Saving Money On Travel With Expedia

I'm always on the lookout for the best value for money when I book a holiday, and one site that I have used on numerous occasions is Expedia. Expedia is a well known online travel website, where you can book flights, package holidays, hotels, cars, and more. In fact, you can search for over a million different combinations.

I used Expedia when I booked our California and Vegas road trip last year and was especially pleased with the price I got at The Marriott Courtyard in San Diego. Hand on heart, they had the cheapest price that I could find for the hotel online and with the extra benefit that I paid the bill to the hotel direct when we checked out.
San Diego



Expedia can bring, you the consumer, great prices due to their buying power and there are many ways in which you can save money by using Expedia.

 My Scratchpad

 One of the standout features of Expedia is 'My Scratchpad'. This tool tracks and saves your travel searches. This can be a very useful tool to monitor prices as you can see when prices increase and when they drop over long periods. It's easy to re-check prices, and by monitoring prices in advance you can pounce when the prices decrease. Obviously , rices can go up as well as down but if you are planning well in advance this is an extremely useful tool.

Searching 

 Below I have searched for a package deal - flight and hotel leaving from Gatwick on the 1st of August 2016 to Orlando, with economy flights. 


By booking your flight and hotel together you can save up to 15%. As you can see bottom right you can also collect Nectar points on your booking too - useful to know!

You can sort your searches via Package Discount, Most Popular, Price, Guest Rating and Star Rating. The first hotel above is a sponsored link but the rest of the hotels are organised via price.  You can also filter your results with Area, Star Rating and Hotel Preferences.

 These prices are per person for flights, going indirect, and hotel accommodation for 14 nights from the 1st of August 2016. This is the school summer holidays in the UK and a time which is on of the most expensive to go to Orlando. As you can see above there are some good deals here, and the cheapest I could find was £851 per person for The M @ 6603 International Drive. You can also add on attraction tickets in the process if you wish, before you finalise your flights.

Smart Deals

 By booking a flight and hotel together the very best deals are highlighted with the Smart Deal combination. This is because Expedia has negotiated great deals with hotels and airlines alike.

No Cancellation Fee

What I particularly like is that, if your plans change, in the majority of cases, there is no Expedia cancellation fee.  This is great if you have to cancel or amend a hotel, in fact (shhh don't tell anyone), I did actually cancel one hotel on my road trip. I was pleased that it was straightforward to do so, I just logged into my account online and cancelled it by clicking on a link. 

Obviously,  you need to check the booking conditions with which you booked the hotel, however, I have found in my experience, that many hotels can be cancelled up to 24 hours before, a flight or package holiday may have different conditions.

Best Price Guarantee

If you book a hotel room on Expedia and later find a lower price any time up to 48 hours prior to check in, they will match the price. Something that I think is really impressive.

If you book and pay for a  flight and hotel, at the same time on Expedia and within 48 hours find a cheaper price they will refund the difference.

All the terms and conditions for their 'Best Price Guarantee' are on their website and it must be like for like - but if it is, you have nothing to lose!

Cashback Sites

Now here is a top tip ...Expedia can be found on the top two cashback sites in the UK, Quidco and Topcashback. * contains my referral links.

To use cashback sites you have to register with them, then, rather than going direct, you click on the company's link on the cashback site. This will take you to the company - in this case Expedia, and the cashback site should register your visit. If you buy something, an amount is put into your cashback site account once the transaction is processed. You can then withdraw this amount once it arrives in your account, which can take from a few weeks to a few months, and that's it. Free money!

I have used both Quidco and Topcashback for a long time now and although it is important to point out that cashback amounts are never guaranteed, in the majority of cases you do get the cashback. As Expedia is showing up to 12% cashback with both Quidco and Topcashback at the moment, it is certainly worth using these sites to save more money.

So there you are a guide to saving money with Expedia when booking your holiday. With 24-hour customer service at the end of the phone, a useful Expedia app and also being ATOL bonded, Expedia is one site that is constantly price smart and one which I will continue to use to book my hotels and package holidays. But don't just take my word for it, see full Expedia holiday reviews here. 

Tell me have you ever used Expedia? What do you think of their prices?

* A collaborative post
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30 comments

  1. Kara10 February 2016 at 09:48

    I have to agree Expedia is a place to always look, since the kids we do not get to go on holiday but I am saving that tip on my phone about the cashback sites as I did not know that xx

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    1. Mellissa Williams11 February 2016 at 11:31

      Yes, it's worth going through a cashback site. I have had a payout with Expedia and Quidco before now!

      Delete
  2. Ting10 February 2016 at 10:22

    I love using Expedia - but always clear cookies, cache, and history before browsing as it means even cheaper deals! x

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  3. Unknown10 February 2016 at 12:05

    This is very clever! I've always been a bookings.com person up until now. Handy tool for me and my next trips though :) x

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  4. Steph10 February 2016 at 12:13

    I have never though to look on Expedia! What a clever idea.. Thanks for the tips! x

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  5. Entrepreneur Women Daily10 February 2016 at 20:59

    That is very clever, I have always been booking on other pages, I will try Expedia next time. Thank you for sharing!

    www.brandobeauty.uk

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    1. Mellissa Williams11 February 2016 at 11:32

      Often you can just pay a deposit or even nothing at all and pay at the hotel. It's easy to budget then.

      Delete
  6. Becky Wilkinson10 February 2016 at 21:09

    Some great tips, I haven't even thought about holidays yet this year, I shoul get on it really!

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  7. Angela K Webster10 February 2016 at 21:51

    I love browsing Expedia but I haven't actually ever bought via them yet. I'll have to give them a shot next time I go away. Great tip about To Cash Back too. I love that site!

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    1. Mellissa Williams11 February 2016 at 11:33

      Certainly worth going through one of the cashback sites as I have had 12% back on my booking before. Rates do vary but it's money back and so easy to do.

      Delete
  8. Emma Lambert10 February 2016 at 22:59

    Great post and tips, thank you for sharing! I feel like booking a holiday now!x

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  9. Emily Twin Mummy and Daddy11 February 2016 at 07:55

    I always used to use Expedia to book our holidays before our children were born. It's really easy to use x

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  10. Hannah Latoya Bond11 February 2016 at 16:46

    Thanks for sharing. I've used Expedia before and think it's a great way to save money x

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  11. Unknown11 February 2016 at 18:01

    I use Expedia for all my holiday needs. I love them.

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  12. Charlotte12 February 2016 at 21:36

    I joined topcashback recently and it's surprising how it mounts up! Hopefully we will get to book a holiday this year! x

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    1. Mellissa Williams13 February 2016 at 07:11

      It does mount up a lot, it's surprising, isn't it?

      Delete
  13. Unknown12 February 2016 at 21:48

    I am terrible for shopping around when it comes to holidays! I should defo take a look at this site thanks for sharing sounds great x

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  14. Janine12 February 2016 at 21:51

    I never used Expedia before. The last holiday I booked was going to new York which will be next month and that was with booking.com. it was cheaper in the end. We looked at Expedia too.

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  15. MaBelleVie13 February 2016 at 13:17

    I always forget to use expedia!! Thanks for the reminder, great tips!

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  16. Anonymous13 February 2016 at 20:58

    The two trips abroad we have been on have been booked through Expedia. It ws a while ago though now but so simple to use.

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  17. Jenni13 February 2016 at 21:29

    I always look on camparison sites but expedia is one I forget about. Will definitely check next time x

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  18. Unknown14 February 2016 at 06:55

    I never think to use Expedia or cashback sites so thanks for the reminder. X

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    1. Mellissa Williams14 February 2016 at 15:59

      It is surprising on how much you can save with using both.

      Delete
  19. fashion-mommy15 February 2016 at 00:37

    I've used them to book hotels and have got some really good deals.

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  20. Unknown15 February 2016 at 12:01

    I've used them for hotels and B&B's they've been brill from what I can remember x

    ReplyDelete

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