3 ms·

My wife and I travel a lot as a hobby. The first rule is never use a third party portal for hotels or flights

sanj 2y ago
Same. I feel so strongly that I built a site to help with finding those prices. https://directbooker.com https://directbooker.com
- dewey 2y ago
  What's different than just using any other aggregator and just not clicking the "book" button on their side then?
- shellfishgene 2y ago
  Where do the prices on your site come from?
aliasxneo 2y ago
I agree with this for _purchasing_ things, but not aggregating. I use a lot of these services to aggregate results and then visit airlines/hotels independently to see if the price is reasonable.
- walrus01 2y ago
  In some places in Canada there's many airports that are served by literally only two airlines. Air Canada and Westjet. It's certainly possible to use a 3rd party booking site to try to find a 'cheaper' price to go to/from those places, but as you'll see when you get your search results for a flight, there's basically no competition. Go directly to the Air Canada or Westjet websites themselves and the prices will usually be the same or slightly better.
  - aliasxneo 2y ago
    Sure, of course aggregation makes no sense when there are only two options. But we recently traveled internationally to an extremely populated place with literally hundreds of hotels, and these aggregation services were invaluable in deciding where to stay.
  - rescbr 2y ago
    I've seen online travel agencies with better prices compared to the airline/hotel website even with fares at the same changes/cancellation policies. OTOH, I prefer to purchase tickets directly with the airline because dealing with them directly when something happens is way better compared to having the OTA in the middle. Sometimes paying a small difference is worth the peace of mind.
  - _puk 2y ago
    Does the air Canada website work nowadays? Last time I tried (admittedly 2 years ago) I found myself literally screaming "just take my goddamn money".. the most painful website I've used for years. And then they lost our luggage (tents and all), but that's another story.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  For context, my wife and I did the digital nomad thing flying one way trips across the US for 10 months between 10/2022-10/2023 staying in hotels and I was traveling for work and she had conferences so we were staying in two hotels at a time sometimes. Last year, we had around 70 days and this year we are looking at between 60-70 days. At that point, hotel loyalty has benefits - loyalty points for free hotel stays , seat upgrades for flights and hotel room upgrades, lounge access when you fly a preferred airline etc. Right now, if at all possible and the rates aren’t too much different, I’m going to stay in Hilton or Hyatt brand hotels. While I don’t care about 5 star hotels, I’m not staying at a Days Inn.
  - rconti 2y ago
    It's worth explicitly stating that you (often?) don't get hotel rewards when your stays are booked through a third party. This isn't the case with airline miles; you get them either way, it seems. But there are often other benefits (eg, you get 5x miles if you book with your airline credit card directly through the airline).
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      That’s true. The issue with airlines is that if you have to make any changes, it’s harder and in the case of st least AA, they charge a fee when you change a flight that was booked through a third party portal that would be free if you book directly.
    - varjag 2y ago
      Third parties often have their own fairly reasonable reward systems. And you are not tied down to a specific chain.
walrus01 2y ago
100% seconded. One of the things that's often buried in the terms/conditions and booking if using an expedia/booking.com type 3rd party site is that your reservation cannot be modified in any way. Often if you book directly with the hotel chain in question you'll have a better experience in the event that unforeseen circumstances require a change in plans.
- carlosjobim 2y ago
  It depends entirely on the hotel how they will let you cancel or modify your reservation through the third party.
dcrazy 2y ago
Some large chains will only give you rewards points or honor your status if you book directly. My wife and I just spent several days finding and booking hotels for a 2 week trip with several stops. We searched on aggregators (Booking’s “king size bed” filter was particularly useful) but always defaulted to booking directly with the hotel. Oddly enough, one hotel had no means of booking directly; they only supported booking through an aggregator. One other hotel was offering the same price via Chase Travel, so I took the extra bonus Chase points.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  No hotels that I’m aware of will give you loyalty points unless you book directly. You can also get more loyalty points by using a cobranded hotel card. But only by booking directly.
  - dcrazy 2y ago
    I’ve had mixed success asking to add my loyalty number at check-in, even if I already provided it to the aggregator.
  - ta1243 2y ago
    I stay in IHG hotels a fair amount booked through work's travel agent - indeed I'm about to check in to one when the train gets in. Always get the points and credited stay. Don't get them if you book it through booking.com or similar though (although hotels.com at least used to give you a 10% cashback as a credit for free nights, which is handy when you can't stay in one chain)
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      Booking through something like Concur is different. Concur doesn’t charge the hotel a fee for booking through them. Concur gets paid by the company.
      - shermantanktop 2y ago
spike021 2y ago
I travel in Japan a lot and quite frankly Booking/Agoda have been comparable in most cases and extremely accessible for making reservations and even communicating with hotel staff. I used to use sites like Expedia for flights but lately i just book those directly through the carriers and i think the experience on that end is better.
- dcrazy 2y ago
  On a previous trip to Japan I used my CC travel portal (can’t remember if it was Chase or Amex) to book one of the hotels. It took several days of back and forth with the CC company acting as a middleman to clarify whether “twin bed” meant a single bed sized for a child, or two beds which could be pushed together to approximate a U.S. queen size bed. (Japan seems to translate “two beds” as “twin room”, but it was unclear whether that had been re-translated when shown on the CC company’s whitelabeled Expedia instance.)
Ekaros 2y ago
I on other hand prefer the added security from Europe from getting both from same agency. As long as they are packaged.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  The agency is still a third party and if something goes wrong with either the flight or the hotel, you are still having to deal with both. What happens if the hotel isn’t satisfactory? The agency isn’t going to do anything for you.
  - silversmith 2y ago
    Have not travelled for a while now, but the relatively tiny travel agency I used to use had a 24/7 support phone line. Did not personally have a need to use it, but a friend did, and the agency indeed handled the situation to his satisfaction. Moreover, booking international flights through that agency somehow always ended up cheaper than what I could find myself, even when accounting for their fees.
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      A travel agency works differently than a portal. It’s considered a first party booking.
lisper 2y ago
I mostly agree with this, but with two exceptions. First, I've had surprisingly good experiences with booking.com (no affiliation, just a satisfied user). And second, if you're booking a cruise, it's actually better to book through an agent. The cruise lines all have deals with agencies that forbid the cruise lines from undercutting the agents. If you find the right agent, they will give you kickbacks on their commissions so you actually end up paying less than you would booking direct.
- grujicd 2y ago
  Booking.com is great in discovery phase, when you want to find out what's available at certain date at certain location. After that you can book directly if you want, but surprisingly it can be even more expensive that way in some cases. Or terms can be worse, for example for cancelation or whether you have to prepay.
  - lisper 2y ago
    Yes, exactly. The first time I used booking.com it was because I was trying to book a particular hotel in an under-developed country and the hotel's web site wasn't working so I had no other option. I then had to cancel the reservation because covid happened, and I expected to have all kinds of problems, but it all went smoothly. So I started using them more often, tentatively at first, but now with full enthusiasm. I have yet to have a bad experience with them. They seem to be one of the good guys, which is one of the reasons I'm advocating them. We who value having good guys on the internet need to support them when we find them.
    - _puk 2y ago
      Have to agree. Die hard Airbnb user for years, then recently using booking.com more and more as it's clear and obvious what you are paying for (in most instances), and no insane "we're not a hotel, so change the sheets, wash them and put the rubbish out in these specific bins" list of exit rules. Accidental discovery, but have to say they've helped far more than hindered (especially with last minute bookings in distant lands).
dismalaf 2y ago
Nah often third party hotel rooms are cheaper. I've literally been in a hotel lobby, asked about the rate, only to see that it's about 20% cheaper on Hotels.com, ask the front desk person why they can't match, only to then use the app to book right in front of the clerk and then get my room. The backend system lots of hotels uses will sell rooms at what is essentially the market rate, based on occupancy, demand, etc..., whereas the posted room rate is more stable, for better or worse (better if the hotel is close to full, worse if it's empty).
- scarface_74 2y ago
  If you stay at the sane hotel brand often, the loyalty points make up the difference. If Hilton isn’t running a special - and they are always running a special - if you have the Hilton Aspire credit card, you get 34 points per dollar worth usually around 20% in all. But often higher. We will be staying at a hotel in Manuel Antonio n Costa Rica next month that would cost $4700 for 400K points.
- dcrazy 2y ago
  The aggregators are often buying inventory at below cost. They exist to help fill rooms that otherwise won’t sell.
Der_Einzige 2y ago
You obviously do not have an Amex platinum card, and you haven't had the delicious experience of a guaranteed 4PM checkout, free room upgrades, and paid for breakfasts.
- spokaneplumb 2y ago
  Recent-ish recipient of a Venture X. It and the Platinum were my two finalists, but the “coupon book” aspects required to really benefit from the Platinum pushed me away. Have I made a terrible mistake?
  - Der_Einzige 2y ago
    I ended up using many of the "Coupons" (not all), but the travel benefits after 2 international trips more than pay for the yearly price - and that's without the generous 150K points. Lounge access at airports is a life saver. I hate credit card companies too - but I can't deny that it's cheap to be rich and expensive to be poor. Just bite the bullet and get it or equivalent nice credit cards and use their (the credit cards) own travel booking websites. You'll be happy you did.
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      Currently we have: - Amex Platinum + paid authorized user - Amex Delta Platinum, Business Platinum and Reserve - having all three got me halfway to Delta Platinum Medallion. They each have a buy one get one free ticket and Delta Stays credits - Amex Green and Blue Business Plus I’m also a credit card churner, I’m looking to get four this year for sign up bonuses
- scarface_74 2y ago
  This is only for Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings and those prices are usually more than booking directly. Last year I was Hyatt Globalist and Hilton Diamond, so I got those benefits booking directly. This year I will be Hilton Gold and Hyatt Explorist. But I will get free C+ upgrades on Delta at time of booking because we are both Delta Platinum Medallion
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
dewey 2y ago
Flights...agreed, but hotels sometimes have such shitty booking interfaces that I'd rather use the one from Booking which is solid and already has all my data.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  Hotels are worse. Especially if you need to change anything. I stay loyal to Hilton and Hyatt

sanj 2y ago

Same. I feel so strongly that I built a site to help with finding those prices. https://directbooker.com https://directbooker.com

dewey 2y ago
What's different than just using any other aggregator and just not clicking the "book" button on their side then?
shellfishgene 2y ago
Where do the prices on your site come from?

aliasxneo 2y ago

I agree with this for _purchasing_ things, but not aggregating. I use a lot of these services to aggregate results and then visit airlines/hotels independently to see if the price is reasonable.

walrus01 2y ago
In some places in Canada there's many airports that are served by literally only two airlines. Air Canada and Westjet. It's certainly possible to use a 3rd party booking site to try to find a 'cheaper' price to go to/from those places, but as you'll see when you get your search results for a flight, there's basically no competition. Go directly to the Air Canada or Westjet websites themselves and the prices will usually be the same or slightly better.
- aliasxneo 2y ago
  Sure, of course aggregation makes no sense when there are only two options. But we recently traveled internationally to an extremely populated place with literally hundreds of hotels, and these aggregation services were invaluable in deciding where to stay.
- rescbr 2y ago
  I've seen online travel agencies with better prices compared to the airline/hotel website even with fares at the same changes/cancellation policies. OTOH, I prefer to purchase tickets directly with the airline because dealing with them directly when something happens is way better compared to having the OTA in the middle. Sometimes paying a small difference is worth the peace of mind.
- _puk 2y ago
  Does the air Canada website work nowadays? Last time I tried (admittedly 2 years ago) I found myself literally screaming "just take my goddamn money".. the most painful website I've used for years. And then they lost our luggage (tents and all), but that's another story.
scarface_74 2y ago
For context, my wife and I did the digital nomad thing flying one way trips across the US for 10 months between 10/2022-10/2023 staying in hotels and I was traveling for work and she had conferences so we were staying in two hotels at a time sometimes. Last year, we had around 70 days and this year we are looking at between 60-70 days. At that point, hotel loyalty has benefits - loyalty points for free hotel stays , seat upgrades for flights and hotel room upgrades, lounge access when you fly a preferred airline etc. Right now, if at all possible and the rates aren’t too much different, I’m going to stay in Hilton or Hyatt brand hotels. While I don’t care about 5 star hotels, I’m not staying at a Days Inn.
- rconti 2y ago
  It's worth explicitly stating that you (often?) don't get hotel rewards when your stays are booked through a third party. This isn't the case with airline miles; you get them either way, it seems. But there are often other benefits (eg, you get 5x miles if you book with your airline credit card directly through the airline).
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    That’s true. The issue with airlines is that if you have to make any changes, it’s harder and in the case of st least AA, they charge a fee when you change a flight that was booked through a third party portal that would be free if you book directly.
  - varjag 2y ago
    Third parties often have their own fairly reasonable reward systems. And you are not tied down to a specific chain.

walrus01 2y ago

100% seconded. One of the things that's often buried in the terms/conditions and booking if using an expedia/booking.com type 3rd party site is that your reservation cannot be modified in any way. Often if you book directly with the hotel chain in question you'll have a better experience in the event that unforeseen circumstances require a change in plans.

carlosjobim 2y ago
It depends entirely on the hotel how they will let you cancel or modify your reservation through the third party.

dcrazy 2y ago

Some large chains will only give you rewards points or honor your status if you book directly. My wife and I just spent several days finding and booking hotels for a 2 week trip with several stops. We searched on aggregators (Booking’s “king size bed” filter was particularly useful) but always defaulted to booking directly with the hotel. Oddly enough, one hotel had no means of booking directly; they only supported booking through an aggregator. One other hotel was offering the same price via Chase Travel, so I took the extra bonus Chase points.

scarface_74 2y ago
No hotels that I’m aware of will give you loyalty points unless you book directly. You can also get more loyalty points by using a cobranded hotel card. But only by booking directly.
- dcrazy 2y ago
  I’ve had mixed success asking to add my loyalty number at check-in, even if I already provided it to the aggregator.
- ta1243 2y ago
  I stay in IHG hotels a fair amount booked through work's travel agent - indeed I'm about to check in to one when the train gets in. Always get the points and credited stay. Don't get them if you book it through booking.com or similar though (although hotels.com at least used to give you a 10% cashback as a credit for free nights, which is handy when you can't stay in one chain)
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    Booking through something like Concur is different. Concur doesn’t charge the hotel a fee for booking through them. Concur gets paid by the company.
    - shermantanktop 2y ago

spike021 2y ago

I travel in Japan a lot and quite frankly Booking/Agoda have been comparable in most cases and extremely accessible for making reservations and even communicating with hotel staff. I used to use sites like Expedia for flights but lately i just book those directly through the carriers and i think the experience on that end is better.

dcrazy 2y ago
On a previous trip to Japan I used my CC travel portal (can’t remember if it was Chase or Amex) to book one of the hotels. It took several days of back and forth with the CC company acting as a middleman to clarify whether “twin bed” meant a single bed sized for a child, or two beds which could be pushed together to approximate a U.S. queen size bed. (Japan seems to translate “two beds” as “twin room”, but it was unclear whether that had been re-translated when shown on the CC company’s whitelabeled Expedia instance.)

Ekaros 2y ago

I on other hand prefer the added security from Europe from getting both from same agency. As long as they are packaged.

scarface_74 2y ago
The agency is still a third party and if something goes wrong with either the flight or the hotel, you are still having to deal with both. What happens if the hotel isn’t satisfactory? The agency isn’t going to do anything for you.
- silversmith 2y ago
  Have not travelled for a while now, but the relatively tiny travel agency I used to use had a 24/7 support phone line. Did not personally have a need to use it, but a friend did, and the agency indeed handled the situation to his satisfaction. Moreover, booking international flights through that agency somehow always ended up cheaper than what I could find myself, even when accounting for their fees.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    A travel agency works differently than a portal. It’s considered a first party booking.

lisper 2y ago

I mostly agree with this, but with two exceptions. First, I've had surprisingly good experiences with booking.com (no affiliation, just a satisfied user). And second, if you're booking a cruise, it's actually better to book through an agent. The cruise lines all have deals with agencies that forbid the cruise lines from undercutting the agents. If you find the right agent, they will give you kickbacks on their commissions so you actually end up paying less than you would booking direct.

grujicd 2y ago
Booking.com is great in discovery phase, when you want to find out what's available at certain date at certain location. After that you can book directly if you want, but surprisingly it can be even more expensive that way in some cases. Or terms can be worse, for example for cancelation or whether you have to prepay.
- lisper 2y ago
  Yes, exactly. The first time I used booking.com it was because I was trying to book a particular hotel in an under-developed country and the hotel's web site wasn't working so I had no other option. I then had to cancel the reservation because covid happened, and I expected to have all kinds of problems, but it all went smoothly. So I started using them more often, tentatively at first, but now with full enthusiasm. I have yet to have a bad experience with them. They seem to be one of the good guys, which is one of the reasons I'm advocating them. We who value having good guys on the internet need to support them when we find them.
  - _puk 2y ago
    Have to agree. Die hard Airbnb user for years, then recently using booking.com more and more as it's clear and obvious what you are paying for (in most instances), and no insane "we're not a hotel, so change the sheets, wash them and put the rubbish out in these specific bins" list of exit rules. Accidental discovery, but have to say they've helped far more than hindered (especially with last minute bookings in distant lands).

dismalaf 2y ago

Nah often third party hotel rooms are cheaper. I've literally been in a hotel lobby, asked about the rate, only to see that it's about 20% cheaper on Hotels.com, ask the front desk person why they can't match, only to then use the app to book right in front of the clerk and then get my room. The backend system lots of hotels uses will sell rooms at what is essentially the market rate, based on occupancy, demand, etc..., whereas the posted room rate is more stable, for better or worse (better if the hotel is close to full, worse if it's empty).

scarface_74 2y ago
If you stay at the sane hotel brand often, the loyalty points make up the difference. If Hilton isn’t running a special - and they are always running a special - if you have the Hilton Aspire credit card, you get 34 points per dollar worth usually around 20% in all. But often higher. We will be staying at a hotel in Manuel Antonio n Costa Rica next month that would cost $4700 for 400K points.
dcrazy 2y ago
The aggregators are often buying inventory at below cost. They exist to help fill rooms that otherwise won’t sell.

Der_Einzige 2y ago

You obviously do not have an Amex platinum card, and you haven't had the delicious experience of a guaranteed 4PM checkout, free room upgrades, and paid for breakfasts.

spokaneplumb 2y ago
Recent-ish recipient of a Venture X. It and the Platinum were my two finalists, but the “coupon book” aspects required to really benefit from the Platinum pushed me away. Have I made a terrible mistake?
- Der_Einzige 2y ago
  I ended up using many of the "Coupons" (not all), but the travel benefits after 2 international trips more than pay for the yearly price - and that's without the generous 150K points. Lounge access at airports is a life saver. I hate credit card companies too - but I can't deny that it's cheap to be rich and expensive to be poor. Just bite the bullet and get it or equivalent nice credit cards and use their (the credit cards) own travel booking websites. You'll be happy you did.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    Currently we have: - Amex Platinum + paid authorized user - Amex Delta Platinum, Business Platinum and Reserve - having all three got me halfway to Delta Platinum Medallion. They each have a buy one get one free ticket and Delta Stays credits - Amex Green and Blue Business Plus I’m also a credit card churner, I’m looking to get four this year for sign up bonuses
scarface_74 2y ago
This is only for Fine Hotels and Resorts bookings and those prices are usually more than booking directly. Last year I was Hyatt Globalist and Hilton Diamond, so I got those benefits booking directly. This year I will be Hilton Gold and Hyatt Explorist. But I will get free C+ upgrades on Delta at time of booking because we are both Delta Platinum Medallion

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

dewey 2y ago

Flights...agreed, but hotels sometimes have such shitty booking interfaces that I'd rather use the one from Booking which is solid and already has all my data.

scarface_74 2y ago
Hotels are worse. Especially if you need to change anything. I stay loyal to Hilton and Hyatt