Expedia

When to Use

User wants to work on Expedia directly: search or compare hotels, packages, cars, or activities, validate real trip cost, inspect cancellation and fee details, or prepare partner-safe Expedia booking flows.

Use this skill when Expedia-specific inventory, packaging logic, deeplink behavior, or partner API constraints matter more than generic travel advice alone.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/expedia/. If ~/expedia/ does not exist, run setup.md. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/expedia/
├── memory.md                 # Activation behavior, trip patterns, and decision defaults
├── sessions/
│   └── YYYY-MM-DD.md         # Current search context and shortlisted options
├── stays/
│   └── {city-or-trip}.md     # Lodging and package candidates with tradeoffs
├── partners/
│   ├── auth-notes.md         # Which partner surfaces are available in this workspace
│   └── request-log.md        # Redacted endpoint, mode, status, timestamp
└── bookings/
    └── {trip-name}.md        # Confirmed selections, deadlines, and weak points

Quick Reference

Load only the file needed for the current Expedia task.

Requirements

• No credentials required for Expedia public-page research and manual comparison.
• Partner API work is optional and needs Expedia-issued credentials for the specific surface in use.
• Rapid lodging work needs partner access plus the credentials required for signature authentication.
• Travel Redirect work needs Expedia-issued API key plus authorization credentials for redirect search flows.
• Confirm before sending passenger names, billing details, or partner account data to any live Expedia endpoint.

Coverage

This skill is designed for Expedia-specific work that usually fails when an agent treats the platform like a generic travel site:

• hotel and vacation-rental discovery on Expedia
• package comparison where flights plus stays change the real total
• cars and activities discovery when Expedia is the execution surface
• partner-side search, deeplink, and booking flows
• booking-safe summaries before the user commits money

Core Rules

1. Choose the Expedia mode before doing anything else

• Use web mode for public-page research, redirect mode for partner search plus deeplink flows, and Rapid mode for lodging booking APIs.
• State the mode in the output so the user knows whether the result came from a public page, a redirect integration, or a partner booking surface.
• If partner credentials are missing, stay in web mode and explain the limit clearly.

2. Separate search, price check, and booking

• Expedia flows often expose a search result, then a price-validation step, then a booking step.
• Do not treat an initial listing price as booking-safe.
• Re-check cancellation, taxes, fees, and inventory freshness before saying a choice is ready to book.

3. Compare the real trip cost, not the headline number

• Include taxes, resort or property fees, bag or seat exposure when packages include flights, and transfer friction when a package looks cheap but fragile.
• If one option wins only because key costs are hidden until later, say that directly.
• For multi-room or multi-traveler cases, avoid naive nightly multiplication.

4. Keep partner flows and consumer browsing separate

• Public Expedia pages are useful for visible evidence and manual comparison.
• Partner APIs are for authorized search, deeplinks, price checks, and bookings inside approved integrations.
• Do not imply API rights, partner status, or write access without explicit proof.

5. Treat flights as a specialized subproblem

• Expedia may surface flight inventory, but route quality, misconnect risk, baggage traps, and fare-family judgment still belong to deep flight analysis.
• Use Expedia here for packaging, combined-trip economics, and booking context.
• When flight complexity dominates the decision, hand off the route logic to flights.

6. Keep storage minimal and redacted

• Store reusable filters, accepted or rejected option patterns, and confirmed booking deadlines in ~/expedia/.
• Never store raw API secrets, payment data, or full authorization headers.
• In request logs, keep only mode, endpoint family, safe params, status, and timestamp.

7. Return decision-ready outputs

• For search: give 3 to 5 options with why each survived filtering.
• For packages: show what is actually bundled, what remains exposed, and what should be re-checked.
• For partner work: separate current capability, required next call, and remaining blocker.

Common Traps

• Quoting search prices as final totals -> taxes, fees, or package caveats appear later and break trust.
• Mixing partner API and public-page data without timestamps -> stale or contradictory results look authoritative.
• Treating every Expedia result like a lodging-only choice -> packages, flights, and add-ons change the decision shape.
• Assuming a deeplink is reusable forever -> tokenized or session-bound flows expire.
• Letting package savings hide weak flight shape or bad location -> the bundle looks cheap but performs badly.
• Logging authorization material or shared-secret artifacts -> avoidable credential leak.

External Endpoints

No other data is sent externally unless the user explicitly approves another source.

Security & Privacy

Data that may leave your machine:

• destination queries, travel dates, traveler counts, and optional partner search parameters sent to Expedia services

Data that stays local:

• shortlist notes, booking gates, recurring defaults, and redacted request logs in ~/expedia/

This skill does NOT:

• store API keys, shared secrets, or payment details in markdown files
• claim partner capabilities without verified credentials
• book or modify travel without explicit user approval
• use hidden scraping, bypass, or anti-bot evasion techniques
• modify its own SKILL.md

Trust

This skill can send travel search context and optional partner request data to Expedia services. Only use live Expedia calls if you trust Expedia with the trip-planning or partner-integration context relevant to the task.

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• searches and compares Expedia inventory with explicit evidence
• prepares booking-safe summaries for stays, packages, cars, and activities
• guides authorized Expedia partner workflows for redirect or Rapid lodging usage

This skill NEVER:

• promise that a search result is a final bookable price without re-checking
• imply account access or partner authorization that has not been verified
• hide stale data, fee uncertainty, or package tradeoffs

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• booking - Extend Expedia options into broader accommodation comparison across other booking surfaces.
• car-rental - Go deeper on vehicle class, insurance, pickup, and counter-risk decisions.
• travel - Keep Expedia decisions inside a broader trip-planning workflow and memory.
• tripadvisor - Cross-check destination and lodging sentiment against another major travel surface.
• maps - Validate airport access, area friction, and route realism before booking.

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star expedia
• Stay updated: clawhub sync