Love travel? Love deals. You're in luck. Groupon, the shared coupon site that started it all, has just cranked up another partnership, and this time it's not with just another city. It's with a company, and it's poised to change the way you think about spontaneous vacations. Groupon has teamed with Expedia, a huge name in the travel booking industry, to create Groupon Getaways. The world's largest online travel company teaming up with the world's most well-known couponing site, and the result is an "unprecedented offering that will connect consumers with high quality travel offers and give travel suppliers brand exposure among millions of shoppers."

Groupon Getaways with Expedia will offer consumers deeply discounted, highly compelling travel deals from among the more than 135,000 hotels worldwide that work with Expedia. Starting in the US and Canada, with plans to expand to other countries, Expedia and Groupon plan to also include package deals, airline tickets, car rentals, cruises and destination activities. The deals will follow the proven Groupon model, in which customers have a limited time to buy a discount voucher good for future travel. Discounts will be significant – typically around 50 percent off retail rates found at other online travel sites. Once a customer purchases a voucher, they can redeem it at a later date of their choice within the redemption period. There is no pressure to plan immediately; the dates are flexible.


That last bit is really significant; travel is hard to do at a moment's notice, but giving people a window to play with will almost certainly lead to more people taking them up on the offer. Travelers can sign up to begin receiving emails from the channel immediately at www.expedia.com® and www.groupon.com/getaways, and they're expected to launch in late June.