Expedia Ends Air Booking And Cancellation Fees

KRISTEN A. LEE

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — Expedia Inc., which has been slashing charges along with its rivals to lure budget-conscious travelers, said Wednesday that its online travel Web site Expedia.com is permanently lifting fees for booking flights and for changing or canceling reservations.

Expedia's action is designed to make the Web site more competitive on price with direct travel suppliers, said Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst George Askew in a note to investors.

Expedia had already lifted its air booking fees in March as part of a promotion scheduled to run through Sunday. Askew noted that lifting the fee permanently was a "widely anticipated move." ...