It is estimated that Booking Holdings’ and Expedia Group’s websites together account for more than 90 percent of U.S. hotel bookings made on third-party, online travel websites
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Steve Daines (R-MT) sent a letter to major online hotel booking companies asking them to commit to improving protections for online consumers. Booking Holdings, Inc. (Booking Holdings) or Expedia Group, Inc. (Expedia Group) affiliates Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers, and trivago made commitments to change certain business practices in order to protect consumers in the United Kingdom. In a letter to the Chief Executive Officers of Booking Holdings and Expedia Group, the senators asked that they make these same commitments with respect to their online hotel booking businesses in the United States.
“Online travel agencies have revolutionized the way consumers plan travel, offering a one-stop-shop for booking hotel, airline, and rental car reservations,” wrote the senators. “We see no reason why American consumers should not benefit from the same pro-consumer practices that your affiliates have voluntarily committed to undertake for the benefit of UK consumers.
“As American companies, Booking Holdings and Expedia Group both have a responsibility to ensure that any websites under their control do not engage in misleading practices that harm U.S. consumers. We urge you to implement the same commitments that your companies’ subsidiaries voluntarily made in the United Kingdom here in the United States.”
The full text of the letter can be found below:
Dear Mr. Fogel and Mr. Okerstrom:
On February 6, 2019, Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers, and trivago made commitments to change certain business practices in order to protect consumers in the United Kingdom. As all of these websites are controlled by either Booking Holdings, Inc. (Booking Holdings) or Expedia Group, Inc. (Expedia Group), we write to urge both companies to make these same commitments with respect to their online hotel booking businesses in the United States.
Online travel agencies have revolutionized the way consumers plan travel, offering a one-stop-shop for booking hotel, airline, and rental car reservations. Yet while consumers may believe that they have dozens of online options for comparing hotel pricing, all of the most popular travel booking websites used by American consumers are actually operated by one of your companies. As you know, Booking Holdings controls Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline, and Agoda; while Expedia Group controls Expedia, Hotels.com, trivago, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, and a number of other online travel websites. By some estimates, Booking Holdings’ and Expedia Group’s websites together account for more than 90 percent of U.S. hotel bookings made on third-party, online travel websites. The combined dominance of your companies in online hotel search and booking means that your business practices affect millions of Americans who compare hotel rates and book rooms online.
In the United Kingdom, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) indicated that it had “taken enforcement action to bring to an end misleading sales tactics, hidden charges, and other practices in the online hotel booking market.” In response to the investigation, six websites controlled by either Booking Holdings or Expedia Group provided formal, voluntary commitments to the CMA to change certain business practices in the United Kingdom by September 1, 2019. These commitments include taking steps to:
- Ensure that consumers are not misled about the effect of money earned by the website on the ranking of search results and can distinguish between paid listings and other listings;
- Ensure that consumers are not misled by comparisons with prices offered under different circumstances (e.g., on different dates) or with offers available elsewhere;
- Ensure that price comparisons that are presented as a discount represent genuine savings for consumers;
- Ensure that consumers are not misled about the amount they will have to pay and that wherever a price is displayed it is the total price;
- Ensure that consumers are not misled by statements about popularity, availability, or price; and
- Ensure compliance with these commitments.
These are commonsense practices, representing the minimum of what all consumers should expect when visiting a hotel search and booking website. But our understanding is that these commitments do not extend beyond the borders of the United Kingdom. We see no reason why American consumers should not benefit from the same pro-consumer practices that your affiliates have voluntarily committed to undertake for the benefit of UK consumers. Accordingly, we ask that each of you respond to the following questions on behalf of your companies:
- Will you publicly commit to implementing the same practices set forth in the undertakings that your company’s subsidiaries have made to the CMA relating to “The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008” in all of your company’s businesses providing online hotel search and booking services to users in the United States?
- Will you commit to implementing these practices by the end of 2019?
As American companies, Booking Holdings and Expedia Group both have a responsibility to ensure that any websites under their control do not engage in misleading practices that harm U.S. consumers. We urge you to implement the same commitments that your companies’ subsidiaries voluntarily made in the United Kingdom here in the United States. We look forward to your responses.
Sincerely,
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