Not consigning the reviews universe to its former stablemate TripAdvisor, Expedia, Inc., continues to show an interest in building up its own database of reviews and using that to help suppliers.
Its Orbitz and CheapTickets brands have been testing reviews for car rentals since late February and early March, Tnooz has learned.
Car rental reviews are not on the other brands, but the plan is to roll the feature out to all brand Expedia properties, says a spokesperson. No timeframe was given. Consumers are prompted via email to rate their experience.
The average ratings are only appearing on selected searches on Orbitz or CheapTickets as of now.
In 2014, Expedia began testing real-time reviews of hotels, "to provide immediate actionable insights for its customers and partners."
Since then, hoteliers have been able to see user reviews often while the user is still on the property and there is a chance to improve the experience. The reviews appear in the Expedia PartnerCentral extranet for management to read.
Reviews continue to spread in popularity.
Expedia has continued to test flight reviews. As Tnooz has reported, consumers in the US are invited to leave a review of their flight via a post-trip email, similar to those issued for hotel reviews.
TripAdvisor, the champion of online travel reviews, continues to refine its approach to flight and hotel reviews but hasn't tackled car rental reviews.