Expedia hotel purchases are now payable via electronic wallet payment method Bitcoin, the travel website announced Wednesday.
According to a press release, the new collaboration partners Expedia with bitcoin payment processor Coinbase. Customers can also pay via Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club Card, or PayPal when checking out of their designated hotel. Customers wanting to fund purchases via Bitcoin can select the payment method on Expedia's payment screen. The company's system then takes them through some more pages before finishing the transaction.
Expedia's vice president for the website's global product division said the Bitcoin addition helps the company adapt to changing times.
"Expedia, Inc. is in a unique position, as one of the world's leading online travel agencies, to solve travel planning and booking for our customers and partners alike by adopting the latest payment technologies," Vice President of Expedia's Global Product Michael Gulmann said in a statement. "We're continually looking at ways consumers want to pay for their travel; 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."
Coinbase's co-founder said the company is looking forward to the new partnership.
"We are pleased to partner with Expedia.com to welcome them into the growing community of forward-thinking companies that have opened their businesses to accept bitcoin payments," Fred Ehrsam said in a statement. "By accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, Expedia is giving a wider community of users the opportunity to book hotels from their site's inventory of properties all around the world quickly and easily."
Coinbase operates 1.3 million wallets. 32,000 companies use the app. Expedia offers inexpensive hotel prices. Consumers can also rent cars, buy discounted tickets, and take advantage of cruise ship promotions, according to the press release.
