Amazon vs Expedia: Interview Question Comparison

When preparing for technical interviews, understanding company-specific patterns is crucial. Amazon and Expedia, while both major tech employers, present distinctly different interview landscapes in terms of scale, difficulty, and focus. Amazon's process is a high-volume, high-stakes marathon covering a vast problem space, whereas Expedia's is a more targeted sprint on core fundamentals. Your preparation strategy must adapt accordingly.

Question Volume and Difficulty

The sheer difference in question volume is the most striking contrast. Amazon's listed 1,938 questions dwarfs Expedia's 54. This isn't just a number—it reflects Amazon's immense scale, the variety of its roles (from AWS to consumer retail), and its long history of a standardized, data-driven interview process. The difficulty distribution also tells a story:

• Amazon (E530/M1057/H351): The curve is weighted towards Medium problems, which form the backbone of their interviews. A significant number of Hard questions indicates that for senior or specialized roles, you must be prepared for complex optimization and system design challenges intertwined with algorithms.
• Expedia (E13/M35/H6): The focus is overwhelmingly on Medium difficulty, with a handful of Easy and very few Hard questions. This suggests Expedia's technical screen and onsite rounds prioritize strong, clean solutions to common problems over tackling obscure, highly optimized algorithms.

This means for Amazon, you must build immense stamina and pattern recognition across a huge problem set. For Expedia, depth on core Medium-level problems is more critical than breadth across every possible algorithm.

Topic Overlap

Both companies heavily test foundational data structures. Array, String, and Hash Table problems are central to both. This is your common ground. Mastery here is non-negotiable for either interview.

The key divergence is in the next layer of topics:

• Amazon's Key Additions: Dynamic Programming (DP). DP is a major differentiator. Amazon frequently uses DP questions to assess problem decomposition, state definition, and optimization thinking—skills directly transferable to their leadership principles around ownership and diving deep.
• Expedia's Key Addition: Greedy Algorithms. While Amazon uses Greedy too, it's explicitly highlighted for Expedia. Greedy problems test your ability to find efficient, step-by-step optimal solutions, which may align with practical, iterative development approaches.

# Example of a common DP pattern (Amazon focus)
def coin_change(coins, amount):
    dp = [float('inf')] * (amount + 1)
    dp[0] = 0
    for i in range(1, amount + 1):
        for coin in coins:
            if i - coin >= 0:
                dp[i] = min(dp[i], dp[i - coin] + 1)
    return dp[amount] if dp[amount] != float('inf') else -1

Which to Prepare for First

Prepare for Amazon first. Here’s why: the scope of preparation required for Amazon inherently covers the core of what Expedia tests. If you can reliably solve a broad range of Medium problems and a selection of Hard problems—particularly in Arrays, Strings, Hash Tables, and Dynamic Programming—you will already be in a strong position for Expedia's focused question bank. The reverse is not true. Focusing solely on Expedia's list leaves massive gaps for Amazon.

Your strategy should be:

1. Build a Foundation: Grind core problems in Arrays, Strings, and Hash Tables. Use platforms that categorize by company and frequency.
2. Amazon Depth: Integrate Dynamic Programming practice early. Work through Amazon's most frequent questions across all difficulties to build stamina.
3. Expedia Polish: As your Expedia interview approaches, target their specific list to familiarize yourself with their question style and emphasize clean, well-communicated solutions to Medium problems, paying extra attention to Greedy approaches.

Ultimately, preparing for Amazon is an investment that pays dividends for many other technical interviews, including Expedia's. Start broad and deep, then specialize.

For detailed question lists and frequency data, visit the Amazon and Expedia question pages: Amazon Interview Questions | Expedia Interview Questions