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I just look at "hotel" on google maps, weigh the prices/locations visually, and book directly. What's booking.com's value-add?
by jimmaswell 7y ago
I just look at "hotel" on google maps, weigh the prices/locations visually, and book directly. What's booking.com's value-add?
- peteretep 7y agoI can filter by ratings and locations above a certain level for places I'm not familiar with, filter by refund policy, and then read reviews and see if there are any deal breakers. I don't have to fight with an individual hotel's booking page, I know TripIt will read a Booking.com booking email perfectly, and Booking.com now has all my payment details saved. Edit: it occurs to me that this is much like the advantage that Amazon once had, for the period of my life when I bought pretty much everything via Amazon. Shame they've lost my confidence.
- jiofih 7y agoCustomer service vs dealing with small property owners directly.
- usr1106 7y agoDoes booking.com have any customer service worth the name? I use them sometimes, but from a company with such aggressive / dishonest marketing I would generally not expect any customer service worth the name. IIRC their terms and conditions exclude all responsibility whatsoever if the reservation does not work out, It's always the hotel's responsibility. Luckily I have never had a case where I would have really had to contact their support.
- jiofih 7y agoYea, that is one of the value propositions of using a middleman/marketplace (conversely, why many of Google’s forays in this area are horrible). Most OTAs are majority CS staff.
- usr1106 7y agoWell, if the marketplace offers good service. These comments https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21859610 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21859610 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21858747 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21858747 tell different stories and honestly that's what I would fear.