Earnings Per Share (Basic And Diluted Earnings Per Share) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011		Sep. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2011		Mar. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Sep. 30, 2010		Jun. 30, 2010		Mar. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Income from continuing operations attributable to Expedia, Inc.																	$ 324,146	$ 301,615	$ 213,965
Earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to Expedia, Inc. available to common stockholders:
Basic	$ 0.45	[1]	$ 1.26	[1]	$ 0.64	[1]	$ 0.04	[1]	$ 0.46	[1]	$ 0.96	[1]	$ 0.54	[1]	$ 0.18	[1]	$ 2.39	$ 2.14	$ 1.48
Diluted	$ 0.44	[1]	$ 1.22	[1]	$ 0.63	[1]	$ 0.04	[1]	$ 0.45	[1]	$ 0.94	[1]	$ 0.53	[1]	$ 0.17	[1]	$ 2.34	$ 2.09	$ 1.46
Weighted average number of shares outstanding, basic																	135,888	141,233	144,107
Options to purchase common stock																	1,766	2,046	1,421
Warrants to purchase common stock																	605	147	46
Other dilutive securities																	443	588	497
Weighted average number of shares outstanding, diluted																	138,702	144,014	146,071
Preferred stock, shares, outstanding									751									751

[1] The per share information attributable to Expedia, Inc. common shareholders reflects the one-for-two reverse stock split in connection with the spin-off. In addition, earnings per share is computed independently for each of the quarters presented. Therefore, the sum of the quarterly earnings per share may not equal the total computed for the year.