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RAPID 3: Helping Our Partners Innovate Faster to Better Serve Travelers

October 26, 2021

Expedia Rapid 3

*”No downtime” means no wait time for new features

As the world begins to travel again, travelers will expect the latest and greatest services to help make their entire booking experience seamless.

To help meet this demand, and to enable our partners to stay ahead of the innovation curve, today we are announcing the launch of Rapid 3, our newest API from Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS). Rapid 3 is built for innovation and built to last – with a new evolving schema that makes it easier to offer diverse and competitive features to meet travelers’ needs. With Rapid 3, we’ll release new features as soon as they’re available, and without the need for an upgrade, so partners can save time and money while being at the forefront of innovation.

The new API expands EPS Rapid capabilities, first introduced in 2018. With Rapid, travel companies can access competitive accommodation rates and availability from a portfolio of more than 700,000 properties with 35 different property types in more than 25,000 destinations worldwide. The API allows companies across the globe to customize their travel offering end-to-end, from shopping to booking to payment.

Putting travelers front and center

Rapid 3 will provide partners access to a number of new features that put travelers first and simplify processes, including more competitive cancellation policies for travelers to help ease their minds when booking. We return multiple cancellation policies in our itinerary response, so that partners can show travelers the best and most competitive options.

Another new feature is the ability to share loyalty program details with the hotel so the traveler can easily earn loyalty rewards. Travelers will be asked to enter their loyalty number when they book, providing a seamless and rewarding booking experience.

Partners using Rapid 3 will also enjoy simplified PSD2 compliance which allows them to choose the payment service provider of their choice. By using a single payment provider, partners will be able to stay compliant while giving travelers a consistent user experience to verify all transactions.

Looking ahead

The travel industry is experiencing a slow recovery from the pandemic, but the trend line is definitely pointing up. And as more people return to the road, skies, and seas, demand for bookings will continue to rise. Over the coming months we’ll be introducing more features to EPS Rapid, including access to Vrbo vacation rentals, to give our partners the most innovative solutions possible to meet ever-changing traveler demand.

Please visit our Discovery Hub for more information on EPS Rapid and for updates on new features as they become available.


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