Google and Expedia have partnered to make it easier than ever to book your next hotel room. This week, Expedia launched the Expedia Action for the Google Assistant. With the partnership, customers now have the ability to book and manage their travel plans through hands-free voice commands on any Google Assistant-enabled device, including the Google Pixel phone, the Google Home and Google Home Mini.
“We’re excited to innovate with ways to make travel planning easier, no matter where you are or what device you're using,” Brent Harrison, VP of product and technology for Expedia, said in a statement. “The market has seen rapid adoption of these new technologies within the past year and we want to make sure that Expedia customers are able to get the travel information they need, exactly when they need it. The Google Assistant is a step in that direction.”
All customers have to do is link up their Expedia accounts to Expedia Action. Then, they can receive personalized assistance with existing itineraries, check on their Expedia Rewards balances, get packing list tips for their upcoming trips, book hotels, add a rental car and more.
The new integration into Google Assistant is a free perk, reports Travel and Leisure. All you need to do is say "OK Google, talk to Expedia" on one of your connected devices. Then, simply use commands like “What should I pack for Los Angeles?” and “Book me a hotel in Rome, Italy.”
Earlier this year, Google enabled users to directly book travel from a Google search on their smartphones. The tech giant announced that hotel and flight reservations now can be scheduled directly from a search result on mobile—without the user ever having to leave their results list.
Search results, Google noted, will include photos of hotels as well as ways to customize for dates and prices. Similar functionality is offered when booking flights—and according to Google, recent upgrades focused on making it easier for users to toggle more easily between flights and hotels with a new tab layout.