Expedia.com made permanent its removal of consumer-booking fees on flights, a charge it first eliminated as part of a promotion in March, and also decided to nix change and cancel fees on most flights and all hotel, car and cruise bookings.
Coupled with those moves, Expedia will reintroduce a phone fee for standalone flights that had been dropped during its "Free Nights & No-Fee Flights" promotion, which ends May 31. The $20 fee will go into effect on June 1.
The new policies apply only to Expedia.com bookings and not to other Expedia Inc. properties around the world.
Expedia Inc. spokeswoman Katie Deines told TravelWeekly.com that the company decided to make these moves to remain competitive and to give travelers more flexibility and value.
"It's definitely an investment in the longer-term," Deines said.
The elimination of change and cancel fees does not apply to some air bookings as part of vacation packages. Deines said that decision reflects "the value and level of service we provide" for those bookings.
Change and cancel fees, if applicable, for the flight portion of these vacation-package bookings will be displayed in the terms and conditions for these bookings, Expedia said.
The elimination of change and cancel fees applies only to Expedia's charges; consumers will still have to pay for change and cancel fees that the airline, hotel, car rental company or cruise line charges, in addition to any applicable governmental charges, the company said.
Expedia's decision to go permanent with its air-booking fee elimination and to do away with change and cancel fees puts pressure on its online travel agency rivals.
In its first quarter conference call, Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said eliminating the air-booking fees was costing Expedia about $3 million per month.
After Expedia introduced the fee-free promotion in March, Travelocity and Orbitz eventually matched the move through their own promotions. Priceline eliminated booking fees on flights last year.