Just Tap and Go: Expedia Introduces Expedia Hotels for iPad and Android Tablets

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia.com® (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world's leading online travel agency, today announced the availability of a major update to its popular Expedia® Hotels app for the iPhone and Android OS, which adds full support for iPad and Android tablets.  Since launching in spring 2011 on iPhone and Android, Expedia Hotels has become one of the world's most popular hotel booking apps. The Expedia Hotels mobile app has been downloaded almost two million times and has been the #1 free travel app in more than 40 countries on the iTunes App Store.

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To mark the availability of the Expedia Hotels application optimized for tablets, Expedia will host a Twitter chat today starting at 10:00 AM PST to talk about the relationship between travel and mobile technology.  US-based participants who follow the @Expedia Twitter handle and use the hashtag #expchat will be entered to win an iPad 2 loaded with top travel apps, including Expedia Hotels.

The tablet-optimized launch comes at a time when travelers are choosing more and more to bring their tablet on trips, rather than a laptop. For those on the road or in their living room, Expedia Hotels helps customers quickly pinpoint, research and book more than 130,000 hotels, via intuitive design, lush graphics, gorgeous high-resolution photos and a beautifully tactile booking experience. The entire booking process – from start to finish – requires only four taps, though consumers may be tempted to linger, given Expedia Hotels' mix of elegant design and crisp efficiency.

In more than half of the booking scenarios on the iPhone, customers book hotels for the same night. With Expedia Hotels, they can instantly find available hotels within walking distance, and can search and narrow via price, distance or review rating.

"One pillar of our Expedia Everywhere strategy aims to delight the Earth's travelers with a sleek, simple, gorgeously designed experience beyond what is possible on desktop computers," said Scott Durchslag, president, Expedia Worldwide. "There is no device better suited for enjoying your Expedia experience than a tablet. Travel is intrinsically a mobile experience, so as more consumers use mobile devices, Expedia.com will become like a personalized travel assistant that is always with you wherever, whenever, and however you want to discover, plan, book, or enjoy travel. If you want the perfect room at the right price, without delay, Expedia Hotels for iPad or Android really delivers."

Expedia Hotels is available for free on the iTunes App Store and Android Market.

Key features include:

• Real-time availability of more than 130,000 hotels worldwide
• Gorgeous hi-res hotel photos
• One-tap ability to compare multiple hotel details and locations
• Secure booking in four taps
• Ability to see all available hotel rooms & suites in vicinity, via GPS, through an interactive map layout
• Filter by price, distance, hotel name, and traveler rating
• Access to the Expedia library of more than 4 million individual traveler reviews
• Amenities, directions and detailed descriptions for every hotel
• User information is automatically saved to simplify future bookings
• Localized for 16 languages worldwide including:
  • Chinese – Simplified
  • Chinese – Traditional (Hong Kong)
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English(UK)
  • French
  • German
  • Indonesian/Bahasa (Indonesia)
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Malay/Bahasa (Malaysia)
  • Norwegian
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Spanish   
  • Swedish

About Expedia
Expedia.com is the world's leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, and services. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available online for all types of travel.

Expedia, Expedia.com and the Airplane logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2011 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-50

SOURCE Expedia.com