- Lawsuit against Expedia filed Oct. 2 t.
- It alleges hotels offering lower rates elsewhere penalized.
- Expedia calls the allegations meritless.
A CLASS-ACTION lawsuit accuses Expedia of keeping U.S. hotel rates high. It alleges the company restricts hotels from offering lower prices on their own websites and, through search penalties, on competing platforms, limiting price competition for travelers who book outside Expedia.
The complaint was filed Oct. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. It names Expedia Group and challenges its alleged use of hotel contract terms and search-ranking practices.
“As a result, Expedia has forced millions of consumers to pay artificially inflated prices for hotel rooms in the U.S.,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote in the complaint.
The plaintiffs argue that hotels pay Expedia commissions because they risk losing bookings if they are absent from its platforms. They allege that properties recover those costs by keeping room rates higher across booking channels rather than offering discounts elsewhere.
According to the complaint, Expedia charges hotels commissions of about 15 percent on bookings made through its platform. Properties seeking greater visibility can pay as much as 25 percent to 30 percent, the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint further claims that Expedia can demote hotels in search results if they offer lower rates through other channels. It alleges that the company uses contract terms and ranking algorithms to enforce its pricing rules. This, the plaintiffs say, discourages hotels from undercutting rates available on Expedia.
An Expedia spokesperson told The Seattle Times in an email that the allegations were “meritless.” The company said it has provided consumers with “competitive offerings and better value from travel suppliers” since its founding in 1996.
The plaintiffs are Lorraine Rocci of Royersford, Pennsylvania; Ronisha Andrews of Carlsbad, California; and Pak Seong Hoi of Bellevue, Washington. According to the lawsuit, Rocci booked directly with Hilton, while Andrews and Hoi booked through Priceline. They allege that they paid inflated prices even though they did not book through Expedia.
The plaintiffs are represented by Terrell Marshall Law Group, Berger Montague and Freedman Normand Friedland. They seek damages and a court order barring the alleged practices. The complaint asserts violations of federal antitrust law. The court has not certified a class.
Market share and rate restrictions
Expedia, handling nearly 80 percent of U.S. online hotel bookings, disputed the charges.Photo credit: iStock
Expedia owns Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz and CheapTickets. The complaint claims these brands account for nearly 80 percent of U.S. hotel bookings made through online travel agencies, measured by dollar value. It argues that this reach makes it hard for hotels to leave Expedia’s platforms without losing business.
The complaint says Booking.com, a major Expedia competitor, holds about 18 percent of that same online travel agency market.
Booking.com has faced similar scrutiny in Europe over rate-parity clauses. In September 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that such clauses cannot, in principle, be treated as ancillary restraints outside EU competition law. The complaint says Booking.com removed comparable clauses from its contracts across the European Economic Area in 2024 to comply with the Digital Markets Act.
The European developments provide context for the U.S. case, but they do not determine its outcome. If the plaintiffs prevail, the case could affect how hotels manage direct bookings, discounts and third-party distribution.
Expedia disputes the charges.
Separately, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating Booking Holdings over online ads that may mislead hotel customers. The company could face more than $500 million in penalties over its booking practices.
