How Can Expedia Sell Hotel+Flight for Less than Flight Alone?

Expedia is offering a hotel+flight combination that in most cases prices out
to less money than the cost of the flight alone. How is this possible?
Someone in that scenario has to be loosing money, and one would assume it is
the hotel since the airlines aren't going to pay extra fees to give you a
free room. How can the hotels afford to in effect give away free rooms?

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

Kind of wondering that myself. Seems as though Travelocity does the
same thing as well. What I am finding though is that it is only
specific flights and if you choose something other than the ones that
are preselected your cost goes up.

Will wrote:
Expedia is offering a hotel+flight combination that in most cases
prices out
to less money than the cost of the flight alone. How is this
possible?
Someone in that scenario has to be loosing money, and one would assume
it is
the hotel since the airlines aren't going to pay extra fees to give you
a
free room. How can the hotels afford to in effect give away free
rooms?

I don't know about Expedia, but my impression is that someone books a
large number of seats on a flight at a low fare and also books a large
number of hotel rooms at a low rate. They then attract you with their
low price and thereby sell their package. The hotels are not giving
away free rooms, in effect both the airlines and hotels are each
accepting less money per person to guarantee a high level of occupancy
(so no one is losing out and it is a gain for all involved). Sometimes
on advertised specials in the Sunday travel section, you can save even
more on last minute deals with these trips, oftentimes 50% reduction in
the already dirt cheap price.

George

Expedia sells the 'left over' and potentially left over seats and rooms that
the airline/hotel knows from its historic usage patterns will otherwise go
unsold.

Better they get something for them, since their costs will not change,
whether the seats/rooms are unsold or not.




"Will" wrote in message
...
Expedia is offering a hotel+flight combination that in most cases prices
out
to less money than the cost of the flight alone. How is this possible?
Someone in that scenario has to be loosing money, and one would assume it
is
the hotel since the airlines aren't going to pay extra fees to give you a
free room. How can the hotels afford to in effect give away free rooms?

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

"Will" wrote:

Expedia is offering a hotel+flight combination that in most cases prices out
to less money than the cost of the flight alone. How is this possible?
Someone in that scenario has to be loosing money, and one would assume it is
the hotel since the airlines aren't going to pay extra fees to give you a
free room. How can the hotels afford to in effect give away free rooms?


Its a combination of two things: Hotels frequently sell blocks of rooms for way
less than the public rate to companies like Travelocity, who in turn package the
rooms with air tickets.

Likewise, airlines sell tickets for less than the lowest public fare as long as
the amount isn't revealed to the consumer. Combine the two and you get a package
that is less than the retail components.

What happens to Travelocity who I understand was misstakenly publishing
these unpublished airfares even you when you are not selecting [FLIGHT
+ HOTEL]?

MICHAEL