New Strategy For Booking Hotels

[JJReyes]

There are some 50 Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) offering the public hotel booking services.  It turns out nearly all of them are owned by just two companies -- Priceline Group and Expedia.  Priceline Group has an $88 billion market capitalization and they spend $3.5 billion a year in advertising.  Expedia is $22 billion market capitalization and their advertising budget is $4.3 billion.  Expedia is owned by Microsoft.  

The big hotel chains like Marriott and Hilton are increasingly concerned.  For example, the customer databases, including email addresses, are owned by the OTAs, not the hotel.  Commissions paid are in the 20% to 30% range.  So the large hotel chains are fighting back aggressively by advertising their own booking websites.  They give direct booking customers either upgrades or discounts under the guise of a membership program while saving 20% to 30% in commissions.  For our trip last year to Manila, I made reservations through the Dusit Thani Hotel website.  The price was less than $100 a night including taxes plus two buffet breakfast.  Food & beverages at their bars and restaurants was less 30% (but eating out was still cheaper).  For travel through Europe, we now use Premier Hotels for the UK and Ibis (Accor) for the Continent after joining their programs.  We also use AirBnb.  Sometimes the online descriptions are accurate, however there have been disappointments.  During one trip, the apartment owner failed to mention his 3rd floor unit was above a karaoke bar that remained open until 2:00 am.

The small and moderate size hotels will eventually join the trend.  At the present time, many offer prices that are higher on their website than the OTAs which makes no sense.  So, the bottom line, join a hotel chain membership program even if you plan to use it only one time.

[GeoffH]

5 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

At the present time, many offer prices that are higher on their website than the OTAs which makes no sense.  So, the bottom line, join a hotel chain membership program even if you plan to use it only one time.

 

There is a problem for small and medium sized hotels which stops them from competing with the booking chain websites.  

The conditions agreement for being able to get bookings from those large booking sites includes a clause that prohibits the hotels from advertising on their web site a price which is lower than the price advertised on the large booking site and breaches of that can (and have) resulted in hotels being removed from the booking sites. 

And because in many cases up to 50% of booking come from those web sites they can't afford not to be a member (as per figures quoted by hotel operators speaking confidentially).  But because of the high commissions they're losing a lot of their profit and/or have to increase prices across the board which means we pay more.

 

[sonjack2847]

I try to contact the hotel directly which is not always easy. I have found that using booking sites, although very easy to do most times, does cost a considerable amount extra. As an example we paid nearly 1250 pesos per night to an agent/booking site recently when the booking site quoted 998, I have found that they always have add ons which you don`t see until you go to pay by which time you are becoming anxious.

[Onemore52]

I booked a room in Manila on the hotels website, on checking in they gave me a free breakfast, I will be back again.

Last week in Australia I booked a motel on their website, on checking in once again I received a free breakfast, in the end the price was the same as those hotel websites, I think the motels and hotels are finally fighting back.

There is one hotel in Manila I used to stay at all the time until I got sick of paying for wifi, when I mentioned to management that I could get a better deal elsewhere, he told me to go elsewhere but there will be no free wifi, it is an apartment hotel where families stay so they are pretty well always booked out, but another thing that bothered me about this hotel is that it is an old converted government building and I just happen to notice that it had all wooden floors in every room but no fire sprinkler system only fire extinguishers in the hallways.. interesting.

[RubberChicken]

One of the third party booking sites has a night free with ten random completed bookings. They also currently partnered with a specific credit card to offer an incredible 10X airline milage back per USD- a major perk. They also make it easy to price match- send a link to lower price and 24 hours later a credit. They have a dedicated price match link. The first party sites are often less refined. My experience is the actual hotels have to improve their sites to make using them a better deal then using a third party site. At least for now. 🙂

[BrettGC]

Where possible I book directly with the venue for the reasons the OP discussed.  I often search for somewhere on the 3rd party site as when searching in Google and not many independent options appear.  Once I know the place I want that I've found on the 3rd party site, then I search for it specifically.  Mostly I end up with a better deal but there have been occasions where I've paid slightly more.  Either way, I've cut out the unnecessary middle man which as Kev stated, always has extras added onto the price at the payment page.  

And yes, as JJ stated, rewards programs help a lot with the bigger chains, much like the airline cards do.

Your mileage may vary. 

[stevewool]

I am a member of Marriott and yes  I do get discounts but it’s got to be a very special occasion to spend so much money in there hotels these days, There time share is still one of the best things I even brought many years ago and we are still using now, booking. Com  for a few days break I use and as a member you do get discounts  and for a cheap place to stay around England travel lodge are good.

[Rayj]

From the experiences I read here, most folks have their plans well in place. In my case, my cousin and I used booking.com on 3 consecutive nights while road tripping. We had no idea where we would end up the first 2 nights so booking.com was as much essential as convenient. It brought us great deals and unique boutique rooms for 2 nights running. But I decided to check out and leave early from my destination which I had booked for 5 nights. I found out then that my credit card had already been dinged for the entire stay and the manager had to intercede for me to refund my remaining nights. Luckily she was capable and happy to do it. I did a major amount of travel in my younger days and so to me, there was no big deal in changing my mind at the last minute, the hotel never charged until after your visit. Not so in this case anymore. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

 

 

 

56 minutes ago, Rayj said:

But I decided to check out and leave early from my destination which I had booked for 5 nights. I found out then that my credit card had already been dinged for the entire stay and the manager had to intercede for me to refund my remaining nights.

It works the other way too.  I stayed for 5 nights at a hotel in Cebu using a sale price I got on Agoda.  At the end of the 5th day, I asked at the desk if I could stay 2 more days as I was happy there.  Nope.  Not unless I paid double the rate I paid on Agoda.

So, I went back to my room, got on my laptop, opened the Agoda site, and booked 2 more nights at their special rate.  I went downstairs and showed them the booking.  No problem.  2 more nights at the Agoda price.  Strange places these hotels.  For those familiar with it,  this was at the Quest Hotel in Cebu.

[Rayj]

1 minute ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

...........So, I went back to my room, got on my laptop, opened the Agoda site......

 

Good on ‘yer,  I probably would not have thought of that.