Customised Holiday Deal Alerts

I was just browsing around for some decent holiday package feeds to import to the site when I stumbled on Expedia’s new “Beta” service called, erm, well…it doesn’t have a name actually, but what it does is that it allows you to enter some basic search criteria and it comes up with a feed of holiday package deals relevant to your parameters. You can then add the “feed” to your MyMSN, Google, MyYahoo, MyAOL (or any other) personalised hompage, or read it in RSS newsreader software if you have one, and it will constantly update the latest deals from Expedia for you to follow.

It’s pretty simple at the moment, and the destination options are limited to the major US Cities or worldwide “types” of holiday (ie: casino, golf, Europe, family etc etc). Once you have selected your type of holiday, or the city you want to visit, you choose a trip “type” such as Flight Only, Hotel Only, Cruise, Deals or Flight+Hotel (more commonly referred to as a “holiday” methinks!), select your departure point - again limited to US cities - add a “package type” (currently “Genaral”, “Luxury” or “Last Minute”) and you’re done….click the button and you get the feed with instructions on how to add it.

I can see this tool will be most useful for people who want to go somewhere, sometime and are flexible about when they go, or are frequent travellers to a specific destination. For example, if you want to take the family away to a beach in Europe next year and have some time to decide, then his is ideal. It’s probably not very useful for travellers who are short on time before booking.

It reminds me a little of the Sidestep flight alert service I reviewed here actually, although that one is by email and limited to flights only. Anyway, to check out this new Expedia tool and set up your own holiday deals, click here.