With yesterday’s announcement of the Asian joint venture between Expedia and Air Asia, with exclusive access to Air Asia content, one has to wonder if Expedia will now only sell Air Asia?

And where does that leave the other airlines that consumers want to purchase? Will those airlines want to provide their best content to a website that has an obvious preference to one carrier?

In comparison, Webjet is not only selling Air Asia throughout Asia Pacific – but we are completely agnostic when it comes to providing consumers the broadest and most robust range of travel options in all of our geographic locations.

Commenting on the announcement of the AirAsia/Expedia joint venture, John Guscic, Webjet’s Managing Director, states, “And if the announcement regarding Expedia’s plan in Asia wasn’t confusing enough, in Australia and New Zealand, Expedia appears to be pulling out of the sale of air tickets to sell pastrami sandwiches in New York. Maybe bagels will follow?

“Recent ads launched by Expedia take great pains to point out that they do not charge a “booking fee” and as a result, it is implied that the traveler will have an extra $50 to spend on their travel experiences (like buying a pastrami sandwich). But Expedia are not enthusiastic sellers of air in this part of the world.”

Guscic comments “It appears that they have missed the fact that customers are not interested in only one aspect of the booking process but rather the total experience and the total price. And in both instances, Webjet delivers that value.”

To illustrate: If a traveler compares the cheapest price on Webjet to the cheapest price on Expedia for a family of four from Melbourne to the Gold Coast, Webjet’s total cost- inclusive of all fees and taxes – is cheaper by more than $100.

“This unbiased presentation of flights, with outstanding choice and value, obviously resonates with consumers because they have repeatedly “voted” for us with their clicks, and for the 3rd year running we have been named Hitwise’s #1 Travel Agency in Australia” states Guscic.

Given our success in the travel business, we will not be looking to sell pastrami, bagels, or any other food dish from New York anytime soon.