LOS ANGELES— Online lodging reservation provider Hotels.com is preparing to launch a loyalty program and a packaging product to book airline tickets as well as hotel rooms, the company said. President Bob Diener said his company was preparing to launch a packaging product so that consumers could get discounts by booking different pieces of a trip at once. “We expect to add a significant amount of revenue and profit once that is launched,” he told a conference hosted by CIBC World Markets. He said the package would be launched “very shortly” and that it was not included in the budget for 2003. Chief Financial Officer Mel Robinson said Hotels.com would outsource its air ticketing from a current partner and use its own technology to create the travel packages. He did not name the partner. The company also said in its presentation that it planned to introduce a loyalty program in 2003/04.
