Groupon Getaways with Expedia expands beyond vouchers

Groupon Getaways with Expedia is no longer just about limited-time flash sales for hotels, redeemable with Groupons, or vouchers, on certain blocked-out dates.

Through an unannounced partnership with Switchfly, which generally provides technology solutions to loyalty programs, Groupon Getaways is now providing calendar-based shopping for hotel stays. Switchfly provides the back-end technology for the calendar-based offering.

This expanded product gives consumers more flexibility in choosing the dates they want to take a trip, and without the hassle of having to call up the hotel to see if they have a room available for the dates travelers want to show up with their Groupons.

There are no vouchers involved in this calendar-based shopping, although travelers are instructed to print an email confirmation for tehir records, and bring a photo ID and credit card.

The calendar-based shopping makes Groupon a little more online travel agency-like, with an assist from Switchfly and Expedia.

The calendar-based shopping for Groupon Getaways quietly began in late September.