| Expedia Travel provides excellent travel and lodging resources for most destinations though its tourist information contains only a sparse collection of big-name vacation spots. The most prominent features of the site are its Flight, Car, and Hotel Wizards. By providing the information requested (see related table), a traveler can examine the detailed list of options presented, and even make reservations online. In 30 minutes, one could organize a vacation from Buffalo to Tampla, Fla. over the Columbus day weekend, for example. Expedia suggests flying with Northwest Airlines for $201 round-trip, renting from National Car Rental for $34 per day, and staying at Comfort Inn for $84 per night. Users disliking sites that ask for personal information may at first cringe at Expedia Travel, as the wizards require travelers to register using their e-mail address. Providing other required information such as one's name, ZIP code and originating airport will personalize and speed travel through the site. After a registered user completes any wizard and can make the reservation, he or she may instead choose to add the results to an itinerary. Itinerary pages store information about flights, car rentals and hotels for a single trip, allowing travelers to reserve or delete them at their leisure. In giving their e-mail address, registrants may choose to enroll in Fare Tracker, a free subscription-based service that sends a report of the lowest fares for trips they designate. While Expedia Travel provides travel and lodging reservation services for most national and many international destinations, the tourist information provided seriously lacks the same depth of content. For the United States, the site listed only the first 21 states, ending with Massachusetts. The 21 cities and attractions include major cities like Atlanta and Miami, some not-so-major cities like Santa Fe, and Yellowstone National Park. Neither New York state nor attractions like Niagara Falls or the Adirondack Mountains were included. The site gave no indication of taking active measures to add more information on national tourist spots. While Expedia Travel's wizards provide a fast, convenient travel reservation system, one might still visit the local AAA office or buy a Mobil Travel Guide to obtain tourist information for its countless unlisted destinations. Score: 23 / 25
(Content-4; Images-5; Layout-4; Navigation-5; Dynamics-5)
(How our sites are rated) | Expedia Travel
Wizards In-depth Flight Wizard Traveler Provides:
—Arrival and destination airports
—Travel dates
—Number and type of passengers
—Preferred Airline * Results:
—Cheapest flights or flights listed by departure time Hotel Wizard Required data:
—Destination airport or city
—Price range *
—Amenities * Results:
—Available rooms listed by rate and room class Car Wizard Required data:
—Destination airport
—Rental dates
—Type of car
—Rental Company * Results:
—Rental companies ordered by average daily rate (* denotes optional data) |