How to Build an App Like Expedia: Key Features for Hotels, Flights & Car Booking

Travel and tourism, an industry pacing at an augmenting rate, has witnessed doubled numbers in the past two years. As the resonant effect is elevating, the world is becoming more accessible to cover inch by inch. Be it mobile users opting for travel apps to research, plan, and book or the search term “flights to (Location),” Google Marketing Strategy planners have shown a cumulative rise. Moving past the conventional methods, the industry has introduced travel apps that are expanding their reach.

Such a scenario in the market has inspired the idea of building an app like Expedia for business investors worldwide. Often, these tourism investment enthusiasts define their travel app’s functionalities and head their lookout for hotel booking app development services. However, we recognize how frequently the same investors feel cold feet, as investing in tourism apps can be tricky. They eventually need a guide holding every piece of information essential to create an app like Expedia, just like their potential clients would book a world tour. 

We have surmised all the significant details in just one bifurcated guide to assist them in reaching a conclusive decision. Hence, it is time to pack your bag and go on an informational journey, ending with the conclusive idea of building an app like Expedia.

Why Should a Business Create an App Like Expedia?

No two businesses will have the exact cause behind building their travel app, but they will most likely agree on each other’s perspective of getting one. Beginning with the explanations of why mid-sized companies and enterprises often hire mobile app developers, let’s dive into the motive for stepping into the industry. 

• Large User Base

When businesses and enterprises build travel apps with Expedia app development, they often open their horizons toward a landscape with a wide user base. Users tend to visit apps multiple times, check minute details, and plan for their upcoming trip. Often, these users convert into customers once they have validated their budget and estimated expenses, which eventually works in favor of the businesses.

• Evergreen Business Susceptibility

Tourism is a never-ending industry, even prior to globalization. Traveling and visiting have been symbols of change. The irony lies in the fact that while traveling mediums may have changed, the core remains the same. As the core remains the same, the outlook prospect of the business also remains stagnant and evergreen. Given that tourism is only expanding with time, it is the right time to build an app like Expedia.

• Assured Returns on Investments

As we have mentioned, returns on investments are among the valid reasons why businesses often contemplate their decision for Expedia app development. But this brings us to the promise that the travel industry is as evergreen and growing as ever. With people leaving their 9-5 jobs to become full-time travelers, the returns are ensured with every trip they take with the assistance of a travel app.

• Simplified Workflow Processes

Keeping the enthusiastic traveler’s user perspective aside, we must add another perspective during the discussion. The smooth functioning of tedious processes with a hotel and flight booking app. When businesses with workflow enhancement perspectives build an app like Expedia, they often aim to facilitate streamlined processing throughout the firm for smooth tourism services. 

• All-in-One Travel Booking Necessities

Nowadays, travel businesses and enterprises focus on bringing all-in-one solutions to users with hotel booking app development services. At the core, they present the users with a one-stop solution for all their trips. Hotels, cabs, flights, tour guides, and many more necessities bring them together and boost their chances of becoming a widely accepted choice among the competitors.

• Paperwork and Manual Ticket Reduction

Last but not least, gone are the days when visiting an agent, buying a ticket manually, and keeping it throughout the travel was a norm. With flight booking app development services, travel and tourism businesses have equipped themselves with apps that brought in digital transformation throughout the industry. Such a restructuring also eliminated the need for manual functioning and paperwork.

How Does Expedia-Like App For Hotels, Flights, And Cars Work?

One significant question that enthusiasts often have when building an app like Expedia is how it works. So many questions with intriguing thoughts require a proper explanation of the working process of the travel and tourism app. The functioning begins with the travel business owner building an app like Expedia, managing the portal, and assigning duties to the staff. But that’s workflow-based processing. 

Once a travel and tourism app like Expedia is well sought after in the market, agencies and different agents settle in to upload their travel-centric services, from listing their vehicles in the portal to listing their availability according to their schedule. Building a travel agent app to offer specific features according to their needs is possible with hotel booking app development services.

A similar thing is done with the user’s app, which has all the features and functionalities that allow users to search for tickets for hotels, cabs, and flights in any particular location. Once they locate the apt ticket, they should book it before it sells out. Such a need leads to information processing, payment processing, and ticket receiving. All the user now needs to do is show the ticket to the concerned authorities and board worldwide and travel.

The workings of an app like Expedia are as straightforward as they appear, with no hidden layers. Once it is ready to be launched in the market, nothing can stop businesses and enterprises from exploring the parameters of success. 

Must-Have Features for Expedia App Development

Talking about the features and functionalities has led us to comprehend how it works. However, now is the time for us to categorize those exact features to specify their nature of complexity. When travel and tourism businesses and enterprises build apps like Expedia, they often categorize them into three sections. One is for the users, the second is for the travel agents, and the third is for the admin. All three solutions require the infliction of different features that are possible with Android or iOS app development.

Before proceeding with the flight booking app development, you must familiarize yourself with the features mentioned below. This list can help you finalize the essential ones based on your capital investment capabilities.

These features and functionalities collaborate to ensure smooth functioning throughout the process. You must choose the features wisely and integrate them into your travel and tourism app according to your needs and budget.

Build an App Like Expedia: Step-By-Step Process

As we move ahead, the following section can impart resourceful comprehension into the step-by-step Expedia app development process. From the definition of requirements to the maintenance, it is reliable to understand everything better. Reaching the development point comes right after the decision-making, but our apprehension will provide a diversified knowledge of the entire guide. 

To build an app like Expedia, you must adhere to all the steps mentioned below, and we believe the end product will be worth the investment. The saturated market will embrace the travel app like no other and heave to success.

• Define Your Requirements

Devising through the requirement becomes imperative before hiring an iOS or Android app development company. For instance, you may know what you want to build, but are you sure of the peculiar details of creating a thriving travel app? The question directs understanding of the users, their issues, the proposed solutions, and the market’s reaction to them. While deciphering the minute details, you will come across the concrete ideation of your travel and tourism app.

• Hire a Travel App Development Company

As soon as you have defined all the parameters necessary to begin the development process, hiring a travel app development company becomes the next step. Travel businesses and enterprises glide through the list of companies suitable for their travel app based on their experience and expertise in the industry. Look for someone with decade-long proficiency in building an app like Expedia who has been hassle-free in facilitating the processes. Once your travel app development company is determined, the agenda is to elaborate on your impactful travel app with the smallest details. That enables them to understand your needs and requirements and work through them to get the app validated. 

• Finalize Technology Stack

The travel app developers begin to build an app like Expedia, with the first assessment of aligning the required technology stack. This step holds value as the technology stack defines your targeted audience that can be targeted. The company will not decide the audience for you; you will be the head of choosing the global or USA-based market, but they will align it with your needs.

• UI/UX Design

UI/UX design is the primary concern of businesses, and it is also a step they must focus on with immense market understanding. As the user’s first interaction relies entirely on the interface, the visual, the navigation, and the information accessibility need to be set as per them. Not only that, but your UI/UX design must also reflect the creative aspect combined with the company’s vision. With hotel booking app development services, mid-sized travel businesses often get access to imaginative UI/UX designer with skills worth their market value.

• Expedia-Like App Development

The primary step of the Expedia app development process is building source code and implementing the necessary API. Specific developers take care of both the front and back end during this step. They also integrate the database, the payment APIs, and other processes that build an app like Expedia.

• Quality Assurance

Once the source code is ready, the next stage of the flight booking app development process is quality assurance. As errors and bugs can still be found in the code, the testing team builds the test cases and runs tests to pinpoint the vulnerabilities, and the back-and-forth game of fixing begins. The travel and tourism app is sent to the client for validation when no errors, bugs, or issues are found. 

• Deployment and Maintenance

The step in the hotel booking app development process ends with the deployment, where the team of experts ensures that the travel app is ready for release. They ensure that the tourism app fits the market standards and follows all the guidelines necessary to thrive. Once the check is done, your app is released in the market to compete with the giants like no other. The post-release of the travel app is also taken care of by the travel app development company to regulate the performance and the smooth functioning of it.

Significative Factors Affecting the Cost to Build a Flight Booking App Like Expedia

The cost of building an app like Expedia is a tricky concept. No two businesses have the same needs, and this leads us to the conclusion that the cost might not be the same as well. The difference can be in context to their choice of platform, size, or even the mobile app maintenance services they customize as per their needs. Such a difference does lead us to the conclusion that there are factors influencing the Expedia app development cost. 

• Travel App Development Platform

Regarding app development, the cost to build an app like Expedia varies immensely depending on the platform you choose. You can choose Android for the global market or iOS for the market based in the United States. The cost can also differ if you select both markets with cross-platform app development. The point is that as the audience chooses the platform, the cost to build an app like Expedia deviates from the decisions. 

• Hotels and Flights Booking App Size

The travel size is another factor that influences the cost of building an app like Expedia. The more features and functionalities, the higher the Expedia app development cost. Your basic app can offer a single functionality, while the advanced app has multiple features that can change the impact on the targeted audience. This difference is often seen in the cost in the table below.

• Travel Apps Like Expedia UI/UX Design

Travel businesses often choose between template-based and customer UI/UX design. The choice of design heavily impacts the cost of building an app like Expedia. You can select a template, but as many people utilize it, the impact on the users may be affected. 

Conclusive Flight Booking App Development Cost

The mobile app development cost to create an app like Expedia ranges from the lowest, like $30,000, to the highest, like $150,000, based on factors like the travel app size, platform, and intricacies. These intricacies range from the location of the developers, the hiring model chosen, the type of features decided, and many more. 

As a decision-maker, the priority step before determining the cost is to define your travel and tourism app’s needs, features, and functionalities. This way, you can get the exact capital investment figures from the experts. 

Why Determine AppsChopper as Your Trusted Travel App Development Company?

Winding up the bifurcated guide on how to build an app like Expedia, we have concluded that you must hire a travel app development company. As the last segment concludes, it is showcased throughout that expertise brings forth high-quality travel apps. 

AppsChopper, a trusted travel and tourism app development company, is a decade-long proficient leader with valuable insights from professional experts and holds industry-wide expertise. Our experts present the clients with travel apps like Expedia that are worth the investment.