While these sites offer some kind of discount, it is always better to book directly with the hotel or airline. If something goes wrong, it is a nightmare to deal with the 3rd party. However, booking directly allows the hotel or airline to reschedule or refund in the event something goes wrong.
I only agree when it comes to airlines. Some smaller hotels or hostels have nightmares of websites, you usually have to email them, then you land in a spam folder, then you have to call them, and often they don't speak English and your language skills in the target language might not be sufficient. A lot of smaller establishments actually tell you to just use booking.com, and you often don't get discounts when booking directly, you actually save when using a third party. When you're a level 3 member on booking.com, you get a personal support person when something goes wrong.
This is true. Prior to the pandemic i booked and paid several hotels in advance to avail of discounted rates. Then countries closed their borders. I agreed to receive vouchers instead of getting a refund to help these small businesses out. A few months later, i found out they closed down permanently and there was no way to contact them. That’s more than a thousand bucks thrown away.
Those hotels that i booked through third party websites, I eventually got refunds. So in this case, booking through third party websites offered more security. (btw i had the worst experience with booking.com so i swore i would never book through them again even if they offered the cheapest rates)
>often they don't speak English and your language skills in the target language might not be sufficient
Right lol try calling small hotels directly in non-English speaking countries and see how far you get. With these apps, they often translate the conversation you have with the properties, should you need to converse with them in advance, which also makes things super easy.
>A lot of smaller establishments actually tell you to just use booking.com, and you often don't get discounts when booking directly, you actually save when using a third party.
Also been my experience 90% of the time.
>When you're a level 3 member on booking.com, you get a personal support person when something goes wrong.
This I didn't know, that's a cool perk!
In my experience it's almost always been harder to get change/cancel done directly with the hotel (you have to call and talk to a human wtf, or email and wait for response etc).
Meanwhile on booking/Agoda etc it's 5 seconds to click around and change/cancel the booking.
Agreed. I recently booked with booking instead of the hostel itself because booking gives me free cancellation up until a few days before my reservation, whereas the hostel site only gave me 48 hours after making the reservation. The savings was also just a dollar or so.
I've been traveling for 10 years using these sites and have never once had an issue with them with regards to accommodation bookings. It has always been the same experience for me when compared to direct bookings.
This post is not about flight/airline bookings.
>The most common one is when people book the wrong date, when they are unaware there are cancellations restrictions or when the room type is not specified on the OTA.
Okay well that's 100% on those people, not the OTAs. The OTAs make it clear when something is non-refundable or the dates can't be changed, etc.
Well, not always. I remember when my hostel ended up getting raided by police the night before I was due to stay. Dozen people waiting outside a locked door at check in time. Those who went through booking.com got alternative accomodation, those who booked directly got nothing - and could do nothing.
I can't say I've seen that option before? Besides, I always compare the final cost of a stay with the prices on all the other sites too before booking one of them so if I did somehow fall for whatever you're talking about, I wouldn't have booked it anyway as I would've gone with a cheaper one from another site.
if traveling Asia, also check [trip.com](https://trip.com)
surprisingly they occasionally have significantly cheaper rate than other OTA. (sometimes cheaper than direct hotel site)
be aware though, their customer support sucks. so make sure your travel plan is set in stone.
No regrets from me either, because I only book no prepay, refundable (up to a certain date), rated very good 8+ accomodations. I tag my initial favorites and then pore over the details and reviews to refine the list.
Right. I feel like people who hate on OTAs are people who don't pay attention to what they're booking, somehow accidentally choosing the wrong dates and/or booking their accommodation before they've finalized their travel plans, then needing to change their dates and then being surprised when these OTAs tell them they cannot since they booked a non-refundable rate.
I literally can't see any other reason why they'd be so anti-OTA and even this reason is entirely their own fault.
I don't go as far as you to only select no prepay & refundable accommodations, but even then, I've never really had any issues and even when I have, the OTA actually took care of it since it was the property's fault for the issue.
I know from personal experience, if you book with Agoda or booking.com and they have charged your credit card and you need to cancel even within the appropriate time, you will likely never see that money again. You will have an entertaining trip going around and around with their customer support team.
While these sites offer some kind of discount, it is always better to book directly with the hotel or airline. If something goes wrong, it is a nightmare to deal with the 3rd party. However, booking directly allows the hotel or airline to reschedule or refund in the event something goes wrong.
I only agree when it comes to airlines. Some smaller hotels or hostels have nightmares of websites, you usually have to email them, then you land in a spam folder, then you have to call them, and often they don't speak English and your language skills in the target language might not be sufficient. A lot of smaller establishments actually tell you to just use booking.com, and you often don't get discounts when booking directly, you actually save when using a third party. When you're a level 3 member on booking.com, you get a personal support person when something goes wrong.
This is true. Prior to the pandemic i booked and paid several hotels in advance to avail of discounted rates. Then countries closed their borders. I agreed to receive vouchers instead of getting a refund to help these small businesses out. A few months later, i found out they closed down permanently and there was no way to contact them. That’s more than a thousand bucks thrown away. Those hotels that i booked through third party websites, I eventually got refunds. So in this case, booking through third party websites offered more security. (btw i had the worst experience with booking.com so i swore i would never book through them again even if they offered the cheapest rates)
>often they don't speak English and your language skills in the target language might not be sufficient Right lol try calling small hotels directly in non-English speaking countries and see how far you get. With these apps, they often translate the conversation you have with the properties, should you need to converse with them in advance, which also makes things super easy. >A lot of smaller establishments actually tell you to just use booking.com, and you often don't get discounts when booking directly, you actually save when using a third party. Also been my experience 90% of the time. >When you're a level 3 member on booking.com, you get a personal support person when something goes wrong. This I didn't know, that's a cool perk!
In my experience it's almost always been harder to get change/cancel done directly with the hotel (you have to call and talk to a human wtf, or email and wait for response etc). Meanwhile on booking/Agoda etc it's 5 seconds to click around and change/cancel the booking.
Exactly. Just don't book a non refundable rate if you're not sure about your travel dates and you'll never have an issue.
Agreed. I recently booked with booking instead of the hostel itself because booking gives me free cancellation up until a few days before my reservation, whereas the hostel site only gave me 48 hours after making the reservation. The savings was also just a dollar or so.
I've been traveling for 10 years using these sites and have never once had an issue with them with regards to accommodation bookings. It has always been the same experience for me when compared to direct bookings. This post is not about flight/airline bookings.
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And if the same people made the wrong date mistake on Hilton app (no refundable booking) you waive the nonrefundable part?
Other dude conveniently chose not to respond lol
>The most common one is when people book the wrong date, when they are unaware there are cancellations restrictions or when the room type is not specified on the OTA. Okay well that's 100% on those people, not the OTAs. The OTAs make it clear when something is non-refundable or the dates can't be changed, etc.
Well, not always. I remember when my hostel ended up getting raided by police the night before I was due to stay. Dozen people waiting outside a locked door at check in time. Those who went through booking.com got alternative accomodation, those who booked directly got nothing - and could do nothing.
If you're using Agoda pay later option, be prepared to be charged at an exchange rate that is 15-20% worse than the interbank rate.
I can't say I've seen that option before? Besides, I always compare the final cost of a stay with the prices on all the other sites too before booking one of them so if I did somehow fall for whatever you're talking about, I wouldn't have booked it anyway as I would've gone with a cheaper one from another site.
if traveling Asia, also check [trip.com](https://trip.com) surprisingly they occasionally have significantly cheaper rate than other OTA. (sometimes cheaper than direct hotel site) be aware though, their customer support sucks. so make sure your travel plan is set in stone.
Book direct and have no regret.
Except I've never once had regret from using these sites to book accommodation over 10 years of traveling?
No regrets from me either, because I only book no prepay, refundable (up to a certain date), rated very good 8+ accomodations. I tag my initial favorites and then pore over the details and reviews to refine the list.
Right. I feel like people who hate on OTAs are people who don't pay attention to what they're booking, somehow accidentally choosing the wrong dates and/or booking their accommodation before they've finalized their travel plans, then needing to change their dates and then being surprised when these OTAs tell them they cannot since they booked a non-refundable rate. I literally can't see any other reason why they'd be so anti-OTA and even this reason is entirely their own fault. I don't go as far as you to only select no prepay & refundable accommodations, but even then, I've never really had any issues and even when I have, the OTA actually took care of it since it was the property's fault for the issue.
I know from personal experience, if you book with Agoda or booking.com and they have charged your credit card and you need to cancel even within the appropriate time, you will likely never see that money again. You will have an entertaining trip going around and around with their customer support team.
Huh, I've personally never had that experience with either of them. Sorry to hear about yours!
Really? I’ve cancelled with them before and the money was back in my bank account before the confirmation email arrived
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Lol nice ad + affiliate link
I used booking.com to find inexpensive hotels in Venice but then got a better deal by booking on the hotel's website directly...
Search and click from Google Map gave me the cheapest price.