How to Save with Expedia’s “Best Price Guarantee”
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on March 14, 2022
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If you’ve been using Expedia.com for booking travel online, you might have noticed that they strive to give you the lowest price possible for your bookings. Because Expedia searches for the lowest prices, they want you to feel sure that by visiting the Expedia website, you’re getting the best deal – so sure in fact that you don’t even need to look at other websites! Expedia can get you feeling this comfortable about their prices with their “Best Price Guarantee.”
How Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee works
Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee: if you find a better deal on the same package or accommodation within 24 hours of booking it on Expedia, you can let them know, and they will give you a complete refund. You’ll also receive a $50 voucher to use towards a future booking on Expedia!
Sounds great, right? Well, like most guarantees, there is a lot of fine print to read and a lot of hoops to jump through. For starters:
- You have to have booked and paid in full for your accommodations with an account on Expedia.
- You have to finish and submit your claim within 24 hours after your booking is confirmed.
- The better deal has to come from an English-language website with prices in U.S. dollars.
- The dates, times, terms, and conditions of your accommodations have to be the same as they are with your booking on Expedia.
You can read more by clicking Best Price Guarantee pretty much anywhere you see it on the website.
When you get to that page, you can click Best Price Guarantee Application to start your claim.
Tips for getting Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee
1. Don’t wait to start looking for better deals on other travel websites.
You only have 24 hours after you complete your booking on Expedia to file a claim towards their Best Price Guarantee, and it must be complete and submitted. If you wait any longer than that, you’re stuck with that price, and cannot apply for the refund. If you need to learn about some websites where you might find better deals on travel, check out our article on the best websites like Expedia here.
2. Read the fine print of your Expedia booking, and of the booking on the competitor website.
Yeah, we know you don’t like to do it – but there are certain rules in the fine print that might give you trouble if you’re not careful. A major one is that the better deal you find has to be publicly accessible; it can’t come from an email or phone-in, and it can’t be the result of some other incentive, such as a membership/corporate discount, coupon, or rewards program.
3. Double-check the itineraries and travel information, and keep them handy for your claim.
You’re going to need both your Expedia itinerary and the itinerary from the better deal for two reasons:
The first is that Expedia will need some information from both in order to process your claim.
The second reason is that you will need to make sure that the dates, times, terms, conditions, etc. on both itineraries match. Expedia won’t give you a refund if the better deal contains or excludes something that your Expedia trip doesn’t.
4. Don’t cancel your trip, even after receiving the refund.
Unless there’s some kind of emergency that makes it impossible, go on your trip the way you booked it anyway. If you change or cancel your trip, you might still be eligible for the refund, but you definitely won’t get the travel voucher.
Other Expedia Guarantees
Protect Your Trip
This is basically Expedia’s version of travel insurance. You are given options such as medical coverage, rental car insurance, baggage damage compensation, emergency trip cancellation, and more.
Hurricane Promise
Some of the most popular vacation destinations are also danger zones in terms of severe weather conditions, such as hurricanes. If the local authorities issue a hurricane watch or warning for the time in which you’ll be taking your trip, Expedia will help you re-book your trip without getting hit by any extra fees… or gale force winds.
No Expedia Fees
Expedia works on straight commission with its travel service partners. That means it won’t charge you extra fees for booking, changing, or cancelling most accommodations (except a few that are part of vacation packages). Note that Expedia’s travel service partners may charge their own extra fees, but at least Expedia won’t nickel-and-dime you this way.
That’s all we know about Expedia’s Best Price Guarantee, and we hope it helps you save some money when you book with Expedia! If the guarantee makes you more confident about using Expedia, check out our course page tutorials on how to book flights, hotels, car rentals, or vacations, and more!