Go Direct receives no commission for bookings from the properties it publishes, it makes a very modest “set charge” for each property charged
to the property owner.
Seven in ten of us use hotel booking websites such as TripAdvisor, Booking.com and Expedia and when shopping around for accommodation. These sites promise to help you compare prices quickly and find the best deals.
But an investigation by the competitions watchdog of the UK has found that customers may be being misled by bogus discounts, pressure selling and hidden fees.
Many holidaymakers think that if a hotel is ranked at the top of the list by a booking website it means that it has the best deal.
But where a hotel appears in the search results often has nothing to do with merit or price, but rather with how much commission they are paying the website.
Experts say booking sites typically charge companies between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of the cost of a room or holiday to be listed.
But hotel owners know that customers rarely scroll beyond the first three or four options on display — so they are desperate to appear near the top of the webpage.
Industry insiders told Money Mail that in order to secure a good position, some hotels pay booking sites twice the standard rate of commission — as much as 40 per cent, or £800 on a £2,000 holiday.
It means that holidaymakers who think they are getting the best deal may actually be paying far more than they need to for their room.
This means that booking through a booking platform will be even more expensive. Because we refer you directly to the site owner they should be able to give you a lower price than booking sites or an upgrade. Much Better!
Sites use a computer program (an algorithm) to rank deals, allocating a score to each hotel based on criteria including price, location, popularity, reviews and appearance. This score then helps to determine where the deal features on the page.
But firms admit that commission also impacts where hotels appear.
Money Mail also found that prices varied depending on the website. On Lastminute.com, the same type of room at the Sorrento hotel was £349. On Booking.com it was £279.
Hotels allocate each booking site a set number of rooms to sell on. So while that website may only have one or two rooms left, the hotel could have dozens available.
Customers are also not told how many rooms were on offer to start with — so the site may only ever have had one room available.
Some hotels deliberately offer websites a small number of rooms to generate these alerts as they encourage panic buying.
Another tactic is to tell customers a hotel has been ‘booked 15 times in the last 24 hours’.
Experts say that while it is probably true, these bookings are probably for different rooms for other dates in the year.
Buying straight from a hotel can be 20 per cent cheaper than shopping around on third party sites.
A night at the Modrian Park Avenue hotel in New York costs £217 on Booking.com.
Rivals Expedia and Hotels.com both offer double rooms at £191.
But if you go to the hotel website and book direct, the cost is $225 or £170 — £47 cheaper than through Booking.com.
Experts say that even if you find that the price is not cheaper by going direct, take a screenshot of the best deal you’ve found and call them. They will often match the price and may even give you a better room.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, says: ‘Customers should not take the prices on these sites for granted. Use them as a comparison guide and then contact the hotels directly. They would rather get a direct sale because they avoid paying commission.
‘In return, they can at least match the cheapest online prices — or give you an even cheaper rate.’
Read full article: – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-5915117/Why-trust-hotel-booking-websites-reviews-ratings-up.html
Related Article: – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-5024435/Booking-hotel-direct-cheaper-comparison-sites.html