Expedia, world's largest travel company, now accepts Bitcoin. Your thoughts?

[ljudotina]

I don't think this will effect the price in the long run however it is great to see the Corporations
are picking up bitcoin. My question is are they just dumping it on the Market or are they holding
it and watching the value grow.

It does effect price in the long run.
If they hold it, which is stupid from business side, they are pumping value of bitcoin, creating baloon. Baloons are bad mkay? After some time, all baloons explode, and alot of ppl get's hurt.
If they pass it on, they do not affect price (to spend bitcoin you have to buy so price will stay same). Most of ppl that buy BTC, if not all, will buy little bit more than they need. That will slowly pump up price, and as more and more people come in, price will go up and stay up, unlke with baloons. No explosions, no bad press, no blood (bitcoin blood that is). Only all around satisfaction.

So i say, please, receive and pass it on to others. Dont create baloons by holding, bitcoin has already enough of that (all the early adopters are holding as tight as they can). If we want healthy and steady gow, we need real world application, and switching from hand to hand. From user to business, back to user. Not holding...

[Morguk]

Really good news. A lot of good stuff is flying in recently, even little things like BTC being added to Google finance charts. I think it will be a gradual rise from here on...

[Alley]

There will be a lot of merchant adoption this year.  They are converting 100% to fiat however.  We need to move on to phase 2 where they start holding between 1-10% of there btc income.

[Ron~Popeil]

There will be a lot of merchant adoption this year.  They are converting 100% to fiat however.  We need to move on to phase 2 where they start holding between 1-10% of there btc income.

I think they will fairly quickly. They have clearly done their homework on it and it might just be a matter of how to account for it and tax treatment. As a currency it is still kind of in a grey area with taxation.

[RockHound]

I am on their site right now trying to check out and there is no option for Bitcoin.

When I called their 800 number and got routed to the Philippines, I had a fairly hilarious discussion with the phone rep who had no idea what i was talking about.

Super.

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Update:   I was talking to Hotel Sales.   She had no clue.  I asked to speak to a supervisor.  She comes back and tells me to go to Coinbase.com.  

Sigh.  

She said they have received no information or training on how to handle Bitcoin, and that it must be done on the website only.

I told her I was on the website and it wasn't there.

She said "We dont handle the currency conversion here".  She said that a few times.  I have no idea what she's talking about.

Then she offered to transfer me to customer service.   "You're not customer service?" I said (I called the customer service number).  "Nope!" she said.

I can already tell this is going to be an adventure.   On hold now.

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Ok so after getting transferred to 7 phone reps (none of which could pronounce Bitcoin), it is apparently showing for some hotels and not for others.

The one I was reserving - it did not show.  So we both escalated a ticket to the support group.

However if the phone experience is any indication, the support team isn't going to have a clue either.

Good work BB!

Following Coindesk's initial report, an EDIT was made to the article with comments from Expedia:

“Bitcoin is a great example of how Expedia is investing early in an array of payment options to give our customers and partners more choice in the ways they interact with us,” the company said in a press release announcing the move.

Expedia said bitcoin will be integrated into the payment options for customers at check-out, sitting alongside payment methods like PayPal and Visa.

“Customers simply indicate bitcoin as their method of payment and then follow a few steps to safely and securely complete each transaction,” the company said.

http://www.coindesk.com/expedia-will-accept-bitcoin-hotel-bookings/

[RockHound]

Just booked a hotel, works flawlessly and much faster than using a creditcard. They use coinbase as backend.

Sweet - looks like it hasn't been fully integrated onto their other domains just yet (eg. Expedia.co.uk etc)

But it's on their main site Expedia.com

Here's their T/C's: http://www.expedia.com/Checkout/BitcoinTermsAndConditions


Expedia
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 Coinbase’s services. To complete your booking, you will be re-directed to Coinbase’s 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 “miner’s 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 miner’s 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.

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    ©2014 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved.



Enjoy your holiday LeMiner! Will make my hotel bookings via Expedia too.

They have a market cap of over $9.5Bil in 2013 making it the largest company to accept Bitcoin to date. Though suspect Ebay/Paypal will follow shortly.

2014/2015 in retrospect, will be seen as great merchant growth/acceptance for Bitcoin adoption.

[Watermelondea]

Will use it soon, really exited. I've always liked Expedia.

[bryant.coleman]

There will be a lot of merchant adoption this year.  They are converting 100% to fiat however.  We need to move on to phase 2 where they start holding between 1-10% of there btc income.

Not all the merchants are converting their coins to fiat immediately. For example, Patrick M. Byrne of Overstock has said that his company is storing 10% of all the BTC revenue as Bitcoins. Even better, Mart Tang of i-Pmart (Malaysia) has said that his company will hold all the BTC payments in Bitcoins only, and will not convert any them to fiat.

[RiverBoatBTC]

The more rollover of bitcoins through business the better I feel, It makes it less of a investment to the common person "pretty sure they think of it 1 of 2 ways, its like gold or wow gold" when people can use BTC in every day life, the more friendly it becomes.

[ljudotina]

The more rollover of bitcoins through business the better I feel, It makes it less of a investment to the common person "pretty sure they think of it 1 of 2 ways, its like gold or wow gold" when people can use BTC in every day life, the more friendly it becomes.

Exactly...hoarding shouldnt be main goal..."using" should be!

[LeMiner]

Just booked a hotel, works flawlessly and much faster than using a creditcard. They use coinbase as backend.

Sweet - looks like it hasn't been fully integrated onto their other domains just yet (eg. Expedia.co.uk etc)

But it's on their main site Expedia.com


Enjoy your holiday LeMiner! Will make my hotel bookings via Expedia too.

They have a market cap of over $9.5Bil in 2013 making it the largest company to accept Bitcoin to date. Though suspect Ebay/Paypal will follow shortly.

2014/2015 in retrospect, will be seen as great merchant growth/acceptance for Bitcoin adoption.

Thanks! It was a hotel I had to book anyway for a trip that was already planned. So why not pay in bitcoins? . I used the main site (expedia.com) with prices listed in dollars even tough I would normally use euros. I calculate bitcoins worth using the dollar course anyway.

Coinbase did not wait for a confirmation (probably because it wasn't too expensive).  I even got 2 dollars discount as I paid just when the course dropped a bit.

[bryant.coleman]

They have a market cap of over $9.5Bil in 2013 making it the largest company to accept Bitcoin to date. Though suspect Ebay/Paypal will follow shortly.

I have already posted about this. Expedia is not the largest company, in terms of Market Capitalization to accept Bitcoin payments. They are the second biggest. The biggest company to accept such payments is DISH.

Expedia - http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEXPE&ei=RKGZU7rgO8aXkgWgz4HgBw
DISH - http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ADISH&ei=UqGZU6iEFoWUkgX7r4HgAw

[RiverBoatBTC]

That might be true but, lets look at it from usability... Should say largest usable company that accepts bitcoins.

How many bitcoiners you think us dish? very very little....
How many bitcoiners travel.. way more lol

[NEM minnow]

Every time one of these major sites accepts Bitcoin it is a big win.  More and more it is becoming normal.  Then people won't think of it as fake money when we are buying jewerly, hotels, plane tickets, meals,  and computers with it.

[bryant.coleman]

Every time one of these major sites accepts Bitcoin it is a big win.  More and more it is becoming normal.  Then people won't think of it as fake money when we are buying jewerly, hotels, plane tickets, meals,  and computers with it.

Hmm.... no one is labeling it as fake money. The anti-Bitcoin lobbyists are using its association with drug-dealer sites such as SR 2.0 to tarnish its reputation among the general public. Those marketplaces will always be there.

[Ninietz]

Now we can all go for this well deserved holiday... finally

[guybrushthreepwood]

This is really incredible news. Look forward to booking a holiday with bitcoins.

They have a market cap of over $9.5Bil in 2013 making it the largest company to accept Bitcoin to date. Though suspect Ebay/Paypal will follow shortly.

I have already posted about this. Expedia is not the largest company, in terms of Market Capitalization to accept Bitcoin payments. They are the second biggest. The biggest company to accept such payments is DISH.

Expedia - http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AEXPE&ei=RKGZU7rgO8aXkgWgz4HgBw
DISH - http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ADISH&ei=UqGZU6iEFoWUkgX7r4HgAw

Dish might have a bigger revenue or whatever, but I'd never heard of them until the accepted bitcoin. Expedia are pretty well advertised in this country at least and are quite popular.

[bryant.coleman]

Dish might have a bigger revenue or whatever, but I'd never heard of them until the accepted bitcoin. Expedia are pretty well advertised in this country at least and are quite popular.

Have to concede it there. Dish is relatively unknown outside the United States (even there they are getting squeezed out by Direc TV). Expedia, on the other hand is active all over the world.

[Seldar]

I have already posted about this. Expedia is not the largest company, in terms of Market Capitalization to accept Bitcoin payments. They are the second biggest. The biggest company to accept such payments is DISH.

Yes, but who knows DISH outside the USA? Nobody.
Expedia has a lot of customers in many countries, and that's the big point.

[igorr]

https://twitter.com/CoinBuzz/status/476702843890434048

What do you guys think about this? Do you think it will affect the BTC price?

I personally believe this is even better than when Overstock started to take BTC.

nothing important