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It's interesting that you say third party customers get worse treatment. I always assumed the opposite would be the case, because people booking through a porta

by phreeza 10y ago

It's interesting that you say third party customers get worse treatment. I always assumed the opposite would be the case, because people booking through a portal can leave a rating, while many direct customers will be one-time business, with little to no recourse of things are sub-par. Do you know what the reason might be that this is not the case?

chipperyman573 10y ago
Because the hotel has to pay a commission on you, you are worth the least to the hotel. If they have to refund your room, they have to refund less (they no longer pay the commission)
splonk 10y ago
Worse treatment doesn't really mean much unless the hotel is close to 100% capacity. I may have phrased that part badly - what I meant is that 3rd party customers are lower priority than 1st party, so if it comes down to a question of who gets the nicer room, 3rd party will lose. With respect to ratings, very few people actually leave them. So you're looking at the uncommon case of a traveler being negatively impacted, multiplied by the chance they even notice or care (e.g. someone who sleeps like a log getting the noisy room), multiplied by the chance that they actually bother reviewing. Couple that with the fact that pickier customers (frequent business travelers, points bloggers, or just brand loyalists) are vastly more likely to book direct, since you generally can't use/gain loyalty program points when booking through an aggregator, and it's understandable why direct customers might get preferential treatment. Not to mention that they're making more money from the direct customers to begin with.
cardiffspaceman 10y ago
I once booked a room with a king size bed through one of the OTAs. The bed size is extremely important to me so I make sure of it. When I found the room, it was barely large enough to contain the bed. I found out from the desk that it had been a "run of the house" booking, which sounds like it should mean, do whatever the customer wants but it apparently means the opposite. Long story short, when we complained we got moved to a penthouse suite, and that was the last time I used an OTA to book anything. BTW this hotel was a landmark in its own right, and the price for the room was very reasonable.

by phreeza 10y ago

chipperyman573 10y ago

Because the hotel has to pay a commission on you, you are worth the least to the hotel. If they have to refund your room, they have to refund less (they no longer pay the commission)

splonk 10y ago

Worse treatment doesn't really mean much unless the hotel is close to 100% capacity. I may have phrased that part badly - what I meant is that 3rd party customers are lower priority than 1st party, so if it comes down to a question of who gets the nicer room, 3rd party will lose. With respect to ratings, very few people actually leave them. So you're looking at the uncommon case of a traveler being negatively impacted, multiplied by the chance they even notice or care (e.g. someone who sleeps like a log getting the noisy room), multiplied by the chance that they actually bother reviewing. Couple that with the fact that pickier customers (frequent business travelers, points bloggers, or just brand loyalists) are vastly more likely to book direct, since you generally can't use/gain loyalty program points when booking through an aggregator, and it's understandable why direct customers might get preferential treatment. Not to mention that they're making more money from the direct customers to begin with.

cardiffspaceman 10y ago

I once booked a room with a king size bed through one of the OTAs. The bed size is extremely important to me so I make sure of it. When I found the room, it was barely large enough to contain the bed. I found out from the desk that it had been a "run of the house" booking, which sounds like it should mean, do whatever the customer wants but it apparently means the opposite. Long story short, when we complained we got moved to a penthouse suite, and that was the last time I used an OTA to book anything. BTW this hotel was a landmark in its own right, and the price for the room was very reasonable.