Expedia® Affiliate Network Adds TripAdvisor and Walk Score Tools to the AARP® Travel Center Hotel Search Capabilities

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia® Affiliate Network announced today the addition of TripAdvisor® and Walk Score tools to the AARP® Travel Center powered by Expedia, a travel website designed exclusively for AARP members. These tools provide members with reliable, real-time information to enhance their hotel search experience. TripAdvisor's user-generated reviews are displayed when searching for a hotel on the website, helping AARP members to select the perfect hotel for their trip. Walk Score is also displayed and enables members to visually locate their hotel on a map while showing local points of interest surrounding the property including restaurants, shopping, transportation options, ATMs, and other tourist attractions within walking distance.  

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"We want to ensure that AARP members have the tools they need to find the right hotel for their trip, and integrating TripAdvisor and Walk Score should help them do that," says Thaddeus Hanscom, VP of EAN Americas. "With our investment in the AARP booking platform, we're enabling better purchase decisions...and that means more than just cost and time savings. It means superior travel experiences for AARP members."

TripAdvisor is the world's largest travel site, with more than 45 million reviews and opinions from real travelers on over 450,000 hotels in more than 85,000 cities worldwide. TripAdvisor allows customers to see overall user-rated scores on each hotel as well as specific criteria such as value, cleanliness and service.  

The Walk Score application rates the walkability of a hotel location and displays points of interest in the surrounding area.  A high Walk Score rating is a location that is near to businesses, restaurants, shopping and banks and does not require a car to get around easily.  This feature is perfect for travelers without a vehicle who wish to be close to dining, shopping and other attractions.

The AARP Travel Center powered by Expedia was launched in 2008 and has saved AARP members over $10 million on travel as of March 2011.  The AARP Travel Center combines members-only discounts with exclusive travel deals from Expedia.  Exclusive savings include discounts up to 25% on car rentals, extra onboard credits on select cruises, exclusive discounts at over 9,000 hotels worldwide, and savings of up to $450 on vacation packages.  Plus, there are no booking fees and no change or cancelation fees on hotels.  Visit the AARP Travel Center at www.expedia-aarp.com or call 1-800-675-4318 for more information.

ABOUT EXPEDIA AFFILIATE NETWORK

Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) is part of Expedia Inc., the leading online travel company in the world. EAN works with more than 10,000 private label partners globally, providing access to Expedia's highly competitive travel products, including hotels, packages, car, flights, insurance and destination services, and benefit from unrivalled supply quality. Further information about EAN can be found at www.ean.com.

ABOUT TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.

ABOUT WALK SCORE®

Walk Score® promotes the walkable lifestyle for its economic, environmental and health benefits.  Through its website and a suite a mapping and data services, Walk Score® rates addresses based on their proximity to nearby amenities (restaurants, shopping, entertainment, public transit, etc.).  Walk Score delivers over 3 million scores per day across a network of over 8,000 websites.  Visit www.walkscore.com for more information.

Expedia and Expedia Affiliate Network are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.  TripAdvisor is either a trademark or registered trademark of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries.  Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. © 2011 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

CST: 2029030-50

SOURCE Expedia Affiliate Network