rjw242

Faulty analogy. More like - if a store in Detroit offers iPads at half price, is it alright for half of Windsor to flock across the border to buy them? Actually, yes, it is.

phranticaw

Get real.

tcook052

Still stomping on sour grapes I see.

rob_flies_ua

Hi Shareholder,
If I might ask, how is your situation any changed now that the promo is over? There's still inventory remaining, and before you and your friends book it, other people (non-flyertalkers, with no promotion) are still booking seats, depriving you of yet more inventory? It's kind of like you're asking everyone - flyertalker and not - to stop booking their trips until you've booked yours for real cheap so that theirs are more expensive.

ccqueenanne

I'm fairly sure that xp.ca isn't funding all of this themselves. It is pretty common for city tourism bureaus to pay some amount for promotions. Consider how a typical traveler would use this deal - they'd book one package for a pair of flights and a room. They'd be happy to save $300. Does Expedia really plan to take a $300 hit for every package it sells, given their slim margin? Probably not. Probably Vegas is funding some or all of the refund. Or they've committed a certain amount of extra advertising to Expedia for running the promotion. And why? Because now this couple is going to Vegas and is going to pour additional tourism dollars into the city on meals and shows and gambling and cabs. Maybe Vegas paid $300 to make $1000 off this couple.

Where things went wrong was when people started using the deal in unexpected ways. Expedia.ca expected that smaller population of Canadians would use this deal (who else uses a .ca site, right?). They didn't figure that others would glom on. And they certainly didn't figure how savvy folks would game the system by buying multiple packages, at least one per traveler, if not extras with throwaway portions. Suddenly Vegas paid $1500 on this couple to make $1000 on them. Now it was a bad bet for Vegas.

I'm not saying the agreement was necessarily that Vegas pays for $300 of every $300 refund. But I'm betting they do have some money invested in the promotion.

SF_trotter

I doubt you would care, but I hope it at least occurred to you that there are real world people who *want* to take that flight or stay at that hotel and are willing to pay actual money for it.

Also, take a guess -- what do you think happens to the airfare and hotel room costs for other travelers as the cheap ones are booked out?

jschoi

If we're such losers than why are we all going to Vegas?

learningtime

+1. This IS a better analogy. Win some, lose some, move on.

johndeere19

I'm appalled at all these comments by someone so established at FT. Nothing, I REPEAT NOTHING, was stolen...there was no fraud, no theft, no rule breaking. There was simply an oversight (some would argue many) made by Expedia.ca in the rules and restrictions of the promotion which we were able to exploit to get some amazing deals. For the last time, EXPEDIA.CA REPS CONFIRMED THAT THIS WASN'T FOR CANADIANS ONLY so get over it, you missed out, life moves on, another promo will eventually pop up...one which you will probably react to in a bit more of a timely manner.

mreed911

We should feel bad that VEGAS had the odds turn against them?



I get your point... but I'd re-direct your statement to somewhere like NYC. And, FWIW, the Cancun trips were prohibitively expensive, even with the voucher!

mreed911

If the inventory is still there, they still can... just without a voucher.

They pay what us business travelers are used to paying, rather than the business-travel subsidized deep-discount rate?

jbart74

+1!

See you there!

mreed911

A chance to play a little poker before Christmas.

SF_trotter

This is true... in the sense that if someone dropped a wallet on the sidewalk and someone else found it and kept it, then we might say the person who lost the wallet only has his own carelessness to blame.

However, it would be extremely tacky for the person who kept the wallet to make such a statement.

runfit

Congrats to all who get some end of the year travel in at - who's expense will this be?!