4 ms·

Could someone explain to me any reason why it would be better to book through any third party instead of directly through the hotel?

brewdad 9y ago
Mainly the convenience of seeing many options in one place. Sure, if you know you want a specific Hilton in Seattle, then go directly to their site. When we looked for places to stay in Norway and Denmark last summer, booking.com was a great resource to learn about many options and the going rates. Once we narrowed things down to a couple options, we could look at the direct site or book through Booking since many smaller places bounced us back there anyway.
aianus 9y ago
It's frequently cheaper through the aggregator. The aggregators force the hotels to sign a contract stating that they won't sell cheaper on their own site and since you seem specifically interested in their hotel (maybe you're a business traveler with a points card) they have less reason to compete on price.
- mythbustah_13 9y ago
  This is no longer true anymore as EU regulations recently forbid that.
viraptor 9y ago
If you book enough stays through them, you get a genius status and get a discount on some of the hotels. Something like 10% in some cases if I remember correctly. It's pretty well hidden though. I've never seen it advertised on the homepage: http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/07/22/booking-com-genius-award/ http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/07/22/booking-com-genius-award/
piceas 9y ago
Convenience. If the service provides value for research and an easy booking process for roughly the same price/advantages then there's little benefit to booking directly. I like booking.com because the description of the hotel, photos, and conditions are presented in a consistent format which makes comparing options and locations very efficient. The details have largely also matched my experience which is nice. I started using the site because I found that their cancelation conditions were better than booking with the hotels directly. More recently, this is less of the case as the differential in price for a refundable booking has increased greatly in some cities, at least for my needs. Their solicitation for reviews process is pretty good. People’s expectations of service an amenity tend to be pretty unreliable but there are enough substantive reviews to filter out the extremes. It is slightly convenient to have a diverse range of accommodation types booked in one system but not enough to balance the dark patterns. I no longer recommend the site to those who aren’t at least a little savvy with travel and pattern spotting.

brewdad 9y ago

Mainly the convenience of seeing many options in one place. Sure, if you know you want a specific Hilton in Seattle, then go directly to their site. When we looked for places to stay in Norway and Denmark last summer, booking.com was a great resource to learn about many options and the going rates. Once we narrowed things down to a couple options, we could look at the direct site or book through Booking since many smaller places bounced us back there anyway.

aianus 9y ago

It's frequently cheaper through the aggregator. The aggregators force the hotels to sign a contract stating that they won't sell cheaper on their own site and since you seem specifically interested in their hotel (maybe you're a business traveler with a points card) they have less reason to compete on price.

mythbustah_13 9y ago
This is no longer true anymore as EU regulations recently forbid that.

viraptor 9y ago

If you book enough stays through them, you get a genius status and get a discount on some of the hotels. Something like 10% in some cases if I remember correctly. It's pretty well hidden though. I've never seen it advertised on the homepage: http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/07/22/booking-com-genius-award/ http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/07/22/booking-com-genius-award/

piceas 9y ago

Convenience. If the service provides value for research and an easy booking process for roughly the same price/advantages then there's little benefit to booking directly. I like booking.com because the description of the hotel, photos, and conditions are presented in a consistent format which makes comparing options and locations very efficient. The details have largely also matched my experience which is nice. I started using the site because I found that their cancelation conditions were better than booking with the hotels directly. More recently, this is less of the case as the differential in price for a refundable booking has increased greatly in some cities, at least for my needs. Their solicitation for reviews process is pretty good. People’s expectations of service an amenity tend to be pretty unreliable but there are enough substantive reviews to filter out the extremes. It is slightly convenient to have a diverse range of accommodation types booked in one system but not enough to balance the dark patterns. I no longer recommend the site to those who aren’t at least a little savvy with travel and pattern spotting.