What is OTA in online travel?

An online travel agency (OTA) arranges and sells accommodations, tours, transportation and trips on an online platform for travelers. They are third parties who sell services on behalf of other companies. Usually, these OTAs offer many benefits with added convenience with more of a self-service approach.

What is an example of an OTA?

OTAs are online companies whose websites allow consumers to book various travel related services directly via Internet. Examples of the most commonly known OTAs are: The Priceline Group (booking.com, Priceline.com, agoda.com, KAYAK, rentalcars.com, OpenTable) Expedia, Inc.

What do you mean by OTA?

Over-The-Air
Over-the-air is any method of making data transfers or transactions wirelessly using the cellular network instead of a cable or other local connection. Most commonly, this term refers to downloading or uploading content or software (such as downloading ringtones, uploading images, etc.).

Is Expedia an OTA?

Expedia.com is a travel booking service and the main OTA operated by the Expedia Group, which also owns a number of subsidiaries.

How do online travel agencies make money?

Online travel agencies make money by taking a commission from the airline, hotel, car rental agency, or cruise line when you book. (At Scott’s Cheap Flights, we don’t take any commissions from the airlines when we send our members deals.

How does an online travel agent work?

Online travel agencies work by plugging into a “global distribution system,” which is a fancy name for the market where airlines tell distributors what they’re charging for their flights. Instead, the OTA is the middleman, connecting customers with airlines and taking a small commission from the airline in the process.

How do online travel agents work?

Is Hotel com an OTA?

If you’ve ever used Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotels.com, or Hotwire, for example, you’ve used an “OTA (Fun fact: All five of those are owned by the same company.)” Bank websites that let you use your credit card rewards points to book travel (like Chase’s UltimateRewards.com or Citi’s ThankYou.com) are also OTAs.