South African Airways Selects Expedia Affiliate Network to Power Hotel Offering

BELLEVUE, Washington, May 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedia(R) Affiliate Network (EAN), an Expedia, Inc. division dedicated to private label partnerships, announced a partnership today with South African Airways (SAA), the leading airline carrier in Africa serving 20 destinations across the continent. SAA, Africa's most awarded airline, chose EAN for the breadth of inventory and great hotel rates offered at each of the 35 destinations that it serves.

"We are very pleased to be working with Expedia as our new hotel service provider," said Marc Cavaliere, Vice President of Global Sales Development for SAA. "We selected EAN because they allow us to offer our customers a tremendously robust inventory of hotel properties worldwide at very attractive rates."

"We're excited at the opportunity to work with SAA," said Sean McDonald, Vice President of Sales for EAN EMEA. "Not only are we able to offer their customers great rates at more than 135,000 properties worldwide, but in partnering with SAA, we can provide complete travel solutions to their patrons, simplifying the shopping and booking experience to one seamless transaction for both air and hotel."

The new offering will be built using EAN's flexible hotel API and leverage the Datalex Travel Distribution Platform to create a tailored, easy-to-use solution for SAA customers. South African Airways customers will be able to book hotels through the SAA website later this year.

About EAN

Expedia Affiliate Network (EAN) is part of Expedia Inc., the leading online travel company in the world. EAN works with more than 10,000 private label partners globally, providing access to Expedia's highly competitive travel products, including hotels, packages, car, flights, insurance and destination services, and benefit from unrivaled supply quality. Additional information about EAN can be found at www.ean.com.

About South African Airways (SAA)

SAA is the leading carrier in Africa serving 20 destinations across the continent, as well as major destinations within South Africa, from its hub in Johannesburg. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA's international network creates links to all continents from South Africa through 10 direct routes and 19 code shares. SAA accounts for approximately 38 percent of all international arrivals to South Africa and through its Star Alliance membership offers 19,700 daily flights serving 1077 airports in 157 countries.

For further media information on EAN, please contact: Kate Fetty: eanpr@expedia.com

Expedia and Expedia Affiliate Network are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners. (c) 2011 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-50