SEATTLE, Sep 6, 2002 -- Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN)and Hotwire today announced the extension of their partnership under which Hotwire will continue providing Amazon.com customers with discounted travel for the flexible traveler in the Amazon.com Travel store (www.amazon.com/travel).
Hotwire offers discounted travel to flexible consumers through Hotwire's specially negotiated Hot-Fares(SM) and Hot-Rates(SM). By asking customers to be flexible on certain details like exact flight time or airline, Hotwire can save a significant amount of money off published fares and rates without the hassle of bidding. Hotwire currently offers specially negotiated Hot-Fares(SM) and Hot-Rates(SM) on flights, hotels and rental cars.
The Amazon.com Travel store also features thousands of travel-related products from stores across the Amazon.com site, including products for people traveling with kids and infants, consumer electronic equipment that is essential to travel, travel books and audiobooks, language and travel software, and all the essentials for a road trip. The Travel store includes top sellers in numerous product categories and knowledgeable Search functionality across all product lines.
"Amazon is a great partner and we're pleased to extend this arrangement to provide quality discount travel to Amazon.com customers," said John Hommeyer, Hotwire chief marketing officer. "This agreement allows us to continue providing great travel bargains from major, quality airlines to Amazon.com's more than 30 million visitors each month."
Details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Hotwire has been providing travel services to Amazon.com customers since the launch of the Amazon.com Travel store in September 2001.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection, along with online auctions and free electronic greeting cards. Amazon.com seeks to be the world's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. Amazon.com and sellers list millions of unique new and used items in categories such as electronics, computers, kitchen products and housewares, books, music, DVDs, videos, camera and photo items, toys, baby and baby registry, software, computer and video games, cell phones and service, tools and hardware, travel services, magazine subscriptions and outdoor living products. Through Amazon Marketplace, zShops and Auctions, any business or individual can sell virtually anything to Amazon.com's millions of customers, and with Amazon.com Payments, sellers can accept credit card transactions, avoiding the hassles of offline payments. Amazon.com also offers the Amazon Credit Account, the online equivalent of a department store credit card, which provides shoppers the opportunity to buy now and pay later when shopping at Amazon.com.
Amazon.com operates five international Web sites: www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr and www.amazon.co.jp. It also operates the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 275,000 movies and entertainment titles and 1 million cast and crewmembers dating from the birth of film to 2005.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to potential future losses, significant amount of indebtedness, competition, strategic alliances and business combinations, seasonality, potential fluctuations in operating results and rate of growth, foreign currency, management of potential growth, system interruption, international expansion, consumer trends, fulfillment center optimization, inventory, limited operating history, government regulation and taxation, fraud and Amazon.com Payments, and new business areas. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001 and all subsequent filings.
About Hotwire
Hotwire (www.hotwire.com) is a leading discount travel site where flexibility means savings for leisure travelers. By only partnering with trusted travel brands, Hotwire allows travelers to buy higher quality travel for a lower price. It works because Hotwire matches the needs of two groups: customers who can be flexible about their choice of airline, hotel and rental car company in order to save money, and suppliers who have excess seats, rooms and cars they want to fill. Hotwire works with more than 30 domestic and international airlines, including all seven U.S. full-service major airlines: American Airlines, America West, Continental, Delta Air Lines, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways. In addition, Hotwire partners include more than 6,000 top hotels in 270 U.S. and Caribbean destinations, and several major car rental companies. Hotwire is a private corporation based in San Francisco, Calif. The company launched its services in October 2000, with investments from the Texas Pacific Group and six major airlines.