Expedia inflated hotel prices, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

On Oct. 2, 2026, Ronisha Andrews, Pak Seong Hoi and Lorraine Rocci filed a class action lawsuit against Expedia Group Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The class action lawsuit alleges the company uses its hotel contracts and search rankings to block lower prices elsewhere, inflating room rates even for travelers who never book through Expedia. Rocci claims she booked directly with a hotel chain, while Andrews and Hoi says they used a rival booking site. All three claim the company's conduct caused them to pay artificially inflated rates.

The alleged hotel agreement

In addition to Expedia.com, Expedia Group Inc. owns Hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz and CheapTickets. Its standard hotel agreement requires hotels to give Expedia rates at least as good as those on their own online booking channels, the proposed class action contends.

The company collects about 15% of each booking and 25-30% from hotels that pay for added visibility, the complaint claims. By contrast, direct bookings do not provide a commission. Under the agreement, hotels allegedly cannot offer cheaper direct rates so the commission shows up in room prices on every channel.

Market share and search rankings

The plaintiffs contend that Expedia's sites handle about 78% of U.S. hotel booking dollars spent through online travel agencies, making it a platform hotels cannot afford to skip. InterContinental Hotels Group and Choice Hotels both left the platform and later returned.

The lawsuit claims four automated tools penalize hotels that post lower prices on rival sites, such as Booking.com and Priceline. Expedia's own partner guidance, for example, lists rate competitiveness as a search ranking factor.

The company's automatic rate match tool adjusts a hotel's rate on its sites to match the lowest price elsewhere, and Expedia advertises it as a path to more visibility. Under the VIP Access program, participating hotels allegedly must price rooms for key customers 10 to 25% higher on other channels with no end date.

The legal claims

Expedia faces two federal antitrust claims, both aimed at its alleged use of market power to block price competition:


  • Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which bars agreements that unreasonably restrain trade

  • Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which bars companies from illegally keeping monopoly power

The plaintiffs seek three times their damage, interest and attorneys' fees plus a permanent court order ending the challenged practices .

What the lawsuit means for hotel guests

The two proposed classes cover people and businesses in the United States that, since Oct. 2, 2022, bought a stay at a U.S. hotel that lists rooms on an Expedia site either directly from the hotel or through a rival booking site though the suit makes no claims over purchases through Expedia's own sites.

There is no settlement, no claims process and no money available at this time.