Bottom line
- Total investment $149K – $259K including a $49K franchise fee, 9.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $4.3M/year (median $3.3M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 48/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 18 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -6.1% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Expedia Cruises unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
170%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Expedia Cruises units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
38.4%
5.07× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.18×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$4.0M
on $12.8M purchase
Total debt
$8.8M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Expedia Cruises franchisees operate independent travel agencies specializing in cruise vacation sales, booking, and customer service. Day-to-day activities include client consultation, itinerary planning, reservation processing through the Expedia platform, and post-sale support. Franchisees generate revenue through commissions on cruise bookings and ancillary travel services while operating from a retail or home-based office.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 25 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Contracting franchise system with litigation history, non-transparent profitability data, and aggressive royalty structure creates elevated investment risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 48 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 5.1% YoY (93 units) indicates system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNo average net income disclosed despite $4.26M average revenue—suggests thin margins, operational challenges, or franchisor unwillingness to disclose profitability
- 03HIGHTwo litigation events within recent period (CWC affiliate lawsuit and Kay Group arbitration) signal franchisor-franchisee relationship strain and governance concerns
- 04MED9% royalty on gross revenues is high relative to travel/booking business model and compounds pressure on undisclosed net margins
- 05MINOR$149,300-$258,545 initial investment with $49,000 franchise fee requires significant capital but lacks clear ROI transparency
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
89 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Expedia Cruises · FDD (2026) PDF