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I have to say that this completely contradicts my experience. The room price listed on the hotel's official website is always close to the highest price on the

by _rpd 9y ago

I have to say that this completely contradicts my experience. The room price listed on the hotel's official website is always close to the highest price on the internet. Discounting via other sites is so common that I now plan on it. I can often find half price rooms with modest effort.

lotsofpulp 9y ago
I am in the hotel business, so unless there's a technical glitch, that's not supposed to be happening for the big chains. If it does, then you can even get free nights: http://hiltonworldwide3.hilton.com/en/best-price-guarantee/overview.html http://hiltonworldwide3.hilton.com/en/best-price-guarantee/o... http://www.marriott.com/online-hotel-booking.mi http://www.marriott.com/online-hotel-booking.mi https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/customer-care/best-price-guarantee https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/customer-care/best-price-gu... https://www.choicehotels.com/deals/best-rate https://www.choicehotels.com/deals/best-rate Why would a hotel want to pay 15% commission to Expedia or Priceline? Compare prices on kayak.com with roomkey.com and you will see that all the chain hotels are lower on roomkey.com (which is the website owned by the hotel brands themselves, hence no commission, and lower rewards member pricing).
- _rpd 9y ago
  > Why would a hotel want to pay 15% commission to Expedia or Priceline? Well, they don't want to per se, but since you are in the hotel business then you know that a hotel room, like an airline seat, is effectively a perishable good. An unoccupied room is a revenue opportunity that is lost forever, and worse it is a source of costs not associated with occupation (interest, heating, fixed wages, etc). Like an airline, a hotel operator is strongly motivated to maintain as close to full occupancy as possible. As long as average room revenue is above occupied room overhead, the business is ahead financially. I suspect that, like airlines, hotels cover their overhead with "economy class" guests, and make their profit from "first class" guests who are not price sensitive. Hotels have a dilemma because they want full occupancy without conditioning consumers to expect discounted rates. Their solution has been to be to officially advertise "list price" while discounting as necessary through 3rd parties. However, I'll remember to check roomkey.com from now on, thanks!

by _rpd 9y ago

lotsofpulp 9y ago

I am in the hotel business, so unless there's a technical glitch, that's not supposed to be happening for the big chains. If it does, then you can even get free nights: http://hiltonworldwide3.hilton.com/en/best-price-guarantee/overview.html http://hiltonworldwide3.hilton.com/en/best-price-guarantee/o... http://www.marriott.com/online-hotel-booking.mi http://www.marriott.com/online-hotel-booking.mi https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/customer-care/best-price-guarantee https://www.ihg.com/hotels/us/en/customer-care/best-price-gu... https://www.choicehotels.com/deals/best-rate https://www.choicehotels.com/deals/best-rate Why would a hotel want to pay 15% commission to Expedia or Priceline? Compare prices on kayak.com with roomkey.com and you will see that all the chain hotels are lower on roomkey.com (which is the website owned by the hotel brands themselves, hence no commission, and lower rewards member pricing).

_rpd 9y ago
> Why would a hotel want to pay 15% commission to Expedia or Priceline? Well, they don't want to per se, but since you are in the hotel business then you know that a hotel room, like an airline seat, is effectively a perishable good. An unoccupied room is a revenue opportunity that is lost forever, and worse it is a source of costs not associated with occupation (interest, heating, fixed wages, etc). Like an airline, a hotel operator is strongly motivated to maintain as close to full occupancy as possible. As long as average room revenue is above occupied room overhead, the business is ahead financially. I suspect that, like airlines, hotels cover their overhead with "economy class" guests, and make their profit from "first class" guests who are not price sensitive. Hotels have a dilemma because they want full occupancy without conditioning consumers to expect discounted rates. Their solution has been to be to officially advertise "list price" while discounting as necessary through 3rd parties. However, I'll remember to check roomkey.com from now on, thanks!