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> For the most availability, best prices and service, > always book directly with a hotel. (Full disclosure: I work for Booking.com an online hotel bookin

by avar 14y ago

> For the most availability, best prices and service, > always book directly with a hotel. (Full disclosure: I work for Booking.com an online hotel booking website and Expedia's competitor) I think it's a gross misrepresentation to say that the customer is always best off booking directly with the hotel. You get something you wouldn't get when booking directly through the hotel. When you use an OTA you have collective bargaining power; If the hotel screws you around in any way it's now the OTA's problem. They'll call up the hotel on your behalf (in their native language, which you may or may not speak) and either sort it out with them or make sure you have somewhere else to stay because you're now their customer. Of course the service you get differs a lot by OTA. But from the customer's perspective there's usually a net gain by booking through one.

krenoten 14y ago
FD: I'm at an OTA/Central Reservation System specializing in boutique hotels. When you book with a respectable OTA, it is basically like purchasing comfort insurance, but you pay nothing for it. You are being backed by their brand and your problems become theirs to solve. OTA's sometimes offer perks to people who book through them like free or discounted transportation and comped room upgrades. Also, it is often in the contract between the hotel and the OTA that the hotel will always advertise the lowest rate available through that OTA. If the hotel works with several OTA's, then the hotel must offer the same room rate to each one that they have this arrangement with. They sometimes offer the same rate on their own, too. If you contact the hotel and ask for a room directly, and they offer you a lower rate, there is a chance that they are in breach of contract. So the customer should definitely be getting value from their decision to book through an OTA. For hotels, they usually have contracts with several OTA's. To let them know which rooms to sell, a hotelier will periodically update the availability and rates using a CRS that distributes the information to several OTA's, simplifying the process. But there are some really nasty CRS's out there, built in the 70s on mainframes that have not changed much since. They can be complicated to work with, and discourage smaller properties from putting in the effort. It sounds like the writer likely had a problem updating availability information through the CRS that expedia uses, leading to them not showing any availability.
- mistermann 14y ago
  You seriously expect us to believe this? Your comment, at least in my mind, just adds to my opinion of how truly evil companies such as yours are. Have you no shame whatsoever?
  - krenoten 14y ago
    I bring people together with great hotels. I work at a place very different from Expedia, but yes, I am absolutely shameless about what I do. May your December 26th be better than your Christmas :)
  - tehwebguy 14y ago
    What did krenoten say that sounded evil?
  - untog 14y ago
    Can you explain what krenoten said that was "evil"? Your comment seems like an overreaction, to say the least.
- lessnonymous 14y ago
  This is weasel words: > Also, it is often in the contract between the hotel and the OTA that the hotel will always advertise the lowest rate available through that OTA. ... If you contact the hotel and ask for a room directly, and they offer you a lower rate, there is a chance that they are in breach of contract. You're scare mongering. A hotel can charge a customer anything they like. They can give them the room for free. Your contract with them MIGHT preclude them ADVERTISING a lower rate, but it doesn't preclude them offering a lower rate when asked for a room directly. Even if it did, the only remedy I can imagine would be ending the contract. When I want a room today or tomorrow, I find the best rates I can via OTAs, then phone the hotel and ask for the manager. I then ask for and GET a cheaper rate because they don't have to take the 25% OTA hit. Until the web is flooded with "would you believe the extra value this OTA provided?" I'll continue to avoid them.
gingerlime 14y ago
> If the hotel screws you around in any way it's now the OTA's problem We're just in the process of trying to sort out a dispute with a hotel we booked via booking.com. It doesn't feel like it's booking.com's problem, but rather ours. We were essentially forced to pay for full 7 nights even though we stayed only one, after it wasn't possible to stay any longer with a non-functioning toilet. Not to mention false information published on booking.com. > or make sure you have somewhere else to stay because you're now their customer That's interesting. In our case booking.com has never offered any such help. We went by ourselves to try to find alternative accommodation. Not that it makes a huge difference, but it is our honeymoon so I'm sure yo'd agree there are many better ways to spend it... So far you guys are trying to help, but I can't say that the problem is resolved or that it feels like you're treating it as your problem. To quote a part of the latest email from booking.com on this: > ... the hotels themselves are responsible for all the information provided to you. Booking.com acts as an intermediary between the guest and the hotel and is therefore responsible for delivering the reservation correctly to the hotel. Once the hotel has confirmed the reservation it then becomes their responsibility to accommodate the guests.
- krenoten 14y ago
  It sounds like you dealt with a rotten hotel, sorry for your experience. Unfortunately, the OTA is only as accurate as the hotelier filling in information about their property.
  - lazyjones 14y ago
    Hmm... I'd like to see the ratings for that hotel on booking.com, because I wonder whether such experiences are actually avoidable using the mechanisms (user to user ratings) provided.
    - gingerlime 14y ago
      In our case the reviews were really great. One of the reasons we chose this place. We can't prove anything, but to put it mildly, I have a feeling not all reviews were genuine.
megablast 14y ago
So rather than dealing with one entity, the hotel which you have to deal with, and is represented by someone standing in front of you, you have to deal with two, one who is not,
- gingerlime 14y ago
  I think there's a potentially big advantage to having a 3rd party involved. It can help arbitrate when there are problems. However, the OTA must really help both parties, and resolve any disputes, instead of washing their hands off it and saying they're just a messenger confirming the booking. There's little value in an OTA that only provides booking confirmation and that's it. As far as I'm aware airbnb has made a lot of progress in this very area, verifying photos and information posted, checking the identities of the guests, that helps protecting both the host and the guest. There's no reason why OTAs can't do the same with hotels.
  - mistermann 14y ago
    There's no reason why they can't, but there are many reasons why they won't.
- avar 14y ago
  If you're a hotel dealing with one unhappy customer you only stand to lose the future business of that customer, and any negative PR (usually non-existent) that they can personally inflict upon you. When you're dealing with a customer you get through a lucrative distribution channel you're liable to lose your standing on the distribution channel as a whole. Negative reviews by that customer and customer service load on the distribution channel caused by you will impact your future business as a whole. This is true for all major distribution channels that I know of, such as Amazon.com, eBay and various OTA's.
  - rogerbinns 14y ago
    > ... and any negative PR (usually non-existent) ... Don't underestimate the impact of sites like tripadvisor where one unhappy customer is very visible.
michaelhoffman 14y ago
This does not correspond with my experience with online travel agencies. Whenever I've had any sort of irregularity to deal with, there were now two entities to communicate with instead of one. And sometimes the travel agency doesn't pass on the lenient policies of the principal.
thibauts 14y ago
I had a dispute with an hotel booked through booking.com a month ago and their customer service was really impressive. As said above they called the hotel, sorted it out, called me back, sent me a few emails for order cancellation, and personal apologies. What's more the woman who handled the case was really nice and reassuring. I was left wondering. The day I open my own internet service I'll try to provide such good support.
Spooky23 14y ago
The article is specifically talking about small, mom and pop places -- in these cases, calling the hotel is almost always the best thing to do. For your average Marriott, Hilton, etc, I agree with you, calling the hotel directly isn't going to do much for you unless there is some special circumstance.
monksy 14y ago
Are you guys still using Perl? I'd love to work with you guys, but I'm not a Perl guy.
- avar 14y ago
  Yes. All our main backend code is in Perl. There's frontend tasks in JavaScript and some C and Python around, but my rough guess would be that less than 1% of our code falls under that umbrella. We're hiring, and not just "Perl guy[s]". We hire good programmers, some of them know Perl already, but others pick it up while on the job. Contact me at avarab@gmail.com if you (or anyone else here) would be interested in exploring opportunities at Booking.com. Our current openings are listed at booking.com/jobs.
m0dE 14y ago
Hotelier & PMS developer & Booking.com user here. Booking.com does call us immediately if there's any dispute between the hotel & the travellers. Irrelevant question: Expedia has HotelExtranet and Travelocity has a nice API. Why is it so bloody hard to integrate with booking.com? (Directly without using CRS)
- calbear81 14y ago
  Is it because Booking.com has an agency model vs. a merchant model like the others? Also, seems to be working pretty well for Booking.com (largest OTA in the world).
doug1001 14y ago
i can actually confirm this one--about 18 months ago, a hotel in SF, refused to honor my reservation ("just couldn't seem to find it in their system, though i had plenty to show that i had one)--turned away from at about 2300 on evening after a long flight. In a still more-astonishing display of incompetence, about two days later they charged my credit card as a "no show." The Site i booked with sorted it out for me (full refund within about two days) and all it took was an email to them asking for help. Booking.com, in fact--kudos.

by avar 14y ago

krenoten 14y ago

FD: I'm at an OTA/Central Reservation System specializing in boutique hotels. When you book with a respectable OTA, it is basically like purchasing comfort insurance, but you pay nothing for it. You are being backed by their brand and your problems become theirs to solve. OTA's sometimes offer perks to people who book through them like free or discounted transportation and comped room upgrades. Also, it is often in the contract between the hotel and the OTA that the hotel will always advertise the lowest rate available through that OTA. If the hotel works with several OTA's, then the hotel must offer the same room rate to each one that they have this arrangement with. They sometimes offer the same rate on their own, too. If you contact the hotel and ask for a room directly, and they offer you a lower rate, there is a chance that they are in breach of contract. So the customer should definitely be getting value from their decision to book through an OTA. For hotels, they usually have contracts with several OTA's. To let them know which rooms to sell, a hotelier will periodically update the availability and rates using a CRS that distributes the information to several OTA's, simplifying the process. But there are some really nasty CRS's out there, built in the 70s on mainframes that have not changed much since. They can be complicated to work with, and discourage smaller properties from putting in the effort. It sounds like the writer likely had a problem updating availability information through the CRS that expedia uses, leading to them not showing any availability.

mistermann 14y ago
You seriously expect us to believe this? Your comment, at least in my mind, just adds to my opinion of how truly evil companies such as yours are. Have you no shame whatsoever?
- krenoten 14y ago
  I bring people together with great hotels. I work at a place very different from Expedia, but yes, I am absolutely shameless about what I do. May your December 26th be better than your Christmas :)
- tehwebguy 14y ago
  What did krenoten say that sounded evil?
- untog 14y ago
  Can you explain what krenoten said that was "evil"? Your comment seems like an overreaction, to say the least.
lessnonymous 14y ago
This is weasel words: > Also, it is often in the contract between the hotel and the OTA that the hotel will always advertise the lowest rate available through that OTA. ... If you contact the hotel and ask for a room directly, and they offer you a lower rate, there is a chance that they are in breach of contract. You're scare mongering. A hotel can charge a customer anything they like. They can give them the room for free. Your contract with them MIGHT preclude them ADVERTISING a lower rate, but it doesn't preclude them offering a lower rate when asked for a room directly. Even if it did, the only remedy I can imagine would be ending the contract. When I want a room today or tomorrow, I find the best rates I can via OTAs, then phone the hotel and ask for the manager. I then ask for and GET a cheaper rate because they don't have to take the 25% OTA hit. Until the web is flooded with "would you believe the extra value this OTA provided?" I'll continue to avoid them.

gingerlime 14y ago

> If the hotel screws you around in any way it's now the OTA's problem We're just in the process of trying to sort out a dispute with a hotel we booked via booking.com. It doesn't feel like it's booking.com's problem, but rather ours. We were essentially forced to pay for full 7 nights even though we stayed only one, after it wasn't possible to stay any longer with a non-functioning toilet. Not to mention false information published on booking.com. > or make sure you have somewhere else to stay because you're now their customer That's interesting. In our case booking.com has never offered any such help. We went by ourselves to try to find alternative accommodation. Not that it makes a huge difference, but it is our honeymoon so I'm sure yo'd agree there are many better ways to spend it... So far you guys are trying to help, but I can't say that the problem is resolved or that it feels like you're treating it as your problem. To quote a part of the latest email from booking.com on this: > ... the hotels themselves are responsible for all the information provided to you. Booking.com acts as an intermediary between the guest and the hotel and is therefore responsible for delivering the reservation correctly to the hotel. Once the hotel has confirmed the reservation it then becomes their responsibility to accommodate the guests.

krenoten 14y ago
It sounds like you dealt with a rotten hotel, sorry for your experience. Unfortunately, the OTA is only as accurate as the hotelier filling in information about their property.
- lazyjones 14y ago
  Hmm... I'd like to see the ratings for that hotel on booking.com, because I wonder whether such experiences are actually avoidable using the mechanisms (user to user ratings) provided.
  - gingerlime 14y ago
    In our case the reviews were really great. One of the reasons we chose this place. We can't prove anything, but to put it mildly, I have a feeling not all reviews were genuine.

megablast 14y ago

So rather than dealing with one entity, the hotel which you have to deal with, and is represented by someone standing in front of you, you have to deal with two, one who is not,

gingerlime 14y ago
I think there's a potentially big advantage to having a 3rd party involved. It can help arbitrate when there are problems. However, the OTA must really help both parties, and resolve any disputes, instead of washing their hands off it and saying they're just a messenger confirming the booking. There's little value in an OTA that only provides booking confirmation and that's it. As far as I'm aware airbnb has made a lot of progress in this very area, verifying photos and information posted, checking the identities of the guests, that helps protecting both the host and the guest. There's no reason why OTAs can't do the same with hotels.
- mistermann 14y ago
  There's no reason why they can't, but there are many reasons why they won't.
avar 14y ago
If you're a hotel dealing with one unhappy customer you only stand to lose the future business of that customer, and any negative PR (usually non-existent) that they can personally inflict upon you. When you're dealing with a customer you get through a lucrative distribution channel you're liable to lose your standing on the distribution channel as a whole. Negative reviews by that customer and customer service load on the distribution channel caused by you will impact your future business as a whole. This is true for all major distribution channels that I know of, such as Amazon.com, eBay and various OTA's.
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  > ... and any negative PR (usually non-existent) ... Don't underestimate the impact of sites like tripadvisor where one unhappy customer is very visible.

michaelhoffman 14y ago

This does not correspond with my experience with online travel agencies. Whenever I've had any sort of irregularity to deal with, there were now two entities to communicate with instead of one. And sometimes the travel agency doesn't pass on the lenient policies of the principal.

thibauts 14y ago

I had a dispute with an hotel booked through booking.com a month ago and their customer service was really impressive. As said above they called the hotel, sorted it out, called me back, sent me a few emails for order cancellation, and personal apologies. What's more the woman who handled the case was really nice and reassuring. I was left wondering. The day I open my own internet service I'll try to provide such good support.

Spooky23 14y ago

The article is specifically talking about small, mom and pop places -- in these cases, calling the hotel is almost always the best thing to do. For your average Marriott, Hilton, etc, I agree with you, calling the hotel directly isn't going to do much for you unless there is some special circumstance.

monksy 14y ago

Are you guys still using Perl? I'd love to work with you guys, but I'm not a Perl guy.

avar 14y ago
Yes. All our main backend code is in Perl. There's frontend tasks in JavaScript and some C and Python around, but my rough guess would be that less than 1% of our code falls under that umbrella. We're hiring, and not just "Perl guy[s]". We hire good programmers, some of them know Perl already, but others pick it up while on the job. Contact me at avarab@gmail.com if you (or anyone else here) would be interested in exploring opportunities at Booking.com. Our current openings are listed at booking.com/jobs.

m0dE 14y ago

Hotelier & PMS developer & Booking.com user here. Booking.com does call us immediately if there's any dispute between the hotel & the travellers. Irrelevant question: Expedia has HotelExtranet and Travelocity has a nice API. Why is it so bloody hard to integrate with booking.com? (Directly without using CRS)

calbear81 14y ago
Is it because Booking.com has an agency model vs. a merchant model like the others? Also, seems to be working pretty well for Booking.com (largest OTA in the world).

doug1001 14y ago

i can actually confirm this one--about 18 months ago, a hotel in SF, refused to honor my reservation ("just couldn't seem to find it in their system, though i had plenty to show that i had one)--turned away from at about 2300 on evening after a long flight. In a still more-astonishing display of incompetence, about two days later they charged my credit card as a "no show." The Site i booked with sorted it out for me (full refund within about two days) and all it took was an email to them asking for help. Booking.com, in fact--kudos.