If you blinked, you might have missed it. UK supermarket giant Morrisons has officially entered the travel booking space, teaming up with Expedia to launch a new service called Morrisons Travel. It is not loud, flashy, or trying to reinvent travel. Instead, it does something far more interesting. It blends everyday grocery loyalty with travel bookings in a way that feels very on-brand for Morrisons.

The idea is simple. Customers can now book flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities directly through Morrisons using Expedia’s inventory. And yes, there is a loyalty twist.

How Morrisons Travel actually works

Morrisons Travel lives inside places customers already know. It is available via the Morrisons website and inside the Morrisons More app, which immediately lowers the barrier to entry. There is no new platform to learn or separate login to remember.

Under the hood, Expedia powers the inventory. That means access to the same broad range of hotels, flights, car rentals, and activities that consumers expect from a global OTA. For Morrisons, this removes the complexity of contracting suppliers while still allowing the brand to own the customer relationship.

The key incentive is tied to the Morrisons More loyalty scheme. Members earn 10 More Points for every £1 spent when booking hotels, car rental, or activities. Points are credited after travel is completed, which aligns with standard industry practice and reduces refund or cancellation complications.

Flights are included in the booking offering, although loyalty points are not highlighted for flight spend. This is common, as margins on flights remain razor-thin across the industry.

Jamie Winter, director of procurement at Morrisons, summed up the thinking behind the move clearly:

“Customers can now book everything from flights to hotels through Morrisons while being rewarded through our More Card. This new service is designed to make life a little easier by offering more simple, good-value options,”

said Jamie Winter, director of procurement at Morrisons.

Why a supermarket selling travel suddenly makes sense

At first glance, a grocery chain selling travel might feel odd. In reality, it fits neatly into a broader retail and loyalty trend that has been building for years.

Supermarkets already sit at the center of everyday spending. They collect rich customer data, run mature loyalty programs, and enjoy high-frequency engagement. Travel, on the other hand, is high-value, low-frequency. When the two are combined, loyalty points suddenly feel far more meaningful.

Morrisons is not trying to become a travel brand. It is extending the usefulness of its loyalty ecosystem. Customers already trust the brand for value. Adding travel simply increases wallet share without requiring Morrisons to compete on inspiration, content, or destination marketing.

This is very different from how traditional OTAs position themselves. Morrisons Travel is transactional, practical, and reward-driven.

Expedia’s role behind the scenes

For Expedia, partnerships like this are not new, but they are becoming more strategic.

White-label and embedded travel solutions allow Expedia to distribute inventory beyond its own consumer-facing brands. Supermarkets, banks, telecoms companies, and airlines all represent trusted environments where customers are already logged in and ready to transact.

In this case, Expedia gains incremental bookings without the cost of customer acquisition. Morrisons gains instant scale, global coverage, and operational stability. It is a classic platform play, but one that increasingly defines the next phase of travel distribution.

Where Morrisons sits compared to similar players

Morrisons is not alone in this space. Tesco has long operated Tesco Travel, including travel money and insurance, while Sainsbury’s has offered holidays and travel services for years. Outside the UK, Carrefour, Lidl partners, and even banks like Barclays and Revolut have tested similar models.

What is different here is timing and tone.

Rather than launching a big standalone travel brand, Morrisons is quietly embedding travel into its loyalty app. This mirrors what we are seeing across fintech, telco, and retail. Travel is becoming a feature, not a destination.

In contrast, players like Booking.com or Expedia’s own consumer brands focus heavily on inspiration, personalization, and upselling. Morrisons Travel strips that back. It is about convenience and rewards, not wanderlust.

Loyalty points as the real product

The most important detail is not the flights or hotels. It is the points.

By offering 10 More Points per £1 spent on selected travel bookings, Morrisons turns travel into one of the fastest ways to earn loyalty rewards. For regular shoppers, this can significantly accelerate point accumulation compared to groceries alone.

This mirrors strategies seen with airline shopping portals, credit card travel portals, and even telecom loyalty programs. Travel becomes a loyalty accelerator rather than a standalone purchase decision.

Crucially, points are credited only after travel is completed. This protects Morrisons from abuse and aligns incentives with successful trip completion.

What this says about the future of travel retail

This launch reinforces a clear industry signal. Travel is no longer confined to travel brands.

Retailers with strong loyalty ecosystems are increasingly monetising their customer base through embedded travel. The technology has matured, white-label solutions are proven, and consumers are comfortable booking travel in non-traditional environments as long as trust and value are present.

For OTAs, this means distribution is fragmenting. For brands like Morrisons, it means deeper engagement without building new vertical expertise.

For consumers, it means travel choices are increasingly influenced by where they already shop, bank, or connect.

Conclusion: not disruptive, but quietly smart

Morrisons Travel is not trying to disrupt Booking.com or replace Expedia. That is exactly why it works.

This is a pragmatic, low-risk expansion that fits modern retail trends. By leveraging Expedia’s infrastructure and tying bookings to Morrisons More points, the supermarket adds real value without pretending to be something it is not.

We are likely to see more of this. Supermarkets, banks, and telcos are turning travel into a loyalty-powered utility rather than a standalone experience. According to industry analysis from Skift, Phocuswright, and Expedia Group itself, embedded travel and loyalty-led bookings are among the fastest-growing distribution models in the sector.

Morrisons has simply joined that shift at the right moment, quietly, efficiently, and very on-brand.