My Experience Using Expedia Flexible Payment Options: How it Works

Throwing down $3,000 in one shot for a family vacation is truly a soul crushing ordeal, and Expedia is really knocking out their online travel agent competitors by offering something that I think a lot of people are going to want to take advantage of.

I booked my vacation about 2 months ago, and we had another person who wanted to come along, the only problem was they did not have $1,200 straight up at the time to pay for their flight and hotel stay. I offered to pay, with a promise of a pay back. As I was booking their vacation though just before hitting the submit button, I noticed something I may have overlooked before. Something dimply fantastic.
Expedia now was offering flexible payment options.

I figured there had to be a catch, why would they allow me to place a deposit, and then have me pay the remainder of the sum off at a later date?

There had to be a catch, a huge fee, some sort of double dipping policy.

After looking over the rules and policies to their flexible payment plans though, I could find nothing, no catch, no huge interest rates for lending me the money, nothing. The total I would have had to pay that day was now split up so I would pay a deposit now, and then pay off the rest of the money at a later date.

Expedia waits till 30 days before the trip, and then they will automatically take the remanding balance that you owe, out of the card they have on file for you. You can however use a different card.
This worked wonderfully for me, because I only had to pay $400 some odd dollars for the deposit, and then the person who did not have the money upfront could pay me back, and I could use their card to pay off the rest of their trip.

This flexible payment option is simply wonderful, and I am glad to see Expedia offering it. 3 years ago I was a die hard fan of Travelocity due to their lower prices, but Expedia over the last 2 years stepped up their game and every single trip I book with them is nearly $200 cheaper than Travelocity for the exact same trip and flights. Expedia is knocking the competition out of the park, and with this flexible payment option I think this could very well be the death of Travelocity.

So if you have been wondering how Expedia's flexible payments work, know that there is no catch. You simply pay a deposit to hold your flight and room, and 30 days before you take your trip you pay off the remainder of what you owe, there are absolutely no hidden fees for this service.