ORBZ Orbitz CL A (MM)

Orbitz to Access Cendant's Worldwide Hotel Inventory via Cendant's New JumpStart(R) Web Services Technology Orbitz Seamlessly Offers Highly Competitive Merchant Hotel Rates at Thousands of Cendant Hotels PARSIPPANY, N.J., and CHICAGO, June 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) and Orbitz (NASDAQ:ORBZ) today announced an agreement to provide Orbitz with highly competitive merchant hotel rates for Cendant-franchised hotels using Cendant's JumpStart(R) Web Services technology. Under the agreement, participating Super 8(R), Days Inn(R), Ramada(R), Travelodge(R), Howard Johnson(R), Knights Inn(R), Villager, Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) hotel brands will seamlessly communicate reservation and other information to Orbitz' direct connect technology via JumpStart. Currently, more than 3,100 Cendant franchisees provide merchant hotel rates to Orbitz, which are marketed as OrbitzSavers(TM) and offer travelers' special savings at these properties. The Orbitz Merchant Hotel program continues to add Cendant hotels every week, ranging from roadside lodges to city center properties. Cendant operates more than 6,300 hotels worldwide. "By enabling Cendant hotels to use their own reservation technology to seamlessly connect to Orbitz, we are making it easier and more cost-effective for more of these properties to provide merchant inventory to Orbitz -- and increasing the availability of great rates to travelers," said John Samuel, executive vice president of Consumer Travel at Orbitz. "We continue to enhance the breadth and quality of our services to attract hotels to our growing Orbitz Merchant Hotel program, which contributed nearly half of Orbitz' hotel revenues in the first quarter of 2004." JumpStart is a turnkey distribution tool for suppliers that requires no technical modification to existing systems, and offers hoteliers a new strategic channel through which their rooms will be sold cost-effectively, at lower booking fees than they would typically pay through traditional distribution channels. With JumpStart, suppliers have the ability to connect to preferred tour operators and online travel retailers, like Orbitz, without incurring the time and cost typically associated with implementing direct connections, or manually faxing reservations. Peter Strebel, Cendant Hotel Group's senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the Jumpstart connection to Orbitz will increase ease-of-use, reservation accuracy and speed of distribution for the independent owner-operators who franchise Cendant's hotel brands. "This initiative illustrates our continuing effort to add value to our franchisees," he said. Orbitz currently provides OrbitzSaver rates on approximately 15,000 properties through the Orbitz Merchant Hotel and Travelweb programs. Orbitz.com displays merchant and published rates at more than 65,000 resorts, independent hotels and brand name chains worldwide. Andy Hermo, vice president, enterprise sales and account development, for Cendant's Travel Distribution Services Division, said the JumpStart connectivity "gives Orbitz a highly reliable and efficient link to global merchant hotel inventory, benefiting millions of consumers who want real-time access to a more diverse portfolio of products at the best rates possible." About Cendant Corporation Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD) is primarily a provider of travel and residential real estate services. With approximately 90,000 employees, New York City-based Cendant provides these services to business and consumers in over 100 countries. More information about Cendant, its companies, brands and current SEC filings may be obtained by visiting the Company's Web site at http://www.cendant.com/ or by calling 877-4-INFOCD (877-446-3623). About Cendant's Hotel Group Cendant Corporation's Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, N.J., franchises 6,368 hotels representing 514,170 rooms on five continents under the Super 8(R), Days Inn(R), Ramada(R), Travelodge(R), Howard Johnson(R), Knights Inn(R), Villager, Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands. Cendant's franchised hotels sell nearly one out of every four economy and midpriced room-nights in the United States, and Cendant franchises 11 percent of the entire U.S. hotel room supply, according to Smith Travel Research and Cendant financial data. All hotels are individually owned and operated under franchise agreements with Cendant subsidiaries. About Orbitz Orbitz, Inc. became a publicly traded company on Dec. 17, 2003, when its shares were listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol ORBZ. Orbitz is a leading online travel company that enables travelers to search for and purchase a broad array of travel products, including airline tickets, lodging, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Since launching its website in June 2001, Orbitz has become the third largest online travel site based on gross travel bookings. On Orbitz, consumers can search more than 455 airlines, as well as rates at over 65,000 lodging properties and at 23 car rental companies. For more information, visit http://www.orbitz.com/. DATASOURCE: Cendant Corporation; Orbitz, Inc. CONTACT: Kendra Thornton of Orbitz, +1-312-894-4721, ; or Jill Brenner of Cendant, +1-973-496-5870, Web site: http://www.cendant.com/ http://www.orbitz.com/

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