The digital travel hub’s main strategy is to entice customers by helping them receive the greatest amount of savings on vacations and trips, and has recently launched a variety of tools to help mobile customers to do so. Expedia’s mobile app update is offering users greater discounts through an in-app message campaign which takes users step by step on receiving significant price drops on hotel stays coinciding with flight purchases.

“We encourage customers to use our app- via marketing, on our site, etc. once they are in the app, the info is highlighted,” said Tarran Street, senior tech PR manager at Expedia. “We can see that now more than ever, our customers engage with us equally through a smartphone and desktop and increasingly through tablet.

“We encourage travelers to use the Expedia app via marketing and on Expedia.com,” she said. “Once they open the app, all the info is clearly highlighted with special tags indicating hotels that are offering Expedia mobile-only discounts with the specific discounts our customers are able to take advantage of.”

Traveling on mobile
Expedia is focused on serving customers through a variety of platforms, and with a prominent amount of customers searching for travel information on mobile it is vital for the service to focus on these users.

Users on its app searching trip bundles such as flight and hotels will now be able to save up to 55 percent when booking their qualifying flights first. The app will then make sure these users have the option to maximize their savings on the trip by taking them to hotels within the same area.

If a customer purchases a flight that qualifies for the bundle deal, following the transaction users will receive a notification in their Trips tab. The message will take them to corresponding hotels up to 55 percent off.

The retailer is also providing users with a series of mobile-only discounts in which they can save a significant percentage off by booking through the app. Users are now also able to earn triple the points with Expedia’s rewards program by booking hotels, flights, cars and activities on the app.

Mobile in focus
The travel service cares a significant amount about mobile, and is continually making sure to innovated on the space. For instance, Expedia added another online travel agent, HomeAway, to its digital repertoire, aiming to compete with Airbnb by offering hotel accommodations as well as forms of private lodging to mobile-savvy travelers (see more).

Expedia also boosted its mobile momentum with a series of new app features, including the ability to book rental cars, a “Book Now, Pay Later” functionality and a redesigned launch screen (see more).

The current deals are providing loyal customers with a more comprehensive discount experience.

“We have mobile only deals that can save customers up to 40 percent on hotels – discounts that are only offered on the Expedia app,” Ms. Street said. “Also, while it is not a discount, Expedia+ members can also earn triple Expedia+ points on hotels, flights, cars and activities booked on the Expedia app.

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer