Expedia’s new rewards program gets low marks

June 17, 2011 | Online Travel

While Expedia's reward points may translate into an additional 1% discount of air ticket bookings and an additional 0.7% - 2% discount on hotel bookings, analysts expect the loyalty program to gain limited traction among travelers.

Expedia Rewards Program is a spend-based program offering members reward points in direct proportion to the amount they spend on booking flights, hotel stays, car rentals and other services on Expedia Websites. These reward points are in addition to those offered by the loyalty programs run by airlines, hotel chains and credit card companies, and can be redeemed for discounts on subsequent future bookings on Expedia.

Under Expedia's reward program, earning and redeeming reward points is limited to travel. Compare this with credit cards' and airlines' loyalty programs where users earn points on shopping, dining, paying bills along with travel, and can collect sufficient reward points quickly to redeem against something significant.

While Expedia's loyalty program could be attractive to frequent flyers, it is best suited for corporate clients and travel agents who can collect sufficient points to be used only for travel.

Get the full story at The Street

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