Expedia now faces issues with third party companies

Users continue to question the cost of letting third parties sell on Expedia's platform

Companies in the middle of travel plans like Expedia Group, seem to always be in hot water thanks to more and more companies choosing other options to reach customers directly. 

Exedia detailed the growing problem as it applies to online travel agent Booking Holdings. The problem won’t impact owners of EXPE stock quite as much since it’s also the majority owner of Trivago, a venue that has placed itself between the middlemen and would-be travelers.

In other words, Expedia has its frontline presence that rival Booking.com doesn’t have.

Don’t think for a minute Expedia isn’t facing its own inherent problems of being a middleman, however, as consumers and companies are increasingly capable of working directly with one another and circumventing online price-raising travel agents.

Expedia Group is just running into that headwind from a different direction.

Pushback Against Expedia

The tension has been palpable for months, but came to a head in early February. United Continental’s United Airlines was reportedly considering removing its airfare data from Expedia’s websites due to a dispute between the two parties. If the two companies can’t come to a resolution by the time the currently contract ends on September 30th, as of October 1st, United Airlines flights will not be bookable through Expedia.

The crux of the argument was the amount of money United pays Expedia.

It’s only a microcosm of the growing degree of pushback Expedia has been facing for a while now, however, as hotels, airlines and car rental companies are increasingly unclear as to the value Expedia and other sites like it bring to the table.

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