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How to Build an App Like Expedia? (Cost & Features)
The online travel industry has revolutionised the way we used to plan our trips, thanks to apps like Expedia that have become our go-to solution for booking flights, hotel reservations and even car rentals. This has caused a rush for mobile app development for businesses and many companies are exploring- How to build an app like Expedia?
To develop a travel app like Expedia, you need to have a thorough market research, understand the needs of your target audience and add features accordingly using the correct tech stack. You can also partner with travel app development company for the mobile app development services. More on this is discussed later in the blog.
Before you delve more into this subject, you must know some facts about the industry. you want to explore some facts about the online travel industry. Did you know that the online market is expected to reach over $1 trillion by the year 2026? Such a growth is seen because of the increase in the number of travellers that prefers online booking solutions.
Some studies suggest that more than 70% travellers are now using online mobile apps to book their travels and accomodations. Travel booking apps not only provide convenience but also gives a smooth experience that covers all your travel needs under one roof. To create an app like Expedia, coding is not the challenge but more about understanding the needs of users.
Think back to your own travels—how many times did you want something like a much more intuitive filter on search or an easier way to compare prices? A good travel app will satiate such desires through real-time information, personalized recommendations, and secure transaction features.
When considering how long does it take to make an app, it’s essential to focus on key features and user expectations, you are empowered to deliver a traveling app that not only meets but provides more value than user expectations. Value, convenience, and a good user experience will make them return for more, be it budget or luxury tourists.
How to Build an App Like Expedia? 7 Easy Steps
In order to create a travel app like Expedia, it requires a narrated plan of attack that can only be handled correctly with experience in the industry and high technologies. Here are seven steps on how to develop an app like Expedia:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Market Research & Planning | Identify your target audience, comprehend the market, and establish the USP (unique selling proposition) of your app. Examine rivals such as Expedia to ascertain what functions well and what needs enhancement. |
| 2. Define Features & Functionality | List the key components, including the ability to book airline tickets, hotel search, car bookings, and payment gateways. Think about including cutting-edge features like user reviews, loyalty programs, and AI-based suggestions. |
| 3. Choose the Right Platform | Based on your target market and financial constraints, select between developing a progressive web application (PWA) or a cross-platform, native iOS/Android app |
| 4. Design UI/UX | Create a user-friendly interface that offers easy navigation and a smooth booking experience. Focus on aesthetics, accessibility, and intuitive design. |
| 5. Development & AppTesting | Using the selected tech stack, develop the front end and back end. Include reservation systems, and other services’ APIs. Make sure the app passes thorough testing to guarantee it is error-free and functions well in all scenarios. |
| 6. Launch & Marketing | Install the app in app stores and advertise it using a variety of platforms, such as paid advertising, content marketing, and social media. Obtain user opinions for next releases. |
| 7. Post-Launch Support & Updates | Provide ongoing support to resolve issues, release updates with new features, and keep the app aligned with the latest trends and technologies. |
[Read also: How to Make an App like Airbnb]
Tips to Develop a Successful Travel App Like Expedia
Developing a hotel booking app requires a focus on user experience, reliability, and personalisation. Here are key tips to ensure your app excels:
1. Streamlined User Experience
Booking trips should be simple and effective, allowing consumers to select and reserve a hotel room with little effort. Include complex filters and search tools to let consumers narrow down their options based on factors such as price, location, amenities, and reviews.
2. Real-Time Data Integration
Availability and pricing info can be integrated in real-time to give users accurate options on offer. This would help in reducing the risk of overbooking and increase the trust of users in your app.
3. Diverse and Secure Options for Payment
It can provide many safe payment gateways, keeping in mind the varied preferences of the users, such as PayPal, digital wallets, credit/debit cards, etc. If it’s aimed at a global audience, then your payment system should support multi-currency. Strong encryption, too, is essential to safeguard the sensitive information of users and to ensure safe transactions.
4. Personalisation & Recommendations
Provide personalized recommendations to every user according to his preferences and last booking; also, make sure to consider behavioural patterns through data analytics. This will not only increase user satisfaction but also increase the chances of repeat bookings.
5. In-App Customer Support
Provide comprehensive customer service through the app, such as live chat, chatbots, and direct contact options. This ensures that users can receive assistance instantly if they face any problems during the booking procedure.
6. Seamless Booking Confirmation & Notifications
After completion of the booking, ensure that the confirmation reaches the user instantly through various mediums such as email, SMS, or push notifications. It may be useful for sending timely reminders and updates related to their upcoming trips in order to keep the clients updated and engaged. Focusing on these areas of work right at the start will bring out a travel app that meets user expectations and builds trust and loyalty, encourages repeat usages, and differentiates your app within the competitive travel market.
[Read also: How to Develop an App like Kayak]
Essential Technologies for Building an Expedia Like App
While you are exploring how to build an app like Expedia, you must know that requires the integration of various cutting-edge technologies to ensure a seamless, efficient, and user-friendly experience. Here’s a breakdown of all the essential technologies stack needed to develop an app like Expedia:
| Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Frontend Development (React Native/Flutter) | To design an engaging and responsive user interface. |
| Backend Development (Node.js/Python/Django) | To handle data processing, server management, and APIs. |
| APIs (Amadeus, Skyscanner, Booking.com) | To integrate booking services, gateways for payment, and real-time data feeds. |
| Database (MySQL/MongoDB) | To store user data, bookings, and other relevant information securely. |
| Cloud Services (AWS/Azure) | For scalable storage, hosting, and managing large volumes of data. |
| AI & Machine Learning | To offer personalised recommendations and dynamic pricing. |
| Security (SSL, Encryption) | To protect user data and ensure secure transactions. |
Essential Features to Create an App Like Expedia
Creating an app like Expedia requires incorporating a range of features to provide users with a comprehensive, seamless travel booking experience. Here are all the essential features you should include:
1. User Registration & Profile
Permit users to edit their profiles and establish accounts. Experiences can be tailored by using this option, which also makes it possible to save payment information, booking history, and preferences for quicker checkouts.
2. Search Functionality & Filter Options
Users should be able to search for flights, hotels, and car rentals easily. Advanced filtering options based on price, location, ratings, amenities, and more help users find exactly what they’re looking for quickly.
3. Real-Time Booking & Availability
In order to enhance user satisfaction, real-time data feeds can be integrated regarding flight schedules, hotel room availability, and car rentals to reduce the chance of double overbooking. This ensures accuracy for every user.
4. Multiple Payment Options
They could be debit/credit cards, digital wallets, or PayPal. Ensure that your payment structure is secure and multi-currency-friendly in order to engage an audience worldwide. This will help gain trust and make transactions much smoother for users.
5. Booking Management
Moreover, reservations are easily manageable: view, change, or cancel. Automated confirmations and reminders before the trip will notify users of upcoming journeys and minimize the possibility of missing a reservation.
6. In-App Customer Support
Provide instant customer support through chatbots, live chat, or a help center. This ensures users can get assistance whenever they need it, enhancing trust and satisfaction.
7. Map Integration
Integrate mapping services like Google Maps to help users view locations, get directions, and explore nearby attractions. This feature is crucial for hotel searches and route planning.
8. Reviews & Ratings
Permit customers to rate and evaluate accommodations, travel, and services. This social proof gives your app more legitimacy and aids in other users’ decision-making.
9. Loyalty Programs & Offers
Implement reward schemes or loyalty programs to encourage repeat usage. Provide discounts, special offers, or bonus points for bookings made through the app.
10. Multi-Language & Currency Support
You should ensure that the application has the ability to support different languages and currencies so it can be sold anywhere in the world. It’s the accessibility that will attract users from various parts of the region to feel comfortable using your app. Build an app that competes with the best of the big boys, like Expedia, with the inclusion of these key features, and express a unique and satisfying user experience.
[Read also: How to Create an App like Amazon]
How to Integrate Hotel Rooms and Booking Systems in your Travel App?
While learning how to build an app like Expedia, one of the most important tasks in building an app like Expedia is to integrate hotel rooms and booking systems into your travel app to offer users a seamless and efficient booking experience. Here’s how you can do this:
1. API Integration
API integration is the best and most efficient way to connect your app to hotel booking systems. Key providers, like Expedia Partner Solutions, Amadeus, or Booking.com, provide APIs to access real-time data about the availability of rooms, their prices, and bookings. By using these APIs, your app can directly pull the most current information from the hotels’ databases, providing users with the most accurate and up-to-date options.
2. Content Management System (CMS)
Hotel listings, descriptions, images, and other content can be managed dynamically by implementing a strong Content Management System (CMS). A CMS allows you to easily update hotel information without needing to modify the app’s code. This flexibility is crucial for keeping your content fresh and relevant, catering to seasonal changes and promotions.
3. Inventory Management
To handle bookings, cancellations, and updates in real-time, it is important to have advanced inventory management. This system should be integrated with your CMS and API to ensure that room availability is always accurate and synchronized across platforms, thus reducing the risk of overbooking and enhancing user trust.
4. Payment Integration
Integrate various secure payment methods, such as PayPal, to handle transactions. These gateways ought to access different currencies and payment options, facilitating the completion of bookings by customers from diverse geographical locations.
5. User Account Management
User account management must be implemented so that the users are allowed to view and manage their bookings, receive notifications, and make changes if necessary. Adding such a feature provides convenience and encourages repeat use of your app. By following these guidelines, you can integrate hotel rooms and booking systems into your travel app effectively, ensuring a reliable, seamless, and user-friendly booking experience that aligns with users’ expectations.
6. Additional Considerations
Mobile-First Approach: Create your app with mobile users in mind, ensuring a seamless experience on smaller screens.
Offline Functionality: Consider integrating offline features that will allow consumers to search for hotels and make reservations even when they do not have internet access.
Personalisation: Use user data to provide individualised recommendations and suggestions.
Customer Support: Provide outstanding customer service to answer any queries or concerns about bookings or the app.
[Also Read: How to Make an App like Tiktok]
Cost to Build an App Like Expedia (Breakdown)
Here’s a general breakdown of the cost to create an app like Expedia:
| Development Stage | Expedia App Development Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Market Research & Planning | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| App Design | $8,000 – $15,000 |
| Frontend & Backend Development | $30,000 – $70,000 |
| API Integrations | $10,000 – $20,000 |
| Testing & QA | $5,000 – $10,000 |
| Launch & Marketing | $5,000 – $15,000 |
| Post-Launch Support | $2,000 – $5,000/month |
To develop a travel booking app like Expedia, various costs are involved that are directly impacted by various factors such as the app’s complexity, its features, design, and the location of the development team. Here is a breakdown of the main components of mobile app development cost to create an app like Expedia:
1. Market Research
A thorough market research is important before you start development. The market research is done to understand user needs, analyse competitors, and to define your app’s unique value proposition. This stage helps in identifying potential features and market demands. The cost for market research typically ranges from $5,000 to $10,000.
2. App Design
The design phase comprises the process of developing an interface that will be user-friendly, providing overall good experiences. The design in this phase of development can be pretty inexpensive or overly pricey, depending on the level of simplicity or complexity of your design. Basic designs are pretty cheap, while more complex and customized ones are at a high price. You can, on average, expect to spend anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 on design, depending on what you’re shooting for.
3. Frontend and Backend Development
In this stage, the coding and development of the front end and the server-side back end are done. Depending on the features’ complexity, such as real-time booking or payment integration, API integrations, etc., the costs may vary. You can expect to spend roughly $15,000 to $40,000 depending on the features in the app and the number of platforms it works with, such as iOS, Android, or both.
4. API Integration
Third-party services have to be integrated in a way that information about flights, hotels, and rental cars is given real-time. It includes integration with APIs from Expedia, Booking.com, and Google Maps’ geolocation services. The costs for API integration would come out to be around $10,000 to $20,000.
5. Payment Gateway Integration
Integration with payment gateways has to be implemented so that payments are processed safely on the travel app. This kind of integration would cost anything between $3,000 and $8,000.
6. Testing and Quality Assurance
After the coding process, rigorous testing is required to confirm that the app can run as smoothly on multiple platforms and various operating systems. It detects and resolves any issues or bugs in the application, providing optimum user experience. The testing of an app will cost about $5,000 to $10,000.
7. Maintenance and Updates
Once it is released, an app requires ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure the smooth running of the app and its security. Maintenance involves fixing bugs, updating the API, and developing new features. The average cost of this process would lie between $2,000 to $5,000 a month.
[Also Read: How to Create an App like Duolingo]
Main Challenges in Travel App Development
While learning how to build an app like Expedia, there are a number of challenges that may be faced while developing a travel app and can prove to be the main hurdle in the success of the app if not addressed properly:
1. Real-time Data Management
Real-time information about flight schedules, availability of hotels, and car rentals may be maintained respectively. Proper data must be passed to ensure that your app is updated to keep off issues such as overbooking and outdated prices in the system, thus irritating end-users.
2. Integration of Different APIs
Travel apps rely heavily on a chain of different APIs to integrate with them in order to bring data from various sources. Introducing the various APIs can be a complex matter, particularly in cases where the formats differ and data needs synchronization across the application.
3. User Experience (UX) And Interface (UI) Design
Smart and nice user interface design is certainly important, but from an interaction point of view, user experience is more important. The app should be easy to navigate and the design should be pleasant to look at to stimulate a user’s return.
4. Security and Privacy
User-sensitive information must be safe, such as payment details or personal data. Ensuring compliance with data protection regulations and safeguarding data from breaches is very important.
5. Scalability
The application should be at a point that it can manage growth, traffic, and data flows associated with the growth in the customer base without any negative impact on its performance capabilities. Scalability that you have planned in advance might be the difference between slowdowns and outages when you acquire more users.
6. Cross-Platform Compatibility
Whichever — both iOS and Android — you develop your app on, making it compatible with multiple devices having different operating systems is very difficult. You need to handle various screen sizes, resolutions, and device capabilities. To address these challenges effectively, investing in iOS app development services and Android app development services can be crucial. These services ensure that your app functions seamlessly across different platforms, providing a consistent user experience.
7. Localisation and Globalisation
To reach out to the world beyond your borders, your app must support multilingual and multicurrency features. It helps you in adapting additional layers of design and development complexity with perpetual updates based on region.
[Also Read: Fuel Delivery App Development]
How NineHertz Helps in Travel Business App Development Like Expedia?
The NineHertz is a top software and mobile application development company in USA. It is known for creating advanced, multi-featured applications similar to Expedia. With a deep understanding of the travel industry, NineHertz customises its services to meet the specific needs of travel businesses. This approach ensures your app not only stands out but also gives you a competitive edge in the market.
Our skilled team develops safe, scalable travel applications using state-of-the-art technologies. We integrate real-time booking with seamless payment processing and personalized user experiences that enhance customer satisfaction. We will ensure that using APIs of leading service providers grants your app access to updated and accurate details on flights, hotels, and other services associated with travelling.
The NineHertz has always focused on customer experience. We design user-friendly interfaces that make it easy for customers to book and navigate. Robust back-end systems for smooth operations at peak traffic, and rigorous testing to ensure that your app is bug-free and ready to launch.
We also provide ongoing support and maintenance that will keep your app updated with security updates and features. Whether you are a startup or an established company in the travel business, NineHertz has solutions that will accelerate your growth and lead you towards success within the competitive digital travel market. Get in touch with us today and begin your journey to create a different travel app that brings success.
Conclusion: Build an App Like Expedia
To develop a travel app like Expedia, a deliberate approach is required that can combine the correct technology, design and APIs in order to provide a smooth booking experience. From choosing the tech stack to managing real-time data and security, all the steps are very crucial in the app development process.
At first the cost of development may seem high, but the outcome will be much more rewarding for your business as the app that meets the travellers needs will make your app stand out in the competition. You can be assured of success in this competitive race with the correct execution and thrive in the evolving space of online travel.
FAQ’s: Develop an App Like Expedia
Let us discuss some of the frequently asked questions related to how to develop an app like Expedia:
Q.1 Can I Make My Own Booking App?
Yes, you can create an app like Expedia by planning its features, designing it, and developing it with the right technology.
Q.2 How Do I Create a Travel App?
To create a travel app like expedia, define its features, choose the technology stack, design a user-friendly interface, and develop and test the app.
Q.3 What Apps are Owned by Expedia?
Expedia Group Inc. is a travel technology company and owns several apps, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Orbitz, CarRentals.com, Expedia Cruises, Ebookers, CheapTickets, Wotif and Trivago.
Q.4 What is the Future Outlook of Expedia?
Expedia Group is projected to see its earnings increase by 17.1% annually and revenue grow by 5.9% yearly. Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to rise by 20.8% annually. Over the next three years, the company’s return on equity is forecasted to reach 326.9%.
Q.5 What Makes Expedia Different?
Expedia stands out for its complete travel services, low pricing, and diverse selection of flights, hotels, and car rentals.
