Expedia Group has entered into an agreement to acquire CarTrawler as it seeks to help partners capture more of the traveler journey. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026 subject to customary closing conditions.
Following the company's acquisition of Tiqets, the CarTrawler deal broadens its car rental, ground transportation and ancillary services offerings.
The moves aim to expand Expedia Group's Rapid API beyond lodging to include flights, cars, activities and trip protection.
The idea is to create “the one-stop shop for B2B travel,” Alfonso Paredes, president of B2B and chief commercial officer for Expedia Group, told reporters yesterday in Las Vegas at its Explore event, the company's annual partner and technology conference.
The growth effort has been ongoing since the addition of APIs, announced at last year's event in Seattle.
The company had started working on its own car API, Paredes said, but the team decided that they needed to move more quickly.
Paredes said Expedia Group was impressed with CarTrawler’s technology and team, calling the company “the perfect match.”
Karen Bolda, CTO of Expedia Group, added that it also plans to lean on CarTrawler’s expertise in trip protection and to learn from them.
The company announced the acquisition alongside a number of artificial intelligence (AI) products, including an AI toolkit and a new travel platform.
The toolkit, which is in-development, will roll out with certain partners in the coming months. Expedia Group said the goal is to simplify how B2B partners integrate its capabilities into AI-powered workflows, APIs and interfaces.
At the center of the effort is the company's Intelligent Experience Platform, which aims to help partners launch branded travel booking experiences more quickly using its data and infrastructure. The technology aims to reduce the time and investment needed to launch AI-driven travel planning tools.
“What … used to take months, now with this intelligence platform, it [will] actually take you days because of data,” Paredes said. “So we are able to build and scale much faster.”
Bolda added: “We're piloting it kind of end-to-end now ... we'll roll it out to existing partners as it makes sense, and then, of course, new partners.”
The company also launched marketing and media network tools.
For Rapid API partners, the additions feature a B2B Partner Portal for planning and tracking marketing strategies and a Merchandising API.
On the advertising side, Travel Media Network updates include an improved AI-powered ad portal, richer ad formats and broader reach through media partnerships.
Also at Explore, Expedia Group announced additional products and partnerships, including in-feed planning with Meta.
*This reporter's attendance at the event was supported by Expedia Group.
The Phocuswright Conference 2026
Join us at The Phocuswright Conference in Fort Lauderdale from November 17 to 19 to hear Alfonso Paredes, chief commercial officer of Expedia Group, discuss the latest developments at Expedia and wider market trends.