Web platformBooking & travelOriginal by Expedia Group
Expedia is an online travel agency that sells flights, hotels, car rentals and activities in one place. Its standout strength is dynamic packaging, which offers a lower total price to people who book a flight and hotel together. Users plan their entire trip in one cart, pay once and deal with a single customer service point when changes are needed, which is a real convenience for complex trips.
Building something similar requires a multi-vertical booking infrastructure connected to flight, hotel, car and activity suppliers, plus a packaging engine that brings them together. A cart and single-payment flow, supplier-specific cancellation rules, a customer service panel, a loyalty programme and APIs or white-label solutions for partners are also key components of the scope.
How Expedia works: the core user flow
How many apps and dashboards do you need?
Customer website and mobile app
The interfaces where users buy travel products individually or as packages and manage their trips.
Customer service panel
The panel where the support team handles booking changes, refunds and supplier communication.
Supplier and partner panel
The panel where hotel and activity suppliers manage content and rates and partners track their performance.
Critical features of a product like Expedia
Dynamic packaging
Creates a package price by selling flights and hotels together, offering a total saving without showing component prices separately.
One cart, many suppliers
Combines products from different suppliers into one payment and runs separate confirmation and payment flows with each supplier.
Itinerary
Shows all bookings in date order on one screen and pushes changes as notifications.
Loyalty points
Earning points on all products and using them on the next trip.
Partial cancellation handling
Calculates refunds and repricing when only one component of a package is cancelled.
Partner API
An API and white-label solution that lets banks, airlines or companies sell travel products in their own channels.
What goes into the first version, what comes later
First version (MVP)
- Hotel and flight search, sold separately
- Flight + hotel packages and package pricing
- Cart, single payment and confirmation documents
- Itinerary and booking management
- Customer service and reconciliation panel
Later releases
- Car rental and activity verticals
- Loyalty programme and member prices
- Partner API and white label
- AI-powered travel assistant
Modules and how the budget is calculated
The budget is calculated with 360 SOFT’s pricing model from the modules below, about 38 screens and the project’s complexity: roughly 224 person-days for the full scope and 146 person-days for the first version. Every module you drop lowers the budget directly.
| Module | Phase |
|---|---|
| Sign-up, login, social login | First version |
| User profile and settings | First version |
| Roles and permissions | First version |
| Admin dashboard | First version |
| Booking / reservations | First version |
| Advanced search and filters | First version |
| Cart and checkout | First version |
| Online payments (Stripe / PSP) | First version |
| Marketplace integration (Amazon, etc.) | Later release |
| Email / SMS notifications | First version |
| Ratings and reviews | First version |
| Multi-language | First version |
| Reporting and analytics | First version |
| Third-party API integration | First version |
Hosting, SMS, map APIs, app store accounts and payment-provider fees are separate items. Maintenance and improvements (optional): €750 / month. We send a fixed written price within 24 hours after a free discovery call.
The hard parts
Package integrity
If one component fails, rollback scenarios such as cancelling the others or suggesting alternatives are required.
Supplier diversity
The different data models of GDS, hotel XML and activity APIs must be merged into a shared product model.
Licensing and contracts
Selling package holidays requires travel agency registration, compliance with consumer law and supplier contracts; payments must be taken through a licensed provider.
Business model
Revenue comes from commissions on hotel sales or margins on rooms bought wholesale, and from service fees and supplier incentives on flights. Dynamic packaging allows higher margins by hiding component prices. Travel insurance, car and activity cross-sales, advertising space and partner API fees bring in additional revenue.
Get a free quote for your project
Let us scope it together and send a fixed written quote within 24 hours. NDA on request; you own the source code.
Choosing a company to build an app like Expedia
Most people searching “website like expedia” are really looking for a reliable app development company. When comparing quotes, check four things:
- Can you try similar products they have shipped, in the stores or live?
- Are the source code, design files, servers and store accounts transferred to you by contract?
- Do they show a working demo every two weeks, with written scope and acceptance criteria?
- Are maintenance, scaling and GDPR/security costs written into the quote?
Copyright and trademarks
A business model and features are generally not protected on their own, but the Expedia name, logo, interface design, content and source code are. That is why we build a product with similar functionality but your own brand, design and code. This is not legal advice; we recommend a trademark search before launch.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build a website like Expedia?
Because the scope is so broad, you need to start with a single vertical or region. A first version limited to hotel and flight sales can be ready in a few months; packaging and other verticals are added in phases.
Does dynamic packaging legally count as a package holiday?
Selling flights and accommodation together can fall under package travel regulations in some cases, such as the EU Package Travel Directive. Get legal advice on agency registration and consumer rights; this information is not a legal opinion.
Are there copyright or trademark issues?
The online travel agency model is free to use; the Expedia name, logo, design and content may not be copied.
Ready-made travel software or custom software?
Ready-made B2C travel engines offer a quick start with certain suppliers. If you want custom packaging rules, your own supplier agreements and a branded experience, custom development is a better fit.
