Expedia sends booking fees on a permanent vacation!

Following up on a promotion that waived flight booking fees until May 31, Expedia.com announced that it would no longer charge customers a fee to book a flight through the popular travel agent. Expedia is counting on this move to increase the number of travelers who book their flights with them rather than finding the lowest price and heading to the airline to make their purchase. Overall the new policy should save travelers between $7-$12 a ticket.

Competing travel agents aren't the only ones to be affected by this fee reduction; airlines will have to adapt too. Many major carriers offer best price guarantees to persuade consumers to book directly with them. USA Today has a list of the many carriers that offer a price guarantee and their refund methods which is worth a look before you book. The reason Expedia's new policy could make things interesting is that Delta, United and American Airlines all require a price difference be $5-$10 - including all booking fees - before their low fare policies kicked in. With the new policy from Expedia, it's possible that we will see airlines lower their prices a few bucks to avoid the need to price match Expedia.