Is Expedia spamming its customers?

According to ZDNet’s columnist David Berlind, Expedia has manipulated its information systems and business processes in a way that extends the life of a transaction so that the travel site can spam its customers with special travel deals and offers even though its customers may have opted out from such offers.

For whatever reasons, Expedia apparently believes that its e-mail qualifies as a transactional e-mail and is therefore exempt from the Can Spam Act. It’s probably for this reason that e-mail is also void of any instructions or links for unsubscribing. So, is that it? Since Expedia sees its coupon offers as transactional e-mails, does that mean I’m stuck and that I must receive them from here until eternity?

There’s no coupon in the e-mail, just a reminder that you have access to one. So maybe that’s how Expedia does it. It loads everyone’s account with a special coupon and then, Expedia thinks because they’ve loaded one into your account, it gets to send you e-mail about it.

Sorry, that work-around doesn’t work for me. My sense is that Expedia is way out of line and is operating in open violation of the Can Spam Act on at least two counts. First, ignoring the e-mail preferences of its customers. Second, sending commercial e-mail with no clearly marked unsubscribe links.