Expedia’s Covert Weapon: Flyers’ Airline Reviews
Photo Credit: A Swiss plane at Zurich's international airport. Expedia has been quietly collecting user reviews of airlines like Swiss for the past year. Skift
Skift Take
Lots of consumers start their trip-planning with flights. Expedia will use its customer reviews of flights to spur more flight bookings but the company is also focusing on up-selling and facilitating smooth navigation to hotel and vacation-package options.
As TripAdvisor enhances its flight-search capabilities with user reviews of airlines and flight-amenity information, Expedia has a counter-move that's flown under the radar: Expedia has been collecting -- but not publishing -- user reviews of flights for well over a year.
Greg Schulze, Expedia Inc.'s senior vice president lfor commercial strategy and services, explains that customers receive an email after their Expedia-booked flights asking them to pick a smiley face or a frown for services including the ease of check-in or the comfort of the airline seat.
"Flight reviews are definitely coming from Expedia," says Schulze, the first Expedia Inc. executive with global responsibilities based in Asia. From his base in Singapore, Schulze s
