Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash • Hacker News Board

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#61

Post by alecco » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 12:20 AM UTC

breckenedge wrote: post #53

tiffanyh wrote: post #25

3 weeks ago, Expedia acquired Travelocity for $280M. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/expedia-buys-traveloc... This Orbitz deal ($1.6B) makes the Travelocity deal ($280M) look cheap.

I need to check my sources, but I believe the Travelocity deal excluded much of Travelocity's technology, it was just a brand-name purchase. Edit, sources: > Sparks was brought in a couple of years ago to turn around the company, which needed a wholesale upgrading of its back-end systems in order to make a go of it, but apparently the transition fell short. [1] [1] http://skift.com/2013/08/22/travelocity-gives-in-sit…

Very good idea not to get the mess of Travelocity technology.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#62

Post by martin1975 » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 12:27 AM UTC

burnte wrote: post #59

xasos wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity some of the biggest online travel sites?

Yes, but Priceline is bigger, hence the buyouts to be able to compete better.

It's the Shatner factor.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#63

Post by jessriedel » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 1:12 AM UTC

jhulla wrote: post #9

According to Forbes, hotels represent 97% of Priceline's revenue with 23% margins. Car rentals and cruises represented 9% margins and airlines at 3% margins. Assuming Expedia and Orbitz have similar profiles, then this is really a market share fight to capture the largest pool of hotel transactions. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/01/10/bre...

Does anyone know why there's such a huge disparity in these different types? I'd think the revenue would start getting driven down toward the value added, and I can't imagine the value added by a website varies so much between plane tickets, car rentals, and hotel booking.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#64

Post by encoderer » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 1:17 AM UTC

dingaling wrote: post #14

The origins of Expedia "And Bill said, ‘No let’s start it inside Microsoft. And if it wants to be free we’ll consider it.’" http://www.wired.com/2013/06/rich-barton-empowers-people-and...

Rich Barton went on to found Zillow. He's cut an impressive path.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#65

Post by dwd » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 1:34 AM UTC

bechampion wrote: post #49

sk2code wrote: post #6

I applied for a Job at Orbitz yesterday and today this news came. Orbitz ratings are pretty solid on Glassdoor and that makes them one of the best companies to work for in the Chicagoland area, hope it remains the same after the merger.

I've worked for orbitz for 7 years , good place to work , don't know what the outcome of this acquisition will be tho.

This is probably a fair indication of what might happen

http://www.smh.com.au/business/wotif-boss-and-other-staff-ge...

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#66

Post by nnoitra » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 1:58 AM UTC

So they put their money in bags and give it to them?

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#67

Post by itazula » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 2:10 AM UTC

greatquux wrote: post #60

Anyone know if Orbitz is still built on lisp as pg famously documented so long ago?

A lot of job listings here: https://twitter.com/OrbitzTalent?original_referer=https%3A%2...

A quick scan of the software engineering positions did not, however, uncover any Lisp-related jobs.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#68

Post by brianpgordon » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 2:58 AM UTC

jessriedel wrote: post #63

jhulla wrote: post #9

According to Forbes, hotels represent 97% of Priceline's revenue with 23% margins. Car rentals and cruises represented 9% margins and airlines at 3% margins. Assuming Expedia and Orbitz have similar profiles, then this is really a market share fight to capture the largest pool of hotel transactions. http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/01/10/bre...

Does anyone know why there's such a huge disparity in these different types? I'd think the revenue would start getting driven down toward the value added, and I can't imagine the value added by a website varies so much between plane tickets, car rentals, and hotel booking.

Airlines are already operating on such razor-thin margins that it's not surprising that Priceline can't extract much profit from those deals.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#69

Post by SeanLuke » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 3:47 AM UTC

greatquux wrote: post #60

Anyone know if Orbitz is still built on lisp as pg famously documented so long ago?

ITA is built on lisp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITA_Software

Orbitz, along with Kayak and many others, is an ITA customer.

Re: Expedia Buys Orbitz for $1.6B in Cash

#70

Post by joneholland » Fri, Feb 13, 2015, 5:14 AM UTC

breckenedge wrote: post #53

tiffanyh wrote: post #25

3 weeks ago, Expedia acquired Travelocity for $280M. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/expedia-buys-traveloc... This Orbitz deal ($1.6B) makes the Travelocity deal ($280M) look cheap.

I need to check my sources, but I believe the Travelocity deal excluded much of Travelocity's technology, it was just a brand-name purchase. Edit, sources: > Sparks was brought in a couple of years ago to turn around the company, which needed a wholesale upgrading of its back-end systems in order to make a go of it, but apparently the transition fell short. [1] [1] http://skift.com/2013/08/22/travelocity-gives-in-sit…

Expedia was already powering the Travelocity backend back in 2014 as part of a strategic deal because travelocity had failed to modernize their stack. . The latest acquisition simply bought the brand.