As many Canadians plan to travel internationally in 2023, Expedia remains a top choice for booking travel arrangements and finding amazing deals.
Launched in 1996 by Microsoft, Expedia aims to help travellers save through bundled Expedia flights and hotels and exclusive travel deals.
In this Expedia Canada review, we will look deeper into this popular platform and how to find the best travel deals.
Key Takeaways
- Expedia is a top choice for booking travel arrangements and finding amazing deals.
- Expedia Canada provides a simple way to search for money-saving travel deals through an easy-to-use website with numerous filters to generate targeted results.
- There are multiple ways to land great travel offers and deals on flights, hotels and car rentals at Expedia Canada, including joining their rewards program and checking out their Deals page.
What is Expedia?
Expedia is an online travel agency that provides a broad range of booking services, including hotel rooms, flights, airline seats, car rentals, and vacations.
One of the most widely used third-party booking platforms, Expedia allows you to book flights, hotel accommodations, and rental cars from various service providers in one place.
The website also allows easy travel planning through an array of travel options, including vacation packages, cruises and Things to Do.
How Does Expedia Work?
Booking your trips and accommodations is a straightforward process at Expedia. To start, go to the homepage and find the option you need to book.
On the Expedia Canada homepage, you will find these options:
- Stays
- Flights
- Cars
- Packages
- Things to do
- Cruises
Click on the option you need to research and supply the required data to allow Expedia to generate the results you want.
Expedia Canada Top Features
Expedia Canada Stays
The “Stays” section lets you specify your preferences to find the ideal Expedia Canada hotels and accommodations.
Use filters to make your query more targeted and to get more accurate results for your Expedia hotels search.
For Stays, the filters include property type, guest rating, star rating, payment type, area, amenities and meal plans.
After you fill out the form and your preferred filters, Expedia will generate results you can choose from.
Expedia Canada Flights
For the Flights feature, choose between the Roundtrip, One-way and Multi-city options and input details about your flight.
To get more targeted results, provide as much information as you can. The filters for the Flights section include the number of stops, Airlines such as Air Canada, travel and baggage, and departure and arrival times.
Expedia Canada Cars
If you need to rent a car, use this feature to provide the required information and get accurate results.
The filters for the Cars feature are Exclusive offer, location type, car type, capacity, cancellation policy, customer recommendation, payment option, total price, rental car company, and specifications.
Related: Learn how to rent your car to make money
Expedia Vacation Packages
Choose from numerous packages at Expedia, from beach and family to all-inclusive vacation packages in top vacation destinations.
Expedia also provides tips and recommendations on finding cheap vacation packages, where to go on a vacation on a budget and other practical travel advice.
Things To Do
The Things to Do feature on Expedia lets you find great things to do and fun activities for your travels.
Whether you are looking for family-friendly activities or cheap tickets for fun things to do on your vacation, Expedia makes your search faster with this section.
Expedia Canada Cruises
If you prefer going on a cruise over other types of holiday getaways, Expedia provides a broad range of cruise options and destinations.
Plan for your ultimate cruise getaway with a few clicks. Find your dream cruise vacation by specifying your preferences with filters like cruise lines, departure ports, ships, cabin experience and price.
How to Find Deals With Expedia
One way to find Expedia deals is by visiting the Deals tab on the website itself. Downloading the app can also save you up to 20% off on select hotels and double points when using the app to book.
Additionally, you can sign up for an Expedia Rewards membership to enjoy the following perks:
- Vacation deals plus trip ideas that can get you average savings of 15% on select accommodations worldwide
- VIP Access to top-rated hotels and properties at member prices, hotel discounts and cheap hotel rooms
- Access to a plethora of travel deals:
- Flight deals
- Hotel deals
- Travel deals
- Last-minute deals
- Package deals
- Hotels with free cancellation
- Cheap international flights
Moreover, Expedia provides six ways to save time and money in its 2023 Air Travel Hacks Report:
- Book on a Sunday to save around 15% on domestic flights and 10% on international flights.
- Book at least two months before domestic flights to save 40%.
- Book 3 months before international flights to save 10%.
- Depart before 3pm to reduce the chances of cancellations.
- Avoid travelling during peak periods to enjoy savings and shorter flight delays.
- Depart on a Friday to save up to 20% on domestic flights and on a Thursday to save 5% on international flights.
The same report offers more tips to save on every trip:
- Book your airfare, hotel and car hire together on Expedia (also known as bundling) to unlock significant savings.
- Sign up for loyalty and frequent flier programs to earn rewards points for every booking.
- Enter mileage plan numbers at checkout to earn more air miles and collect travel rewards faster.
Advantages of Expedia
- Easy-to-use website and intuitive interface
- A broad array of listings makes searching for travel easy
- Price tracker that uses AI to predict the best time to book
- Hotel price guarantee for Expedia Rewards members
- Vacation payment plans that let you book now and pay later
- Savings through bundling or booking more than one product in one transaction
- Frequent sales, deals and last-minute travel deals
- Travel insurance for trip protection
- A full refund of booked flights for cancellations done within 24 hours
- Rewards are convertible into dollars for future trips
Downsides of Expedia
- Booking directly with a provider is sometimes cheaper than Expedia due to exclusive deals
- External travel insurance may be more affordable and more comprehensive
- Bookings are not always guaranteed
- Getting a refund can be a tricky process
- Customer service may be difficult to reach
Is Expedia Legit?
Expedia is a legitimate online travel agency with years of experience in the field. Following its launch in 1996, Expedia became one of the world’s most popular online travel agencies.
Today, Expedia is part of the Expedia Group, an online travel shopping company. It bought Expedia from Microsoft in 2002 and later spun it off to become an independent publicly-traded company.
As an online platform, Expedia works to make it easy for travellers to book travel arrangements anywhere in the world and find amazing deals that help them save time and money.
Expedia Group offerings include over 3 million properties, 500+ airlines, dozens of cruise lines and thousands of car rentals.
It has more than 20 globally relevant brands, runs over 200 travel sites and has a presence in 70+ countries.
Related: Best travel agencies in Toronto and Calgary.
Expedia Alternatives
Expedia is among the best go-to booking websites for people looking to save time and money when making travel arrangements.
Even so, some alternatives can provide similar or better services, depending on your preferences.
Below are three of its closest competitors when booking travel arrangements and searching for the best online travel deals.
Hopper
Unlike Expedia, which has a website and an app, Hopper is only available as an app but has become well-known for its ability to predict airline prices, which the app says lets you save up to 65%.
You can use the Hopper app to book travels on your mobile, compare flights, book tickets, choose flexible dates, find the best time to travel, and get exclusive deals on popular hotels.
Its other features include Price Freeze, Flight Disruption Guarantee, Cancel/Change/Leave for Any Reason, VIP Support, and its Carrot Cash Rewards.
When you create a Hopper account here and enter our promo code enocho8pr, you receive a $25 welcome bonus. Check out this review of Hopper for more details.
Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a popular flight comparison site that helps you find the best prices on airfares, hotels, airline tickets, car rentals and other travel deals.
It lets you buy cheap airline tickets, compare rates, roundtrip flights, hotel offers, car rental deals and other travel services.
Through Skyscanner, you can find the cheapest day to fly, track prices, book the best time and day, and find top hotel and travel offers.
Booking.com
Booking.com is a flight-scanning website that lets you search travel deals, hotel accommodations, rental cars and any travel reservation.
The Amsterdam-based website provides various booking options with different price ranges and availability, as well as promotions, getaway deals, special offers, and instant discounts through its Genius logo.
Its features include popular destinations by month, trending destinations, browsing by property type, a quick and easy trip planner, and destination recommendations.
Should You Use Expedia For Your Next Travel Booking?
The main benefits of using Expedia are convenience and access to the best travel deals. It usually offers cheaper travel options than when you book directly with service providers.
It even offers a best-price guarantee for its flights and promises to refund you if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere.
Plus, it runs a rewards program that lets you convert rewards into dollars you can use for future trips.
While Expedia is a legit company, there are times when getting a refund from them becomes a complicated process.
A common complaint that Expedia customers have is difficulty getting a refund, which sometimes stems from misunderstanding their cancellation policies.
The key is understanding the cancellation policy for each of their offerings and avoiding cancelling or changing bookings, if possible.
Despite this, Expedia remains a preferred way for frequent travellers and vacationers who have continued to use the site for years to book trips and find great travel deals.
It is important to remember that booking with a third party requires being careful as it is harder to make changes or cancellations once you have made reservations.
You will want to be sure that the details you provided are accurate and that Expedia indeed made your reservations.
FAQs
Expedia has been around for years and has built a reputation for being one of the most widely-used travel booking sites. But as it is a third-party website, getting confirmation for the bookings and reservations may sometimes be crucial.
At Sitejabber.com, Expedia has a rating of 3.24 stars from 2,198 reviews, indicating customers are generally satisfied with their experience. At Trustpilot, Expedia.ca has a rating of 1.2 out of 295 reviews, 5% of which are 5-star ratings. Expedia is a BBB-accredited website that meets BBB accreditation standards.
Many Expedia users report not experiencing getting hidden fees when booking with Expedia. What they experienced instead was being charged cancellation fees for bookings they cancelled after the standard 24 hours.
Booking through Expedia can be cheaper because third-party services often get bulk discounts. So, they can sell their travel deals at prices less than the average. This is why travellers can save when booking through the said platform.
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