Expedia Recommended for Family Travel Planning
The Largest Online Vacation Resource Has Much to Offer for Trips
Aug 27, 2009
Expedia is the largest online travel site in the world. Because of this, the vacation packages booked through Expedia are enormously flexible, with on-site calculators to show the savings per trip. Booking travel packages are very popular with family vacation planners, and in light of that, Expedia put together a family travel survey, and over 1,000 respondents participated. The survey participants were all residents of North America.
Expedia Family Travel Survey Results
- 94% agree that family vacations are worth the money, even in a recession or a tepid economy, but saving money on a vacation is more of a priority now than in past years
- 50%+ more prefer to take family vacations in the summer, but waiting until after Labor Day helps stretch the travel budget
- 85% voted that the time spent as a family unit on their last trip was what made it so special, regardless of where the vacation was (although they enjoyed their travels as well)
- 30% say that their last truly great family trip was five or more years prior to taking the survey
Expedia Family Travel Survey Discussion
- It doesn't take months of intense online research to plan an affordable family vacation. 27% of the survey participants enjoyed spur of the moment trips as much as, if not more, than thoroughly planned vacations. Expedia can be used for last minute deals and packages as well as ones set for the future.
- 64%, or nearly two of of three survey participants, have taken their children on family trips to destinations they themselves went to as kids. The importance seems to be not so much a factor of the destination being superior to other places in North America, but of sentimentality and nostalgia. Children influence the vacation destination in other ways too; over a quarter (28%) of travel planners surveyed indicated that the choice of destination focused purely on what would make their children happy.
- North Americans greatly enjoy car trips. 69%, or almost seven out of ten travelers surveyed, noted an appreciation for the benefits of road trips with families. The ability to tweak plans along the way, stop as need be, and make unexpected, interesting stops along the way are helpful during long car rides. As a matter of fat, Expedia was so impressed by the popularity of road trips among family travel planners that a new tool was created: Drive Getaway allows users to plug in starting points, and see TripAdvisor's top-rated hotels, attractions, and destinations on a quarter tank, half tank, and full tank of gas. This partnership with TripAdvisor is another element of the value-added experience users find when using Expedia.
Now, Expedia recently settled a class-action lawsuit that contended that the website paid hotel taxes based on room's wholesale prices but collected based on their retail prices. However, things are already bouncing back for the website. After the lawsuit was settled, over four times as many hotels participated in Expedia's June sales event this year when compared with last year's big sales event. This 'Biggest Hotel Sale Ever" seems to be the biggest hotel sale in the history of travel sales. The value-added loyalty program, partnership with TripAdvisor, and Drive Getaway tool enhances the user satisfaction of Expedia. Be it family travel, booking travel packages, the lack of booking fees or the ease of two-way communication with the site, Expedia has much to offer for the online travel planner.
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