Bitcoin Forum

It's more interesting to imagine the secondary effects here.

What do people do when they travel? Bring local currency. Tourism driven businesses may begin to realise they have an opportunity in accepting bitcoin from travellers who are already using it to pay for the trip. Touristic businesses are probably used to dealing with people using stolen credit cards or doing chargebacks more than alot of businesses, so they'll see bitcoin like a form of universal cash.

The more that tourist areas accept bitcoin, the more people will bring bitcoin to spend when travelling, and vice versa. Very nice positive feedback loop. Why change to dozens of different currencies for all the places you visit when you could keep one that's accepted almost everywhere? And when you get home with a little left over, it turns out they accept it back home too...

Think that after this news, price of Bitcoin will go to the moon !  ;D ;D ;D

It's more interesting to imagine the secondary effects here.

What do people do when they travel? Bring local currency. Tourism driven businesses may begin to realise they have an opportunity in accepting bitcoin from travellers who are already using it to pay for the trip. Touristic businesses are probably used to dealing with people using stolen credit cards or doing chargebacks more than alot of businesses, so they'll see bitcoin like a form of universal cash.

The more that tourist areas accept bitcoin, the more people will bring bitcoin to spend when travelling, and vice versa. Very nice positive feedback loop. Why change to dozens of different currencies for all the places you visit when you could keep one that's accepted almost everywhere? And when you get home with a little left over, it turns out they accept it back home too...

That's pretty cool. I hope Priceline follows suit.

Wow! This is huge news! Expedia is a very, very big, billion dollar company. I think it is actually THE biggest company so far to accept Bitcoin. This is the kind of thing we need to drive mass adoption by the world's leading companies.

I just booked 2 nights for the drive to and from my vacation in August. I sent a corresponding purchase through coinbase to replenish my bit coin of course.

2013 revenues: $4.7 billion; Market cap: $9.7 billion; 2013 gross bookings: $39 billion. This is a big company. I think the floodgates are starting to open, gentlemen.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/06/11/expedia-wants-you-to-book-your-next-hotel-stay-with-bitcoin/ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/06/11/expedia-wants-you-to-book-your-next-hotel-stay-with-bitcoin/)

I am booking a holiday to the moon as I type this

Oops already posted I cannot delete :(

Wow! Even if 1% of the booking is done using BTC, that corresponds to $390 million. More than $1 million per day! But I am a bit skeptical as well. Overstock guys are saying that their daily Bitcoin volumes are just around $8,000.

...maybe the mindset is changing that these companies need Bitcoin not Bitcoin needing these companies.

Well to scale I would say it would average around 80,000 a day
That said this is just a speculation on how much volume they will get it will probably remain higher for a while before leveling off
That said 8000 a day is 2 million nine hundred twenty thousand dollars a year
2,920,000

That's a pretty good sum of revenue for an additional option

Lets calculate how much they saved.

Costs if they had used Visa / Master (Normally they charge 2.8% fee, since Overstock is a very large company, we could assume the charges at around 2%) - $2,920,000*0.02 ==> $58,400.

Profit from using Bitpay (2% - 0.99%) ==> $29,492

Not bad at all.  ;D

It is not only that but they would likely generate additional revenue because they accept bitcoin.
Much if not most of the sales that the "early" big companies that accept bitcoin will like have sales that they would not otherwise have.

It is not only that but they would likely generate additional revenue because they accept bitcoin.

Much if not most of the sales that the "early" big companies that accept bitcoin will like have sales that they would not otherwise have.

a very good move by expedia.

But how they handle refunds etc wrt price change

Yep that is a pretty good savings right there not including that it is additional revenue from lower fees so it goes to their bottom line but also adding the fact that some of those sales would not have occurred otherwise.

Anyways good news and more merchants will help to grow that segment of the business it's not even a year old with overstock so it has a lot of marketing potential and user adoption to gain market-share and maintain it as the bitcoin user base grows :)

Expedia has a near monopoly status now for Hotel Bookings with bitcoin
Not saying complete because there may be other services that count such as renting in a hostel using Bitcoin etc.

Like every other merchant that currently accepts BTC. If the item you bought is eligible for a refund, then you will get your full BTC back.

TV: So what happens if I were to cancel a hotel reservation that was purchased using bitcoin? Would I still be able to receive a refund?

MG: Of course! Plans change all the time these days and you shouldn’t have to be locked into a hotel reservation just because you paid for it using bitcoin. If a customer decided to cancel a hotel room paid for in bitcoin, she would receive a refund in bitcoin, provided the booking was for a refundable room. The refund would be based on the amount (in U.S. dollars) that was paid for a room, and Coinbase would refund the customer that amount based on the current bitcoin exchange rate. Depending on the bitcoin market place, the amount of bitcoin received in a refund could be higher or lower than what was initially paid, but the dollar amount reimbursed would remain the same. It’s quite similar to other refunds you’d receive from Expedia.com.

Like every other merchant that currently accepts BTC. If the item you bought is eligible for a refund, then you will get your full BTC back.

What happens when exchange rates go up/down? Would you get the same about of BTC back or would it be adjusted based on the exchange rate? 

Really?  There is enough misinformation around all things bitcoin in the media, why would you add to it in the forum?  Too much work to actually research but too full of yourself to not answer when you don't know?emphasis mine.  Source: Expedia's Website (http://viewfinder.expedia.com/features/expedia-embraces-bitcoin)

ETA:  Wow, and your personal text is "Knowledge is power"  Just wow...

Mutually beneficial for Bitcoin and Expedia I'd say.  It is a win win in my opinion for Bitcoin and at the moment because don't see a down side to this news.  Long term for Expedia who knows it could be a good thing but I'd say short term it will do some good, hey it is some press time any way.  I also wouldn't mind seeing Priceline join in the fun.

LOL! They're not accepting Bitcoin. They're redirecting 'coiners to a shady site that will then send Expedia USD!  Too. Funny. 

That is no different that what most other merchants do behind the scenes to accept bitcoin

LOL! They're not accepting Bitcoin. They're redirecting 'coiners to a shady site that will then send Expedia USD!  Too. Funny.  

I'm sorry, but there's nothing shady about Coinbase.  They're probably one of the most legitimate BTC businesses and payment processors, besides Bitpay out there.

I'm sorry, but there's nothing shady about Coinbase.  They're probably one of the most legitimate BTC businesses and payment processors, besides Bitpay out there.

If you're questioning their actual validity and solvency, I'd suggest you do some research before posting nonsense.  Andreas Antonopolous, chief security officer of Blockchain.info, even did an audit of them earlier this year:

http://antonopoulos.com/2014/02/25/coinbase-review/

So then why multiple threads each time some company says, "Sure, we'll take money in the form of USD... go to this shady company who will give us our USD that we accept as payment." 

I would not consider the exchange provider that expecia is using (I think it is bitpay) to be shady.

Bitcoin Terms & Conditions
These Bitcoin Terms & Conditions (Terms & Conditions) apply to your use of Bitcoin as your selected payment method. Please read these Terms & Conditions carefully. By using Bitcoin as your method of payment, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions. These Terms & Conditions apply in addition to the terms and conditions contained in our Website Terms of Use. If there is a conflict between these Terms & Conditions and our Website Terms of Use with respect to Bitcoin transactions, these Terms & Conditions apply. If you do not agree with all of these Terms & Conditions, do not select Bitcoin as your payment method.
Paying with Bitcoin

Powered by Coinbase. Our acceptance of Bitcoin is powered by our partner, Coinbase. We do not guarantee and are not responsible for the availability of Coinbases services. To complete your booking, you will be re-directed to Coinbases website, where you will see the total cost of your booking in Bitcoin, based on an exchange rate set by Coinbase. The Bitcoin price for your booking will remain valid for 10 minutes. If you do not initiate a payment during this time, the Bitcoin exchange rate will be updated and the Bitcoin price for your booking may change.
Bitcoin network transaction fees. As with nearly all Bitcoin transactions, a very small transaction fee (a miners fee) will be added by the Bitcoin network to the total cost in Bitcoin of your booking if you are sending Bitcoin from a non-Coinbase wallet. This fee covers the cost of verifying Bitcoin transactions. Expedia has no control over this fee and does not receive any portion of the fee.
Bitcoin transactions are final. Once you initiate a Bitcoin transaction, you cannot cancel it (provided however that you may seek a refund per our refund policy described below). This is inherent in the nature of the Bitcoin network, not a policy set by Expedia.
Under payments and over payments. If, using a Coinbase wallet, you attempt to initiate a payment of Bitcoins different from the exact cost of the booking indicated by Coinbase, your booking will not complete. If, using a non-Coinbase wallet, you initiate a payment of Bitcoins different from the exact cost (plus miners fees) of the booking indicated by Coinbase your booking will not complete however your payment maybe processed by the Bitcoin network, in which case your payment will be refunded by Coinbase. After a failed payment you will be required to re-submit payment for the correct amount in order to complete the booking and the Bitcoin exchange rate may update.
Transactions complete once confirmed. Once a Bitcoin transaction is submitted to the Bitcoin network, it will be unconfirmed for a period of time (usually about an hour, but sometimes longer) pending full verification of the transaction by the Bitcoin network. A transaction is not complete until it is fully verified.
Refunds

Whether your booking qualifies for a refund is governed by our Website Terms of Use, regardless of whether you pay with Bitcoin or any other payment method. In order to claim a refund on a booking paid for with Bitcoin, you will have to follow certain procedures in order to claim your refund, as explained below.
A valid email address and a Coinbase account are required for refunds. Your refund will be issued through Coinbase, and you must have, or create, a Coinbase account in order to receive the refund. Coinbase will send a refund notification email to the email address associated with your Expedia booking (if you were signed in at booking, your Expedia account email address; otherwise, the email address you provided at checkout). Providing a valid email address that you are able to access is important, as it is a condition for receiving your refund. If you do not have a Coinbase account associated with the email address to which the refund email was sent, the refund notification email will explain how to access a Coinbase account automatically created on your behalf to claim your refund. If you fail to access your Coinbase account and/or complete the steps outlined in the refund notification email within 30 days, the funds will be returned to Expedia. If the refund notification email is sent to an email address associated with an existing Coinbase account, the refund will automatically be credited by Coinbase to the associated Coinbase account. You acknowledge that, if you are unable to (1) access the email address associated with your booking or (2) use the Coinbase service or access a Coinbase account, you will not be able to receive a refund for your booking.
Refunds issued for the USD value of your booking. Your refund will be issued by Coinbase in Bitcoin for the USD value of your booking, less any applicable fees, including any cancellation fees. Your refund will be converted from USD to Bitcoin based on an exchange rate set by Coinbase at the time you initiate the refund through our Website. You acknowledge that if the value of Bitcoin against USD has risen since the time of your purchase, you will receive less Bitcoin than you paid at the time of booking.

This is good news, just a shame that I rarely find the best offers on expedia

What other travel agencies do you use? I've used expedia on several bookings because I found them to be the cheapest based on a few quick searches.

Expedia uses Coinbase not Bitpay:

http://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions

Expedia is using Coinbase, not Bitpay. Why you would not consider them? Coinbase is run by very trustworthy people, and they have done a lot recently to spread the popularity of Bitcoin, such as their bitcoin giveaway for the college students.

^ Currently coinbase complies with KYC/AML, and is backed by some pretty big names in the financial market. They're still relatively new for a large company, but they seem pretty stable and reliable already.

There are no big companies that accept bitcoin that does NOT use a btc payment processor. They simply don't have the infrastructure to do it themselves, because processing crypto currency is nothing like Visa/Mastercard.

I said that I do not consider bitpay (and coinbase) to be shady.

Coinbase really has done a lot to promote bitcoin and the college promotion was likely very profitable for them (in terms of sales from new accounts) and likely got a lot of smart people interested in Bitcoin