The Joy of Six: Beginning March 31, Expedia to Give Away More Than One Million Dollars in Luxury Travel to Facebook Friends

BELLEVUE, Wash., March 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia.com, the world's leading online travel agency, today announced the start of an unprecedented Facebook promotion that will deliver more than one million dollars' worth of travel to friends on Facebook. The Expedia® FriendTrips™ Game is the largest sweepstakes ever hosted on Facebook. Expedia FriendTrips begins today and will run for six weeks. At the game's conclusion, the vacations will be awarded to the winning entrants.

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To play, prospective world travelers merely need to become a fan of Expedia's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/expedia. They will then create a "virtual plane" and will point that plane towards one of a series of vacation destinations. They will populate the plane with five of their Facebook friends, each of whom simply needs to "fan" Expedia. The friends are entered to win once they accept the invitation.

"Expedia FriendTrips is not only the largest sweepstakes ever hosted on Facebook, it is the largest promotion in Expedia's history by a wide margin," said Scott Durchslag, president, Expedia Worldwide. "This is a major step in our new strategy that we call 'Expedia Everywhere.' Expedia Everywhere means that if you're dreaming about travel, booking travel, taking travel, or sharing your travel experience with your friends and family, Expedia will be with you at every step of your journey.

"Social media is a pillar of our new strategy, along with mobile, where we just announced Expedia Hotels for iPhone and Android," Durchslag continued. "Nothing is more intrinsically mobile and social than travel which is why it contributes the most image content on both the social and photo-sharing sites. Expedia is building a powerful online community where people can share their travel experiences with one another and with all of our travelers. I believe a million dollars' worth of free travel will be a magnificent experience for our friends on Facebook. This, along with our new Expedia Rewards program, where you earn points on all your travel spend irrespective of the airline or hotel you choose, is our way of saying thank you to our customers for making Expedia the world's largest online travel agency."

The vacations are extraordinary. Most of the trips have been contributed by the Conventions and Visitors' Bureaus and key partners representing different regions of the world. Five of the trips each are valued at up to $100,000 or more. Destinations include:

• Wonders of South America:  The winner and five friends will be flown in Premium Business Class on LAN Airlines to Chile and then on to Peru and Foz do Iguassu (Brazil) for a luxury 14-day tour (valued at up to $160,000);
• Luxury in St. Vincent: The winner and five friends will fly to Buccament Bay Resort on St. Vincent in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, where they will spend 7-nights in private waterview villas while enjoying spa visits, golf, scuba, tours and more (valued at up to $125,000);
• European Cruise: Winners will fly First Class to Venice or Rome and tour the Mediterranean aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Jade. The winner and five friends will stay in a super-exclusive 6,000 sq ft. Garden Villa with their own personal butler service (valued at up to $100,000);
• Viva Las Vegas: The winner and five friends will experience Vegas like the VIPs they are. This prize includes seven nights in a 4-star suite, limo service, access to the biggest shows, finest restaurants and hottest clubs, plus spa treatments, a shopping spree, golf, helicopters and more (valued at up to $100,000); and
• Extraordinary trips to Australia, Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda, Banff Lake Louise in Canada, France, Villa La Estancia at the Riviera Nayarit in Mexico, New York, South Africa, South Korea or at the Bora Bora Le Moana Resort InterContinental in Tahiti.

Participants can double and even triple their chance of winning by bringing more Facebook friends into the game. A Facebook friend on one plane can join multiple planes, or they can build different planes of their own. Once a particular entrant has brought 25 friends into the Expedia FriendTrips Game, their chance of winning doubles. Should they bring 50 friends into the game, their chance of winning triples.

Expedia will also award four $250 Expedia travel credits daily to contest participants who contribute pictures and share stories of why they want to visit a particular featured destination.

About Expedia.com

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

Web site: http://www.expedia.com/

SOURCE Expedia, Inc.