Expedia.com Launches “Spring Backwards” Package Promotion; Time Travelers Can Save Big by Booking Time Travel and Hotel* Together
Modeled after the current-day package savings offered on Expedia.com, where customers can save up to $450 by booking hotel and flight together
BELLEVUE, Wash., April 1, 2010 – Expedia.com®, the world’s leading online travel agency, today launched the company’s first-ever “Spring Backwards” travel promotion, designed to highlight underutilized destinations in the company’s “Expedia for Eternity” time travel program. Under the terms of the promotion, time travelers can save up to $450 off of their travel package should they choose to visit a select group of signature destinations throughout the course of U.S. history. This program was modeled after the popular current-day package offering that offers savings of up to $450 dollars if travelers book flight and hotel at the same time.
Expedia® first introduced time travel to U.S. customers in 1996**and counts the “Expedia for Eternity” product among the company’s most popular, alongside current-day flights, hotels and package savings, and cruises. However, since the program’s inception, Expedia has come to learn that rather than taking advantage of the opportunity to bear witness to signature moments in world history, American time travelers have largely used the feature to leap back in time to the near past, in order to rectify mistakes, end relationships, win arguments and make wagers.
“When we created the program, we envisioned that American customers would revel in their new ability to stand alongside the most formative moments in their country’s history,” said Michael “Mickey” Mahabharata, program director, Expedia for Eternity, Expedia.com. “We failed to realize how quickly the possible would become the pragmatic. Most customers were employing the tool to stop themselves from quitting their jobs, replacing – or bailing on – their high school prom dates, win money in Vegas and nullify their mortgages. We are hoping that the Spring Backwards promotion will encourage modern time travelers to appreciate history rather than rewrite it.”
Among the most popular destinations and moments in time for US time travelers are:
• Bernard L. Madoff Birth (April 29, 1938)
• Polling Booth, November 7, 2000
• Wedding Day (various)
• Bachelor Party Preceding Wedding Day (various)
• Wedding Anniversary, Day Prior (various)
• Super Bowl XLII, February 3, 2008
• NASDAQ Stock Exchange (March 10, 2000)
• High School Prom, April 1917-2009
• Las Vegas Sportsbooks, October 15, 1986 (Game 6, World Series)
• Enron Shareholder Annual Meeting, 2000
The “Spring Backwards” promotion was crafted to encourage U.S. travelers to consider experiencing more positive milestones in the nation’s history by offering terrific savings. To take advantage of this offer, travelers must book time travel and hotel at a signature destination by April 1 and return to the modern day by May 31, 2010. Signature destinations include:
• Declaration of Independence Issue Date, July 4, 1776: Book time travel and hovel together, save $375
• Emancipation Proclamation Executive Order Date, September 22, 1862: Book time travel and boarding house together, save $312
• Apollo 11 Moon Landing, July 20, 1969: Book time travel and shuttle guest room together, save $299
• Repeal of Prohibition, March 22, 1933: Book time travel and dank gutter together, save $333
• Pilgrim Arrival on Plymouth Rock, November 11, 1620, Book time travel and teepee together, save $434
• Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863; Book time travel and tavern together, save $329
• “Miracle on Ice” U.S. Olympic Hockey Triumph, February 22, 1980; Book time travel and hotel together, save $432
• First Thanksgiving Feast, November 24, 1621; Book time travel and teepee together, save $299
• Lewis and Clark Expedition Begins, May 14, 1804; Book time travel and covered wagon together, save $449
• First Ratification of U.S. Constitution, December 7, 1787; Book time travel and inn together, save $449
This promotion follows Expedia’s most successful promotion to date: 2009’s “Dictator Deposition Daze” offering, which invited travelers to leap back in time to depose the genocidal ruler of their choice. That promotion sold out in 12 minutes.
The “Spring Backwards” package promotion will be available only on April 1, 2010. Visit www.Expedia.com for more details.
* Or time-appropriate accommodations, such as tent, cave, mud or thatched-roof hut, hovel, inn, and other accommodations
** Technically Expedia first introduced the Expedia for Eternity time travel product in 2042. The immediate boom in popularity prompted Expedia executives to travel back in time 46 years to introduce time travel concurrent to the company’s founding.
About Expedia.com
Expedia.com is the world’s leading online travel site, helping millions of travelers per month easily plan and book travel. Expedia.com (http://www.expedia.com/) aims to provide personalized service, the latest technology and the widest selection of vacation packages, flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and in-destination activities, attractions, and services. With the Expedia Best Price Guarantee, Expedia.com promises to offer to its customers the best rates available online for all types of travel. Expedia.com is an operating company of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE).
Expedia and Expedia.com are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.© 2010 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40
Expedia.com: “Savings based on all vacation package bookings with Flight + Hotel on Expedia.com in 2009, as compared to price of the same components booked separately.”
SOURCE: Expedia, Inc.
Web site: http://www.expedia.com/