Expedia.com Now Accepts Bitcoin to Give Travelers More Choice and Flexibility in Hotel Payments

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Jun 11, 2014, 11:00 ET

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia.com® (Nasdaq: EXPE), the world's largest full service online travel site*, today announced it is now accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for hotel purchases. Offering travelers another way to book online, customers can now shop from the world-class inventory of a vast array of hotels available on Expedia.com, and for the first time ever beginning today, easily pay for their hotel accommodations using bitcoin.

"Expedia, Inc. is in a unique position, as one of the world's leading online travel agencies, to solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the latest payment technologies," said Michael Gulmann, Vice President, Expedia Global Product. "We're continually looking at ways consumers want to pay for their travel; bitcoin is a great example of how Expedia is investing early in an array of payment options to give our customers and partners more choice in the ways they interact with us."

Expedia partnered with Coinbase, a trusted third-party bitcoin payment processor, to integrate bitcoin payment support into the hotel booking experience on Expedia.com. Customers can intuitively find and select bitcoin as a payment option at check-out along with all other methods accepted on the site, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club and PayPal. To purchase hotel reservations using the newly accepted currency, customers simply indicate bitcoin as their method of payment and then follow a few steps to safely and securely complete each transaction.

"We are pleased to partner with Expedia.com to welcome them into the growing community of forward-thinking companies that have opened their businesses to accept bitcoin payments," said Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase. "By accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, Expedia is giving a wider community of users the opportunity to book hotels from their site's inventory of properties all around the world quickly and easily."

About Expedia.com
Expedia.com is the world's largest full service travel site*, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/, 1-800-EXPEDIA) aims to provide the latest technology and the widest selection of top vacation destinations, cheap tickets, hotel deals, car rentals, destination weddings, cruise deals and in-destination activities, attractions, services and travel apps. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com customers can get the best rates available online for all types of travel.

Expedia, Expedia.com, Expedia Rewards, Find Yours and the Airplane logo are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners © 2014 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST # 2029030-50

*Based on a comparison of other full-service online travel agencies, defined as those providing booking and services related to air, hotel, cruise, car and activities to a global customer base. Data based on comScore Media Metrix for Expedia, Inc. Sites, Worldwide, Average Monthly Unique Visitors, Oct '12-Sept '13.

About Coinbase
Coinbase is a bitcoin consumer wallet and merchant payment processing platform that, founded in June 2012, now powers 1.3 million consumer wallets and supports 32,000 merchants. Funded with $31 million from top venture investors, Coinbase strives to make it easy to buy and sell bitcoin, securely store bitcoin in the cloud, and accept bitcoin as payment and receive funds in U.S. dollars. Learn more at www.coinbase.com.

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SOURCE Expedia.com