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REVENUE RECOGNITION
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
REVENUE RECOGNITION
REVENUE RECOGNITION

Disaggregation of revenue

Geographic Information

The Company's international information consists of the results of Booking.com, agoda and Rentalcars.com and the results of the international businesses of KAYAK and OpenTable. This classification is independent of where the consumer resides, where the consumer is physically located while using the Company's services or the location of the travel service provider or restaurant. For example, a reservation made through Booking.com (which is domiciled in the Netherlands) at a hotel in New York by a consumer in the United States is part of the Company's international results. The Company's geographic information is as follows (in millions):

 
 
 
 
International
 
 
Total revenues for the three months ended March 31,
 
United States
 
The Netherlands
 
Other
 
Total
2019
 
$
380

 
$
2,005

 
$
452

 
$
2,837

2018
 
379

 
2,123

 
426

 
2,928


Revenue by Type of Service

Approximately 84% and 85% of the Company's revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, relates to online accommodation reservation services. Revenue from all other sources of online travel reservation services or advertising and other revenues each represent less than 10% of the Company's total revenues.

Deferred Revenue

Cash payments received from travelers in advance of the Company completing its service obligations are included in "Deferred merchant bookings" in the Company's Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets and are comprised principally of amounts owed to the travel service providers as well as the Company's deferred revenue for its commission or margin and fees. At March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, deferred merchant bookings includes deferred revenue of $246 million and $149 million, respectively. The Company expects to complete its service obligation within one year of booking. In the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company recognized revenue of $97 million and cancellations of $10 million related to the deferred revenue balance at December 31, 2018. The offsetting increase of $204 million in the deferred revenue balance for the three months ended March 31, 2019 is principally driven by payments received from travelers, net of amounts payable to travel service providers, in the period for those online travel reservations that the Company receives cash payments in advance of completing its service obligations.

Loyalty Programs

The Company provides loyalty programs, where participating consumers are awarded loyalty points on current transactions that can be redeemed in the future. At March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, liabilities of $80 million and $73 million, respectively, for loyalty program incentives were included in "Accrued expenses and other current liabilities" in the Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s largest loyalty program is at OpenTable, where points can be redeemed for qualifying reservations at participating restaurants, third-party gift cards and accommodation reservations booked through some of the Company’s other platforms. The estimated fair value of the incentives that are expected to be redeemed is recognized as a reduction of revenues at the time the incentives are granted. In the first quarter of 2018, OpenTable introduced a three-year time-based expiration for points earned by diners, which reduced its loyalty program liability by $27 million.