Orbitz To Get Purchased by Rival Expedia

Expedia must have some deep pockets. Last month they bought Travelocity, and today they announced the purchase of Orbitz Worldwide.

The deal weighs in around 1.6 Billion USD, according to the Wall Street Journal here.

Here’s a video from USA Today with the news.

Once the acquisition is complete, Expedia will hold 6% of the market share of online travel retailers.

Should this affect travelers when purchasing online? Not according to Expedia, but I know I use for Orbitz and Expedia for slightly different things as I think each site has it’s own strengths. Do you think it’s a good thing that Expedia is purchasing it’s rival Orbitz?