Expedia to Accept Bitcoin for Hotel Reservations

Online travel giant will accept the digital currency.

ByABC News
June 11, 2014, 10:20 AM
The Expedia Inc. logo is displayed on laptop computers arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Oct. 29, 2013.
The Expedia Inc. logo is displayed on laptop computers arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Oct. 29, 2013.
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

June 11, 2014— -- Online travel giant Expedia announced today it will begin accepting the digital currency bitcoin.

Expedia is the largest online travel agency to accept the digital currency, but it's not the only one. CheapAir.com began accepting bitcoin for airline reservation in November and for hotel reservations in February. Expedia will accept bitcoin for hotels only.

Expedia's making this move "as part of its ongoing efforts to provide customers with payment options that give customers more choice and to help improve and connect the global travel marketplace," a representative said.

Customers who want to use bitcoin just select that option at the time of payment. Expedia will accept bitcoin as payment starting Wednesday.

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Two Las Vegas hotels -- the D Las Vegas Casino Hotel and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino -- started accepting bitcoin in January. Expedia's announcement opens up a whole world of hotels able to be booked with bitcoin -- 290,000 in total.

Bitcoin transactions through Expedia will be processed by Coinbase, a bitcoin exchange based in San Francisco. Expedia itself won't handle any bitcoin, shielding it from any risk associated with the digital currency.