Expedia Finally Joins TripAdvisor’s Instant Booking Platform

On December 20, 2016, Expedia (EXPE) announced its plan to join TripAdvisor’s (TRIP) Instant Booking platform. Initially, the partnership would be limited to Expedia’s US properties, but it should be rolled out on a global scale.

Customers will be able to book these properties directly from the TripAdvisor site instead of having to go to the Expedia site. The transaction will still be executed by Expedia, which will also take care of all customer service and payment-related issues.

This is a huge step forward for TripAdvisor, as it will instantly increase its bookable properties inventory on TripAdvisor. Expedia boasts nearly 300,000 bookable properties, which would provide more options for customers and a higher chance of bookings.

The deal is good news for Expedia too. According to Cantor Fitzgerald, the deal could mean a boost of 100–200 basis points to Expedia’s top line once it’s rolled out globally. However, it is not expected to have any impact on the company’s profits.

After Expedia previously stated that it isn’t interested in TRIP’s instant booking platform, this move— and recently going public with its own metasearch site, Trivago, seems to be testimonial to TRIP’s Instant Booking platform.

In this series, we’ll analyze how this partnership could affect Priceline (PCLN), which has a major stake in Chinese OTA player Ctrip.com (CTRP). We’ll also take a look at why investors continue to worry about TripAdvisor’s key metrics.

Finally, we’ll discuss what analysts recommend for TRIP and end the series with a sneak peek at TRIP’s stock performance. TripAdvisor forms 2% of the holdings of the First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index ETF (FDN).

For our recent earnings analysis on TripAdvisor, please read TripAdvisor’s 3Q16 Earnings Overview: More Turbulence Ahead?