WEBVTT - 5 travel hacks from the CEO of Expedia Group

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<v Speaker 1>The pandemic is behind us and many of us want

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<v Speaker 1>to get back on the road again. So what do

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<v Speaker 1>you need to know to get the best out of

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<v Speaker 1>your travel budget? My guest today is Peter Kern Ceo

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<v Speaker 1>of Expedia Group. Peter. Share with us your top hacks.

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<v Speaker 1>When booking online, we all want to save some money here.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it true that shopping discreetly or incognito gets to

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<v Speaker 1>the

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<v Speaker 1>best deals?

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<v Speaker 2>No, almost never true in most cases, certainly with us,

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<v Speaker 2>the best prices are available to our members. So signed

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<v Speaker 2>in seeing all the best prices because basically hotels, even airlines,

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<v Speaker 2>car companies want to give our best customers the best prices.

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<v Speaker 2>So incognito, you don't always see the best prices. If

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<v Speaker 2>you sign in,

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<v Speaker 2>you get to see all the best prices, you get

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<v Speaker 2>to see all the benefits that suppliers are trying to

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<v Speaker 2>give our customers. And almost always that's going to be

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<v Speaker 2>your best way to search on probably any site, but

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<v Speaker 2>certainly on ours. What about

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<v Speaker 1>for deals, Peter? There's this idea that if I shop

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<v Speaker 1>for my flights and for the car hire and the

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<v Speaker 1>room and so on separately, I'm going to get a

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<v Speaker 1>better deal. Is that

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<v Speaker 2>true in general? That is not true. People believe that

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<v Speaker 2>if they search all these things, they get confidence that

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<v Speaker 2>they know exactly what the cheapest price is, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 2>But there are

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<v Speaker 2>reality is many airlines and hotels in particular and car

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<v Speaker 2>hires are willing to give the best prices to package

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<v Speaker 2>pricing when people are taking longer trips and putting multiple

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<v Speaker 2>products together. So while it may feel like you're getting

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<v Speaker 2>a cheaper price, because you did all the research, if

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<v Speaker 2>you looked at them separately and then looked at the

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<v Speaker 2>combined price, you would see that the package price is

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<v Speaker 2>often cheaper. Now, there's lots of ways to save on

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<v Speaker 2>our site. You can be a member and get member prices,

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<v Speaker 2>you can get package prices. There are sometimes mobile deals,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, different hotels are willing to do different things.

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<v Speaker 2>That's why it's good to be signed in. That's why

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<v Speaker 2>it's good to look at the package prices. But very

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<v Speaker 2>often the best deal to a given place for five

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<v Speaker 2>days may be combining an airline ticket with a hotel

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<v Speaker 2>with a car hire, which would be way better than

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<v Speaker 2>buying them separately and way less complicated as an experience

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<v Speaker 2>because you can buy it all at once.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, a lot of the efficiency around that relies on

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<v Speaker 1>the technology, doesn't it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's totally about being able to package each thing

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<v Speaker 2>together on our sites. You can actually make a pack

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<v Speaker 2>kids out of anything. So if you know, you want

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<v Speaker 2>to go from Singapore to Tokyo for four days, it

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't have to be the old fashioned packages where it's

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<v Speaker 2>a Sunday to Sunday and you fly on some charter flights,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, you pick an airline, you then pick hotels

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<v Speaker 2>and you see what the best pricing is of combining them.

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<v Speaker 2>That's often the best price. What

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<v Speaker 1>about where you get your information from when you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to get that travel plan, the perfect one together. Some

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<v Speaker 1>people think that you have to go to the website

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<v Speaker 1>because that's where you'll see the full suite. It's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be easier to

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<v Speaker 1>navigate websites or apps which are better

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<v Speaker 2>generally, apps are best because apps are where the newest

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<v Speaker 2>features are coming in general. And it's also where again,

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<v Speaker 2>you're going to have the largest selection of possible savings

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<v Speaker 2>because if there's a mobile deal, if there's a member deal,

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<v Speaker 2>if it's all in the app and it's all generally

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<v Speaker 2>the latest technology and the latest feature set, the web

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<v Speaker 2>is great for certain people, they prefer it. But in general,

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<v Speaker 2>the app is the latest greatest with the best value

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<v Speaker 2>and the best place to search.

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<v Speaker 1>So to recap, Peter, generally shopping incognito, going sort of

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<v Speaker 1>on a VPN and pretending I'm not who I am,

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<v Speaker 1>that's not going to necessarily get me the best deal

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<v Speaker 1>I should consider bundling the different elements of my travel

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<v Speaker 1>together rather than searching for one thing or another, not

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<v Speaker 1>just separately, you know, the flight or the car or

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<v Speaker 1>the room

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<v Speaker 1>and apps just using that app on my phone, that's

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<v Speaker 1>going to probably give me a better indication of the

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<v Speaker 1>deals that are available, the packages that are available and

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<v Speaker 1>the details that I really need to know to make

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<v Speaker 1>that travel seamless

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<v Speaker 2>and the best and newest features. So let's

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<v Speaker 1>go on to loyalty programs because I think I'm a

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<v Speaker 1>member of some loyalty programs, but I don't even know

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<v Speaker 1>what the rewards are anymore. I've lost track because it's

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<v Speaker 1>so complicated and some of them are really inflexible. I

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<v Speaker 1>should just stick to

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<v Speaker 1>one or can I have many different loyalty programs?

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<v Speaker 2>Loyalty programs are all different. Some are based on points

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<v Speaker 2>and you have to earn a certain amount to get

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<v Speaker 2>to a certain level to receive something others are based

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<v Speaker 2>on number of stay, et cetera. What we're moving towards

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<v Speaker 2>is a program that encompasses all our biggest brands. So

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<v Speaker 2>Expedia hotels dot com and are occasion rental brands. You'll

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<v Speaker 2>be able to use points flexibly basically be one key cash.

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<v Speaker 2>You'll be able to use it flexibly across anything. It

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<v Speaker 2>will be denominated in money. You want

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<v Speaker 2>have to earn 10,000 to get to some level you'll

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<v Speaker 2>just earn. But the important thing is you're not choosing

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<v Speaker 2>that instead of another program, you can get your airline

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<v Speaker 2>points and book through us and get our points and

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<v Speaker 2>you can get your car hire points and book through us.

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<v Speaker 2>You can get your cruise points. So there's many ways

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<v Speaker 2>to stack and take advantage of both. Even for those

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<v Speaker 2>who are trying to optimize everything or have a credit

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<v Speaker 2>card that has points, you can use that credit card

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<v Speaker 2>on us to book an airline and get points on three.

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<v Speaker 2>So it's not about picking one or the other.

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<v Speaker 2>I think what we're focused on is building a program

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<v Speaker 2>that rewards everybody, whether you travel 100 times a year

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<v Speaker 2>or one time a year and make sure you get

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<v Speaker 2>something for your loyalty, which just hasn't been the case

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<v Speaker 2>in most of the travel industry. So

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<v Speaker 1>it is entirely possible to leverage on many different loyalty

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<v Speaker 1>programs and still have happy Travel. You can leverage on

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<v Speaker 1>all of those. What about the best time to book Peter?

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<v Speaker 1>Because everyone's got a story about the days of the

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<v Speaker 1>week Monday through Sunday, which is the best time for

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<v Speaker 1>me to book.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, in general booking early is best. Although it's not absolute,

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<v Speaker 2>there will be some last minute deals from time to time.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're looking right now, things change all the time.

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<v Speaker 2>But booking on a Sunday is usually better, leaving on

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<v Speaker 2>a Thursday is usually better. Fridays are quite expensive things

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<v Speaker 2>that encompass the weekend and those are the major watch outs.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you're not sure use our flight tracking

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<v Speaker 2>feature and watch the price. And when you're ready to book,

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<v Speaker 2>you can book and we'll let you know when the

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<v Speaker 2>prices change

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<v Speaker 1>information is key. They say that a journey of 1000

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<v Speaker 1>miles begins with a single step. The first step has

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<v Speaker 1>got to be to get the right information. All I

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<v Speaker 1>have to really worry about is what to pack.

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<v Speaker 2>That's hard. Packing is hard. Depends how long you're going.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you. It's a pleasure. Thank you. Appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 1>So to sum up the top five travel tips from

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<v Speaker 1>the CEO of one of the world's biggest travel platforms.

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday is the best day to book your travel and

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<v Speaker 1>leaving on Thursday is generally cheaper. Shopping in Cognito doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>always get you the better deals.

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<v Speaker 1>The best place to look for member discounts is on

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<v Speaker 1>travel apps rather than on the web. And you can

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<v Speaker 1>also often get better deals with bundles that include multiple

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<v Speaker 1>products and finally sign up for those loyalty programs that

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<v Speaker 1>actually give you something back for your loyalty. I'm Dawn

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<v Speaker 1>Tan and my guest today was Peter K CEO of

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<v Speaker 1>Expedia Group. Catch Money. Mind on C N A and

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<v Speaker 1>online at me, watch C N A dot Asia and youtube.