Expedia gone from UR Mall?
#6
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: FL
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,299
#8
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 617
I sent in an email inquiry to Chase yesterday about hotels.com. They told me it was indeed available.
So, I double checked to be sure I was doing everything correctly, and it is still missing. Scrolled through all 208 merchants. No hotels.com or expedia.
I re-sent the inquiry, and it's being escalated. We'll see, but I am not optimistic.
So, I double checked to be sure I was doing everything correctly, and it is still missing. Scrolled through all 208 merchants. No hotels.com or expedia.
I re-sent the inquiry, and it's being escalated. We'll see, but I am not optimistic.
#9
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 19
Hoping this isn't permanent. I've made hay for years off of booking hotels and flights through UR portal for work. I have a sneaking suspicion that they're pulling the travel links because they hope more folks will book through their in-house travel portal. I personally have plenty of other avenues to go to before doing that. If I had to bet on it I'd wager on this being only temporary because they'll realize they make more money giving folks the options. Or it's just a glitch or re-negotiation with their partners. Who knows.
@RJ1, I'll be interested to hear what they tell you.
@RJ1, I'll be interested to hear what they tell you.
#10
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 617
Hoping this isn't permanent. I've made hay for years off of booking hotels and flights through UR portal for work. I have a sneaking suspicion that they're pulling the travel links because they hope more folks will book through their in-house travel portal. I personally have plenty of other avenues to go to before doing that. If I had to bet on it I'd wager on this being only temporary because they'll realize they make more money giving folks the options. Or it's just a glitch or re-negotiation with their partners. Who knows.
@RJ1, I'll be interested to hear what they tell you.
@RJ1, I'll be interested to hear what they tell you.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us again in
regards to Hotels.com.
I regret the misinformation provided in the previous
email. I have confirmed that as of 2/18/2015, Hotels.com
was removed as a participating merchant on Shop through
Chase. This update was processed during the same timeframe
your inquiry was received. Regretfully, there is no
information available as to the return of this Merchant. I
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
If you have any further questions, please reply using the
Secure Message Center.
#11
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 19
Here is the reply from Chase.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us again in
regards to Hotels.com.
I regret the misinformation provided in the previous
email. I have confirmed that as of 2/18/2015, Hotels.com
was removed as a participating merchant on Shop through
Chase. This update was processed during the same timeframe
your inquiry was received. Regretfully, there is no
information available as to the return of this Merchant. I
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us again in
regards to Hotels.com.
I regret the misinformation provided in the previous
email. I have confirmed that as of 2/18/2015, Hotels.com
was removed as a participating merchant on Shop through
Chase. This update was processed during the same timeframe
your inquiry was received. Regretfully, there is no
information available as to the return of this Merchant. I
apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Also it seems that they don't even have a travel category in the dropdown for store type. I'm pretty sure it was there before. I'm still thinking this could be a broader move to push their own travel booking engine - which I'm not a fan of personally.
Last edited by sw128; Feb 20, 2015 at 2:44 pm Reason: additional thought
#12
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: ELP
Programs: AAdvantage, Amex MR
Posts: 2,296
If they want to push bookings to their own travel agency, then what is our motivation for booking via UR instead of booking direct if we don't get any additional UR points out of it since the bonus point for booking via UR is going away?
#13
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: NYC/LA
Programs: DL Plat, AA Plat Pro, Marriott Titanium, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 7,415
The cynical part of me says that Expedia made the decision to remove themselves b/c with the upcoming consolidation in the OTA area, they're going to be practically the only player (+ Priceline, I suppose), and they no longer need to provide incentive rebates to drive traffic to their sites.