Washington, DC
October 11, 2000

Away.com, the premier online destination for extraordinary travel, today announced the acquisition of Burlington, Vermont-based Adventuroustraveler.com, a leading supplier of travel merchandise including books, videos, CD-Roms and maps for the experiential traveler. Adventuroustraveler.com will function as the gear-merchandising division of Away.com; further terms of the all-stock deal were not disclosed.

“Away.com has already established itself as the leader in the extraordinary travel space, with superior travel content and a full-service customer service center to help travelers book trips,” said Sean Greene, CEO of Away.com. “Whether you’re in planning mode, booking mode or gearing up for a trip, Away.com now provides a complete soup-to-nuts solution for extraordinary travel.”

Since opening its doors in 1994, Adventuroustraveler.com has grown from a traditional one-person catalog operation to a renowned, 36-person online and catalog retailer, shipping 1.5 million catalogs per year and generating millions in revenue. As the gear-merchandising division of Away.com, the employees will remain in Burlington and will continue to manage and grow relationships with key partners such as PlanetOutdoors, Novica.com and many others.

“In combining our operation with Away.com’s, we saw an opportunity for two of the strongest players in the experiential travel space to come together and most effectively reach the end customer,” said Spencer Newman, CEO of Adventuroustraveler.com. “Away.com possesses a solid management team who has led the company through other strategic acquisitions and three rounds of multi-million dollar financing – we knew they were the right partner for us.”

Last month, Away.com closed a third round of funding totaling $17 million. Circle T Partners of New York led the round, followed by Gannett, the partners of Gleacher & Co., National Leisure Group, New World Ventures and Potomac Ventures.

“In Adventuroustraveler.com we found a group of world travelers led by an experienced management team with successful on- and off-line direct marketing capabilities and an excellent sense of customer service,” said Greene. “These employees will be a tremendous asset to our organization.”

About Away.com

Away.com (http://www.away.com) is the recognized leader in extraordinary travel, with more than 1 million members and over 10,000 trips for those seeking an unforgettable vacation to challenge the mind, body and senses. With over 100,000 pages of content and a full-service call center, Away.com has been recognized as one of the top 50 privately held Internet companies by investment bank Wit Soundview Capital. The company is backed by Gannett, Circle T Partners, the partners of Gleacher & Co., National Leisure Group, New World Ventures and Potomac Ventures. Strategic partners include Alta Vista, Expedia.com, Planet Outdoors, Trip.com and USATODAY.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jennifer Piecuch
Away.com
202.518.7050

Steven Blinn
BlinnPR

212.675.4777