For those unfamiliar, United’s Basic Economy fare is a no-frills flight experience, where customers don’t get to choose their seat in advance, are limited to one personal carry-on bag, can’t use the overhead bin space, and can’t make change their tickets.

Business Insider reports that while United has taken steps during the checkout process on its own website to warn customers of what they’re getting into with Basic Economy, other sites haven’t.

As a result, some customers tell Business Insider they’ve accidentally purchased Basic Economy tickets when they didn’t mean to.

What’s The Difference?

While a rep for United tells Business Insider that it works with third-party sites to ensure fare restrictions are clearly marked, searches for flights on United, Expedia, and Priceline show a few stark differences in the description of Basic Economy fares.

UNITED
For instance, on United’s website, when passengers see the search results for a flight the first thing they see under the Basic Economy section is a notation that the fare is the “most restricted.”

When the customer selects Basic Economy they are greeted with a pop-up describing what is included (and what’s not) with the fare. To ensure customers are aware of the fare limitations, they must acknowledge the fare by checking the box “Basic Economy works for me” before proceeding.

After selecting and approving the Basic Economy flight choice, customers are greeted with yet another warning on restrictions at the “Review Trip Itinerary” page.

EXPEDIA
These warnings, however, are not the same on third-party sites. The same search completed on Expedia resulted in fewer descriptions of Basic Fare or warnings as to what is included with the ticket.

Search results for flights include a small notation that they are Basic Economy, and clicking on that notation results in a small box with the short description of the fare.

It’s not until a customer actually chooses the flight and is taken to the trip review site that Expedia fully explains what is included in the fare on the “Important Flight Information” side bar.

This same page offers customers the option to upgrade their flight to regular economy or another class. These options show what is included in the fare.

A rep for Expedia tells Business Insider that the company makes it clear what is included in a Basic Economy fare, and that customers can see more about the restrictions by clicking “Show More” under the search results.

ORBITZ
Orbitz, which is owned by Expedia, follows a similar process, noting in the search results that customers are looking at a Basic Economy fare. When passengers click on the fare notation, they see a pop-up with a short list of restrictions.

Again, selecting the fare and proceeding to the review page results in longer list of restrictions.

PRICELINE
The process is similar on Priceline, however, the first search page does not include any mention that a fare listed may be Basic Economy.

Once a traveler clicks on a fare, the site displays a pop-up of the flight details, with a small highlighted notation that the flight is, in fact, Basic Economy. Below this, on the same pop-up, Priceline provide a short detailed list of what is included in the Basic Economy fare.

Proceeding to the checkout process, there is not another mention of the fare restrictions.

Consumerist has reached out to Priceline for more information on how it chooses to mark and warn customers of basic fare restrictions.

KAYAK
A search on Kayak returns a list of available fares with a few discreet notices that the fare is Basic Economy, including a notation of the fare class and a photo of a crossed out piece of luggage. Clicking on the a flight results in a notice that “Carry-on baggage restricted in Basic Economy.”

However, the biggest difference between booking with Kayak and other third-party sites is that once a customer chooses a flight, they are taken to United’s website to complete the purchase. There they are greeted with the same disclaimer as mentioned in the United section.

Researchers in Expedia’s “usability” lab in London have been hooking subjects up to sensors that record tiny muscle movements in their faces while they’re booking travel, a procedure that Bloomberg’s Jeremy Kahn experienced first-hand.

“The lab allows us to see how people emotionally engage with the site,” said Gary Morrison, Expedia’s senior vice president of retail and brand.

Even if subjects aren’t aware they’re even having any feelings during the process, the electrodes can detect emotional responses, and eye tracking technology lets researchers see what subjects are looking at while they’re having those emotions. Researchers also might ask subjects what’s motivating their emotions.

This process is designed to help Expedia come up with new ways to reduce the stress and frustration many feel when booking travel or hotels online. The company’s UK division conducted a survey that found more than 75% of respondents considered buying a vacation online to be just as stressful as a bad day at the office, being stuck in traffic, or fighting with a loved one.

So what gave consumers the warm fuzzes? Participants responded most positively to photos of hotel rooms depicting attractive sights outside the room’s windows, instead of those that focused on the bed. Such an insight might help a hotel operator change the photos they use to list rooms and thus, get a boost in their Expedia bookings.

The woman logged into her account on Expedia’s website last week after she received an email alerting her that the trip had been canceled — without her consent, CBS Los Angeles reports. That’s when she says she found the message, “F—k you!” in her itinerary.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said. “No way this could have happened.”

She says the trouble started two days earlier when she complained that she’d been charged for travel insurance for her eight-month-old son, despite the fact that he didn’t need a ticket, and would be sitting in her lap. Afterwards, she responded to an online survey about her customer service experience.

“I was honest,” she said. “I said, ‘You know what, the lady wasn’t helpful. I asked to speak to a supervisor and she wouldn’t let me speak to a supervisor.’”

After receiving the cancellation notice and nasty message, she called customer service, and says she was blamed for the canceled reservation. So she sent the supervisor a screen shot of the message on her itinerary — and didn’t hear a thing from the company. Not only that, she was told she wouldn’t be refunded the $600 she’d spent on the canceled tickets, and would be charged $200 to rebook her flights.

Expedia responded to a request for comment from CBS Los Angeles by apologizing for the incident, and saying it would rebook the woman’s flights, refund her money, and give her a $500 voucher.

“We take this matter very seriously and have opened up an investigation analyzing every click and action made by our customer service agents,” the company said.

Southland Woman Shocked By ‘F— You’ Message From Expedia Employee [CBS Los Angeles]

Online travel sites, like Priceline and Expedia, have reportedly countered hotel chains’ offered perks for booking directly with them, by pushing major brands lower in search results, Bloomberg reports.

The move has Marriott prepared to use its newly acquired muscle — all 1.1 million rooms of it — to push back, and reduce the hold third-party booking sites have over customers.

“Regaining control of our inventory is absolutely critical,” Robert Finvarb, who owns Marriotts in and around Miami, tells Bloomberg.

Recapturing some of that booking power will allow Marriott and its brands to acquire more customer data — information that doesn’t always make it to actual hotels when booking is done through third-party sites.

This data, Bloomberg reports, provides hotels with details about guest habits and spending patterns, giving chains the ability to tailor their services and target customers better.

An official for Expedia appeared to brush off any kind of pressure from hotel chains, noting that anytime a hotel pushes direct booking, it’s essentially competing against itself.

“We’re not seeing these efforts as changing consumer behavior much,” Cyril Ranque, president of lodging partner services for Expedia, tells Bloomberg.

Marriott Is Using Its Muscle to Fight Off Expedia and Priceline [Bloomberg]

The Los Angeles Times reports that hotels have begun to offer guests who book directly from their websites freebies, such as room upgrades or free WiFi.

For example, the Hotel Amarando in Burbank is offering guests $25 in food and beverage credits or a room upgrade. The Beverly Hilton Hotel offers free WiFi for those booking directly with the hotel, while a hotel group in Hawaii is giving guests $20 in Starbucks gift cards each day of their stay.

“It’s becoming necessary for today’s hotel brands to stay ahead by enticing travelers in new ways,” said Matt Bailey, president and chief operating officer at Aqua-Aston Hospitality, tells the L.A. Times.

In addition to pushing the perks on guests, hotels are suggesting that if they book directly with the hotel they’ll avoid paying 15% to 25% commission for using sites like Expedia and Booking.com.

While the perks of booking directly with a hotel might be appealing to customers, travel agents maintain that comparing prices on third-party sites is helpful to travelers.

“Consumers want the ability to see and compare all of their options, and they can’t do that when they book directly with a hotel,” said Stephen Shur, president of the Travel Technology Assn., a coalition of online travel sites, noting that The American Hotel and Lodging Association, which recently called for legislation to combat fraudulent online booking sites, are exaggerating the downside of comparison booking sites.

Hotels are using guest perks to battle online travel agencies [The Los Angeles Times]

Just two months after Expedia completed its last big purchase, the travel-booking enterprise has hit the market again, offering $3.9 billion to buy vacation rental company HomeAway. 

Expedia announced Wednesday that it would jump into the vacation rental arena by acquiring Airbnb competitor HomeAway.

“We have long had our eyes on the fast growing ~$100 billion alternative accommodations space and have been building on our partnership with HomeAway, a global leader in vacation rentals, for two years,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Chief Executive Officer for Expedia, said in a statement. “Bringing HomeAway into the Expedia family and adding its leading brands to our portfolio of the most trusted brands in travel is a logical next step.“

Under the new venture, which is contingent on regulatory approval, HomeAway would largely run independently out of its current home base of Austin, TX.

As part of the deal, the New York Times reports that HomeAway will revamp its business model, charging travelers a fee based on a sliding scale.

While the company didn’t disclose the details of the changes during a call, executives with the company say it adds an average of 6% to most rentals.

Additionally, the company says it plans to lower the commission rates for owners listing their rentals, which was previously the its biggest revenue generator.

Expedia says it expects the $3.9 billion acquisition to close during the first quarter of 2016.

[via The New York Times]

Expedia launched a new set of tools on Tuesday that lists airline ancillary fees before a passenger actually purchases their ticket, Fortune reports.

The tool, dubbed “Upgrade Options,” is intended to help would-be passengers customize and understand the full cost of their trips.

Greg Schulze, Expeida’s senior vice president of global tour and transport, says the company hopes to include other airlines in the company months.

“There is a huge amount of data we are collecting, along with information we have to help travelers to make informed decisions,” he tells Fortune. “We are starting to be more confident in ourselves in helping travelers compare options.”

While Upgrade Options features a plethora of airline ancillary fees, Expedia has singled out checked baggage costs in a separate tool to be released later this year.

The “Baggage Calculator” provides flyers with a list of fees and policies for different airlines.

Expedia hopes the added transparency to the flight booking process helps set it apart from competitors in the third-party booking industry.

Expedia to reveal airlines’ “hidden fees” in new feature [Fortune]

Orbitz announced today that Expedia had officially completed its acquisition of the smaller booking site and its related brands.

The transaction, which is valued at $12 a share, brings brands such as CheapTickets, ebookers and HotelClub under the Expedia umbrella, which already includes brands Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity and Trivago.

“We are pleased to welcome Orbitz Worldwide to our family of leading travel brands,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia, Inc. Chief Executive Officer said in a statement. “Our mission is to revolutionize travel through the power of technology.”

The now completed transaction essentially leaves only Priceline – which not only runs its namesake site, but also Kayak.com, Booking.com, and others — as a major competitor in the online travel agency (OTA) field.

Back in January, Washington-based Expedia purchased Travelocity for $280 million. The two companies had worked together since 2013.

The now slimmed down OTA field was a major point of concern for the American Hotel & Lodging Association which earlier this year warned that the deal between Expedia and Orbitz would create a duopoly that controls 95% of the market.

“We believe this transaction and the resulting consolidation of the online travel marketplace will result in significant negative consequences,” says Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA, in a statement, “particularly for consumers, but also for the large number of our members who are small business owners and franchised properties.”

In spite of those concerns, regulators granted Expedia and Orbitz permission to merge on Wednesday.

Expedia’s Khosrowshahi says now that the marriage is complete, the new company will work to “accelerate the pace of innovation to deliver even better customer experiences” to customers.

[via Reuters]

The U.S. Justice Dept. is currently reviewing the Expedia-Orbitz deal to see if there are any antitrust concerns, and today the American Hotel & Lodging Association let it be known that it believes there are; that the merger would concentrate too much of the market in one company’s hands.

“We believe this transaction and the resulting consolidation of the online travel marketplace will result in significant negative consequences,” says Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA, in a statement, “particularly for consumers, but also for the large number of our members who are small business owners and franchised properties.”

Lugar acknowledges that sites like Expedia and Orbitz have generally been a boon for the hospitality industry and that hotels were among the earliest adopters of online booking. But she claims that a combined Expedia and Orbitz would control around 75% of America’s online travel agency (OTA) market.

That would leave only Priceline — which not only runs its namesake site, but also Kayak.com, Booking.com, and others — as a major competitor in the OTA field. Together, argues the AH&LA, a merged Expedia-Orbitz and Priceline would effectively create a duopoly that controls 95% of the market.

“The loss of Orbitz could be detrimental for many reasons,” says Lugar, noting that one less competitor means less incentive to innovate for the benefit of consumers. She also explains that Expedia’s commissions to hotels are 11% higher, on average, than those charged by Orbitz.

“The acquisition could result in Orbitz raising its rates to that level, further driving up distribution costs for hotel operators,” contends Lugar.

The AH&LA argues that the hotels most directly affected by an Expedia-Orbitz merger would be smaller, boutique operators who often depend on booking sites for reaching consumers.

“We also believe the combination of Expedia and Orbitz will cause small and independent hotels to pay significantly more to advertise online in the increasingly pay-to-play ecosystem of online search,” concludes Lugar. “Taken together, these effects could substantially drive up the cost of doing business for small and independent hotels to the ultimate detriment of consumers.”

In response, a rep for Expedia tells the Wall Street Journal that the company has no intention to charge higher commissions post-merger. Expedia also claims that it’s just a “small player” in the huge travel-booking industry, saying that OTAs only account for about 17% of all hotel bookings in the U.S.

Bloomberg reports that the transaction, which is valued at $12 a share, brings brands such as CheapTickets, bookers and HotelClub under the Expedia umbrella.

Washington-based Expedia’s recent purchases are a sign the company is bulking up against competitors like travel site behemoth Priceline, which also closed several mergers last year.

Orbitz, which is the smallest online travel company without the benefit of economies of scale, began exploring a sale and reaching out to potential buyers last month, Bloomberg reports.

Expedia’s previous deal to purchase Travelocity came with a $280 million price tag. The two companies had previously been working together since 2013.

Expedia to Buy Orbitz for $1.6 Billion to Take On Priceline [Bloomberg]