's less known in other states.

Court Cases

In October 2011, Expedia was fined EUR 367,000 for "misleading marketing practices" by a Paris court. Expedia was found to be routinely reporting hotels as "full" and directing the customer to other nearby hotels when rooms were still available.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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