You won’t get the best deal booking your hotel room through third-party sites like Expedia or Travelocity, according to an anonymous hospitality industry insider. Inside, four excellent reasons to book directly with a hotel to guarantee the best rooms at the best prices.
Lower Prices: Most hotels have a lowest price guarantee and are willing to match third-party sites, even it means undercutting their best published rates. They’d rather get the money from you than pay out a commission.
Better Compensation: If you pay a third-party site, they’re the ones you need to ask for a refund. If you pay the hotel directly, they’re able to offer a refund by way of apology. “Higher-end hotels will often do whatever it takes to make a guest happy before they check out, including comping nights or the entire stay, if the complaint is egregious enough. You don’t want to prevent them from being able to do that for you.”
More Flexibility: Booking through a third-party means sacrificing your ability to easily change plans. Your dates are set by contract and that’s that. If you book directly with a hotel, they’ll usually let you cancel up to 24 hours in advance. They may even let you rejigger your travel plans during your stay without charging a penalty.
Better Rooms: Booking through third-party sites can land you in the rooms that regular patrons don’t want. That means the smoking room at the far end of the hall away from the elevator. “My hotel doesn’t maliciously put third-party internet guests into our smallest rooms, but when occupancy climbs, we’re forced into it. Perhaps you won’t receive the best rooms if you book directly, but at least you won’t be earmarked during the arrivals process for the less desirable rooms.”
Why Third Party Reservation Websites Are For Chumps [The Night Auditor]
(Photo: claytron)
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I deal with airlines & hotels directly rather than go through 3rd party sites. I’ve always found them to have the same or better fares. Same goes for rental cars too.
I booked a 2 br family suite, for 2 adults and 2 teens, for 9 days, in Punta Cana, DR, with Expedia, only to arrive to find out we had a single room with a king size bed. The hotel desk showed me where Expedia had only booked me for a single room. The hotel was filled up and said they only way they could do anything, was if I cancelled my existing reservation and booked directly through the hotel. It took me 5 hours and $130.00 in roaming charges just to get Expedia to cancel my reservations so I could get something. I called Expedia, explained it was $1.99 a minute in roaming charges. They would say “I understand, it just be 3 minutes”. Over and over I would say, “just cancel my rsvp”. They tried to come up with alternatives and I would explain that the hotel could not do anything until I cancel my rsvp through Expedia. Meanwhile my wife and kids are standing around with our luggage waiting. My wife is hysterical and my kids just want to go home. After some very harsh words they finally agreed to cancel my rsvp. It took over 4 hours waiting and 66 minutes of phone time to get Expedia to do something as simply as canceling a rsvp. We left home for the airport at 430am. Arrived in Punta Cana at 2pm. Arrived at the hotel at 3pm. Did not get into our rooms until 7pm. All of the family suites were full and we ended up have to get 2 rooms 6 doors apart. So now I’m back at home. I get my cell phone bill and call Expedia. I ask them for reimbursement of the $131.00 for the phone charges, and $208.00 for the difference of the additional room and the Family suite, for a total of $340.00. This is a very little amount considering the trauma my family and I went through that day and what I would have saved if I never used Expedia. They offered me $100 credit for my next Expedia purchase. I told the guy that I would never-ever use Expedia again and a $500 credit wouldn’t change my mind. I only wanted a check for $340.00. That was peanuts considering the rooms cost $3900 for 9 days. And had I not had the funds to pay the $3900.00, while waiting for Expedia to refund the money for my rsvp through them, we would have been totally screwed. I have filed a complaint with the BBB and I may file with small claims court if this is not resolved. I figure their legal fees will probably exceed my hotel costs and cause them some pain like they caused me.