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If you're only booking a hotel, rather than picking a travel vacation package, you're better off calling the hotel directly to make a reservation. The reservati
by developer2 9y ago
If you're only booking a hotel, rather than picking a travel vacation package, you're better off calling the hotel directly to make a reservation. The reservation staff almost always have sole discretion to negotiate prices within limits. If you are polite, and have checked for the best price you can find online, they will often match or beat that price. The trick is truly the politeness factor - "I SEE IT ONLINE FOR $50 LESS ONLINE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT CHEAPER!!!" will get you absolutely nowhere. They have discretion to negotiate, but are not required to do so. They deal with enough rude people on a daily basis that the moment you are abrasive, you can expect the wiggle room to vanish.
- collyw 9y agoOut of interest how would you negotiate? "I SEE IT ONLINE FOR $50 LESS ONLINE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT CHEAPER!!!" seems to be the classic style of negotiating car prices. It seems to be the only bargaining chip that you have available to you.
- andrewaylett 9y agoI suspect the volume implied would be counter-productive.
- tome 9y ago"I see it online for $50 less, could you possibly make it cheaper? If so I'll pay right away. "
- developer2 9y ago"Could you possibly..." or "Is there any way..." is precisely the right phrasing. And again, the tone used makes or breaks the deal. Furthermore, explicitly quoting the online price is the wrong approach. Ask if there's any way to get $X (online price minus $20-30/night), without explicitly mentioning that you're comparing to the online price. Don't shove the online price in their face (ie: demanding they meet or beat, which is aggressive posturing). Only refer explicitly to the online price if you can't seem to charm them without doing so. The long and short of it: you're trying to win over another human being to be on your side. You don't demand that a company or "lowly employee" meet your expectations. Tact for the win!
- collyw 9y agoOK, the bargaining chip is effectively the same, just the politeness in asking is different. I was quoting from the parent.
- tibiapejagala 9y agoI do this very often, sending an email yields 5%-15% discount on booking.com prices. But that works for independent hotels. What I write here about are chain hotels, which have terrible online experience and contacted through email gave me 10-20% higher prices than online comparison sites (which also include commission for the site). Edit: this is in Europe though