Hotwire sold!!

[thereuare]

It was announced today that InterActive Corp has bought Hotwire for $685 million.

The brand will continue to operate as an separate subsidiary. InterActive also owns Expedia and Hotels.com

We'll see what this means to the brand, but hopefully Hotwire will become more competitive with Priceline. One thing is almost certain, we will begin to see more cross-selling as Priceline does with their LowestFare.com business.

[iahphx]

Yeah. I think this has the potential to be good for folks who like to bid on travel because Barry Diller's company may try to make Hotwire more competitive with Priceline. Right now, Hotwire is barely useful. Diller's company is quickly becoming a behemoth in on-line travel (they own Expedia, Hotels.com, etc), so it's likely he will try to "make something" of this brand. Hopefully, part of his effort to expand the brand will be better deals to attract more customers.

[thereuare]

Mr. Diller,

If you're reading this... how about some Bonus Money? :)

Feel free to contact me for ideas on improvements you can make to your business.

Sincerely,

-thereuare

[afryan]

I've heard InterActiveCorp may begin unloading excess Expedia and Hotels.com inventory through Hotwire. Have you seen an impact already? Are there now more previously unseen hotels?

[thereuare]

I think it's MUCH too early to see any impact as the deal hasn't 'closed' yet and isn't expect to until sometime this quarter.

However, i'm sure having more outlets for their inventory (including 'dumping' on Hotwire... not necessarily a bad thing!), helps the synergies of the deal and makes it worthwhile. If this is the case, i'd bet that contracts need to be re-written (to allow them to distribute the property thru Hotwire) so this will all take time.

When you decide to close a Hotwire window and receive a pop-up to try Hotels.com (and vice-versa) you'll know the deal has closed :) .