• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, November 14, 2012

Expedia has introduced an updated version of its app for the iPhone and Android devices that includes flight information along with expanded hotel listings.

The redesigned app offers the ability to sort and book flights from more than 200 airlines and entries from 140,000 hotel properties, with accompanying images and details. The aim is to make the user experience as comprehensive as Expedia on desktop.

The new app includes mobile-only deals of up to 60% off hotel bookings. Featured mobile offers will appear on the app’s home screen, as well as in search results for cities throughout the U.S. Expedia says its flagship app has been downloaded about 5 million times to date; 10% of its customers have engaged with the brand via its mobile properties overall.

Jeremy Xavier, vice president of marketing for mobile products at Expedia, told MediaPost in late August that the company is seeing mobile used especially for on-the-go bookings. For example, 70% of hotel bookings via mobile are made for the same night, in-market.

Expedia also offers the FlightTrack app, providing flight information for 1,400 airlines, as well as TripAssist for trip planning. An iPad version of the revamped Expedia app is expected soon.

Separately on Wednesday, Expedia released findings from custom research it commissioned from comScore showing that nearly half (44%) of frequent travelers used a tablet or smartphone to plan their last trip, and 48% are using mobile devices to plan their next trip.

Of that group, 44% use an app for travel planning, and about six in 10 who book flights and hotels via mobile do so through apps. Of travelers with mobile devices, 61% have made a purchase on a tablet in the last six months, while 51% have done so on a smartphone.

The majority of U.S. travel-related Internet traffic -- 88% -- still takes place on a PC. Smartphones account for 8% and tablets, 4%. A separate eMarketer study this summer also showed that mobile is still used primarily to research rather than book travel.