Expedia.Com Buys Underpants Gnomes

I thought the South Park episode about the underpants gnomes (business plan to the left) was very amusing.  I've referred to it more than once when discussing new business models. 

But thes scary thing is that, while it was never announced, Expedia.com has bought out the IP from the underpants gnomes.  I didn't see it until today when I was booking a flight to Orange County.

Expedia wanted to know if I wanted to join their "Thank You Rewards Network".  So I did.  Then I clicked on the link that told me how I would benefit.   I got this graphic:

 So, I then clicked to find out "About ThankYou"

Okay ... then I really would like to know how many points it takes to get something.

Okay ... maybe it's over here under Redeeming Points?

So I have a differently shaded graphic eerily reminiscent of the Underpants Gnomes business plan and equally detailed.  With text on all three pages that says the same thing slightly differently.

Maybe the FAQ?

In tiny type in the FAQ it tells you to go to a different web site.   An afterthought, really.

Technorati tags: Expedia, Thank You Network, ThankYou, UnderpantsGnomes

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Comments

[Armen]

Full disclosure - I work at Expedia and worked on part of this project in fact, but am not speaking in any official capacity.

It would be tough for us to show redemption rates since ThankYou Network is a separate entity we are partnered with and those redemption rates may change. The pages on our site are focused on enrolling you in the program and how you can earn points while shopping with Expedia. ThankYou handles all of the redemption. I agree with you though that the FAQ could be a bit clearer about where to get the redemption info. Hope you find things smoother once you're signed up.

[Jim Benson]

Heh,

Thanks Armen. A few things though..

First, this was mostly teasing and noting that I was viewing the same graphic over and over again.

Second, even a better linking directly to the ThankYou site would have been great. "For current redemption rates and programs click here."

But I also can't help but think that ThankYou could have a currentredemptionspecials.rss RSS feed that would go to partners like Amazon with targeted real-time redemption information and specials.

Lastly, things got clearer, but for some reason Expedia has a default ThankYou account number for me that it displays for me ... but I have to specifically tell it at the time of reservation that I want to.

Jim
Expedia customer since the beginning.