7 ms·

"Frankly, I don’t think I am going to stop using Booking.com. I am not aware of any other service with a comparable number of properties and reviews." It's har

"Frankly, I don’t think I am going to stop using Booking.com. I am not aware of any other service with a comparable number of properties and reviews." It's hard to quantify negative impact of future dealings, but it's even harder to say Booking.com should change their methods when the people aware enough to be annoyed continue to give them money. It's like complaining about Google following you around the web and using GMail. Either the alternatives just aren't good enough or the negative externalities not severe enough to change consumer behavior. Either of those considerations could change, but until they do it's hard to argue Booking.com should reduce current earnings. Not when people who book a room above a bar that plays music into the early morning blame themselves for not reading the fine print...

johansch 9y ago
A suggestion for people who are upset with this behavior: Use Booking.com (and Google, Expedia, etc) as a showroom, after you have found a certain hotel, find their web site or phone and arrange a booking directly.
- zpr 9y ago
  Sometimes the direct prices are actually more. Your best bet for sticking it to them might be to use an alternative booking service.
  - johansch 9y ago
    Perhaps calling the hotel to ask if they'll match the online price will work?
  - lotsofpulp 9y ago
    Booking.com takes an 18% commission. Only a severely incompetent business would refuse to give you a lower price in exchange for them not having to pay that 18%. All the big franchises (Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, Choice, Wyndham) will give you a cheaper “member” price at their direct website. Being a member is free, it’s just like airline miles and you even earn points.
    - briandear 9y ago
      Commissions vary depending on a lot of factors. My property in the south of France, we pay 10% and it’s well worth it. It’s incredible lead generation and saves us a ton on marketing and advertising. I’m happy to pay the commission because for small hotel owners, it’s much easier than having to spend continuously on marketing.
      - gberger 9y ago
        Right. But imagine you have your rooms listed for $220 in your own site, and for $200 on Booking. If someone books on Booking, you get $180. If someone calls and asks to book at the rate they see at Booking, but directly with you, you make $200.
        zzmicier 9y ago
        If I understand this correctly, such deals should be forbidden by contracts with property aggregators.
    - what_ever 9y ago
      Except that hotel room bookings work a lot differently for lot of hotels than any other types of bookings. Hotels usually sell rooms in bulk to Priceline, Expedia and other OTAs and possibly keep some for their own funnel. So they may not have the same incentive to sell at that price you saw on Priceline.
      - lotsofpulp 9y ago
        That is not true for the chain hotels in the US. They also all have best price guarantees where if you see a lower publicly advertised price than the hotel’s own website, then you get a free night. But that never happens since it’s all updated in real time now, and the hotel’s systems will not allow reservations at a lower price.
        michaelmwu 9y ago
  - bogomipz 9y ago
    And who is that in Europe? I tried both Agoda and Hotels.com without much success.
    - milesskorpen 9y ago
      Agoda = Booking.com
      - devdas 9y ago
        Agoda is a Priceline subsidiary, like Booking.com
    - gommm 9y ago
      In Europe, I always check the price directly from the hotel, if it's last minute, I check hotels tonight and if the price is really much cheaper in booking.com, I call the hotel and get them to match the price. I sometimes use hotels.com though since I often can get a 5% cashback plus their reward scheme which gives me a free night every ten nights (effectively a 10% discount) Oh and for reviews, I check tripadvisor since, on the contrary to booking.com, they actually publish bad reviews.
      - bogomipz 9y ago
        >"Oh and for reviews, I check tripadvisor since, on the contrary to booking.com, they actually publish bad reviews." But what good is publishing bad reviews if they are fake? See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave/2014/01/27/when-online-reviews-are-fake-researchers-identify-which-hotels-have-incentive-to-manipulate/#3c71e36d710b https://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave/2014/01/27/when-online...
- wingworks 9y ago
  I book via hotels.com to get there 8% discount (on hotels that apply), or booking when/if the hotel is on the genius 10% list. But yeah, if the hotel I want to stay in isn't on a discount on either site I'll book direct if the price is the same/less. I do travel often without a computer and need to book quickly so will just use booking or hotels app, as it's easy and quick, whereas the booking direct is usually rather hard. + I don't usually book within a hotel chain enough to gain any rewards, which you do on hotels.
rconti 9y ago
If anything, booking.com feels like one of the worst whenever I use it. I vastly prefer tripadvisor, for example, even though their iOS app is a horrible unusable battery drain.
- wingworks 9y ago
  I've tried tripadvisor a few times, but always go back to hotels.com / bookings / google maps. I just find tripadvisor kinda tricky to use and filter to get the type of hotels I'm after.
aianus 9y ago
> I am not aware of any other service with a comparable number of properties and reviews. Why do you need so many properties and reviews? You're staying in one room, presumably. You just need at least one room with a few good reviews in your price range and you're good to go.
- manicdee 9y ago
  I avoid good reviews and look at what people complain about. This also helps avoid hotels full of snooty elitists.
- hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
  Because since people's tastes differ, if a site has a small inventory, it's very likely they will have nothing at least some of the time you want to book. If some small site has nothing that's a fit for you even, say, 10% of the time, the vast majority of people would choose a site they know will have something all of the time.
- abruzzi 9y ago
  I find it strange too, though that may be because of the type of locations I stay. I don't seen any reason for customer loyalty to a single booking site. There is very little friction to just use the hotels own booking sites. For each town I stay in there is usually two or three hotels to choose from that have online booking (occasionally I have to make a phone call to book since there are no hotels with online booking.) From those two or three, I sort them by price, and work from the cheapest to the most expensive until I find the cheapest that I think will provide what I want, and book using that hotels site. Occasionally it is booking.com, but more often than not, it is the Motel 6 corporate site or the Comfort Inn corporate site or similar. I also never look at reviews since my experience has found that reviews are useless to me. I think reviewers tend to care about things I don't, and have had excellent experiences at places with generally bad reviews.
  - hw 9y ago
    > I also never look at reviews since my experience has found that reviews are useless to me. I think reviewers tend to care about things I don't, and have had excellent experiences at places with generally bad reviews. This is the same with restaurant reviews on sites like Yelp. A restaurant that has 2.5 stars could have excellent, delicious food but are docked points because people who went there and reviewed cared more about the service than the food, or expected the service to be top notch at a place where great service isn't typically expected.
bogomipz 9y ago
>"It's hard to quantify negative impact of future dealings, but it's even harder to say Booking.com should change their methods when the people aware enough to be annoyed continue to give them money" Please tell me how to avoid the duopoly that is Booking.com(Priceline Group) and Expedia in Europe? Especially so when making new booking on short notice. Booking.com has maintained close to 60% market share: http://www.hotrec.eu/newsroom/press-releases-1714/dominant-online-platforms-gaining-market-share-in-travel-trade-no-signs-of-increased-competition-between-online-travel-agents-unveils-european-hotel-distribution-study.aspx http://www.hotrec.eu/newsroom/press-releases-1714/dominant-o...
- sturgill 9y ago
  I don't actually travel much, and have never used Booking.com. So no dog in this fight. But your question is pretty much my point: if people aren't going to use some other service, it's a lot harder to quantify long-term negative impacts of dark patterns vs the measurable short-term lift. [Edit] There's only so much conversation to be had around a point like "we don't want to become MySpace." If what they are doing generates more revenue, and if people don't get so annoyed that they'll use another service, and if they avoid lawsuits and regulators... You'll never hear this pitch in an executive meeting: "I have an idea that will reduce revenue X% with no quantifiable long-term benefits."
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- what_ever 9y ago
  Why not use TripAdvisor? Not owned by Priceline or Expedia (yet!), nowhere as manipulative as Priceline, and you can actually compare between Priceline and Expedia offerings on the same page. The reviews are much better, rating system is not complicated/hidden and you can sort of ranking/reviews and much better UI with the new redesign. Disclosure: Ex-Tripadvisor engineer.
  - tallanvor 9y ago

johansch 9y ago

A suggestion for people who are upset with this behavior: Use Booking.com (and Google, Expedia, etc) as a showroom, after you have found a certain hotel, find their web site or phone and arrange a booking directly.

zpr 9y ago
Sometimes the direct prices are actually more. Your best bet for sticking it to them might be to use an alternative booking service.
- johansch 9y ago
  Perhaps calling the hotel to ask if they'll match the online price will work?
- lotsofpulp 9y ago
  Booking.com takes an 18% commission. Only a severely incompetent business would refuse to give you a lower price in exchange for them not having to pay that 18%. All the big franchises (Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, Choice, Wyndham) will give you a cheaper “member” price at their direct website. Being a member is free, it’s just like airline miles and you even earn points.
  - briandear 9y ago
    Commissions vary depending on a lot of factors. My property in the south of France, we pay 10% and it’s well worth it. It’s incredible lead generation and saves us a ton on marketing and advertising. I’m happy to pay the commission because for small hotel owners, it’s much easier than having to spend continuously on marketing.
    - gberger 9y ago
      Right. But imagine you have your rooms listed for $220 in your own site, and for $200 on Booking. If someone books on Booking, you get $180. If someone calls and asks to book at the rate they see at Booking, but directly with you, you make $200.
      - zzmicier 9y ago
        If I understand this correctly, such deals should be forbidden by contracts with property aggregators.
  - what_ever 9y ago
    Except that hotel room bookings work a lot differently for lot of hotels than any other types of bookings. Hotels usually sell rooms in bulk to Priceline, Expedia and other OTAs and possibly keep some for their own funnel. So they may not have the same incentive to sell at that price you saw on Priceline.
    - lotsofpulp 9y ago
      That is not true for the chain hotels in the US. They also all have best price guarantees where if you see a lower publicly advertised price than the hotel’s own website, then you get a free night. But that never happens since it’s all updated in real time now, and the hotel’s systems will not allow reservations at a lower price.
      - michaelmwu 9y ago
- bogomipz 9y ago
  And who is that in Europe? I tried both Agoda and Hotels.com without much success.
  - milesskorpen 9y ago
    Agoda = Booking.com
    - devdas 9y ago
      Agoda is a Priceline subsidiary, like Booking.com
  - gommm 9y ago
    In Europe, I always check the price directly from the hotel, if it's last minute, I check hotels tonight and if the price is really much cheaper in booking.com, I call the hotel and get them to match the price. I sometimes use hotels.com though since I often can get a 5% cashback plus their reward scheme which gives me a free night every ten nights (effectively a 10% discount) Oh and for reviews, I check tripadvisor since, on the contrary to booking.com, they actually publish bad reviews.
    - bogomipz 9y ago
      >"Oh and for reviews, I check tripadvisor since, on the contrary to booking.com, they actually publish bad reviews." But what good is publishing bad reviews if they are fake? See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave/2014/01/27/when-online-reviews-are-fake-researchers-identify-which-hotels-have-incentive-to-manipulate/#3c71e36d710b https://www.forbes.com/sites/avaseave/2014/01/27/when-online...
wingworks 9y ago
I book via hotels.com to get there 8% discount (on hotels that apply), or booking when/if the hotel is on the genius 10% list. But yeah, if the hotel I want to stay in isn't on a discount on either site I'll book direct if the price is the same/less. I do travel often without a computer and need to book quickly so will just use booking or hotels app, as it's easy and quick, whereas the booking direct is usually rather hard. + I don't usually book within a hotel chain enough to gain any rewards, which you do on hotels.

rconti 9y ago

If anything, booking.com feels like one of the worst whenever I use it. I vastly prefer tripadvisor, for example, even though their iOS app is a horrible unusable battery drain.

wingworks 9y ago
I've tried tripadvisor a few times, but always go back to hotels.com / bookings / google maps. I just find tripadvisor kinda tricky to use and filter to get the type of hotels I'm after.

aianus 9y ago

> I am not aware of any other service with a comparable number of properties and reviews. Why do you need so many properties and reviews? You're staying in one room, presumably. You just need at least one room with a few good reviews in your price range and you're good to go.

manicdee 9y ago
I avoid good reviews and look at what people complain about. This also helps avoid hotels full of snooty elitists.
hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
Because since people's tastes differ, if a site has a small inventory, it's very likely they will have nothing at least some of the time you want to book. If some small site has nothing that's a fit for you even, say, 10% of the time, the vast majority of people would choose a site they know will have something all of the time.
abruzzi 9y ago
I find it strange too, though that may be because of the type of locations I stay. I don't seen any reason for customer loyalty to a single booking site. There is very little friction to just use the hotels own booking sites. For each town I stay in there is usually two or three hotels to choose from that have online booking (occasionally I have to make a phone call to book since there are no hotels with online booking.) From those two or three, I sort them by price, and work from the cheapest to the most expensive until I find the cheapest that I think will provide what I want, and book using that hotels site. Occasionally it is booking.com, but more often than not, it is the Motel 6 corporate site or the Comfort Inn corporate site or similar. I also never look at reviews since my experience has found that reviews are useless to me. I think reviewers tend to care about things I don't, and have had excellent experiences at places with generally bad reviews.
- hw 9y ago
  > I also never look at reviews since my experience has found that reviews are useless to me. I think reviewers tend to care about things I don't, and have had excellent experiences at places with generally bad reviews. This is the same with restaurant reviews on sites like Yelp. A restaurant that has 2.5 stars could have excellent, delicious food but are docked points because people who went there and reviewed cared more about the service than the food, or expected the service to be top notch at a place where great service isn't typically expected.

bogomipz 9y ago

>"It's hard to quantify negative impact of future dealings, but it's even harder to say Booking.com should change their methods when the people aware enough to be annoyed continue to give them money" Please tell me how to avoid the duopoly that is Booking.com(Priceline Group) and Expedia in Europe? Especially so when making new booking on short notice. Booking.com has maintained close to 60% market share: http://www.hotrec.eu/newsroom/press-releases-1714/dominant-online-platforms-gaining-market-share-in-travel-trade-no-signs-of-increased-competition-between-online-travel-agents-unveils-european-hotel-distribution-study.aspx http://www.hotrec.eu/newsroom/press-releases-1714/dominant-o...

sturgill 9y ago
I don't actually travel much, and have never used Booking.com. So no dog in this fight. But your question is pretty much my point: if people aren't going to use some other service, it's a lot harder to quantify long-term negative impacts of dark patterns vs the measurable short-term lift. [Edit] There's only so much conversation to be had around a point like "we don't want to become MySpace." If what they are doing generates more revenue, and if people don't get so annoyed that they'll use another service, and if they avoid lawsuits and regulators... You'll never hear this pitch in an executive meeting: "I have an idea that will reduce revenue X% with no quantifiable long-term benefits."
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
what_ever 9y ago
Why not use TripAdvisor? Not owned by Priceline or Expedia (yet!), nowhere as manipulative as Priceline, and you can actually compare between Priceline and Expedia offerings on the same page. The reviews are much better, rating system is not complicated/hidden and you can sort of ranking/reviews and much better UI with the new redesign. Disclosure: Ex-Tripadvisor engineer.
- tallanvor 9y ago