Author Topic: Hotel booking sites?  (Read 1866 times)

Rdy2Fire

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
Hotel booking sites?
« on: September 06, 2019, 10:27:40 PM »
All of them have their little fees etc but just wondering which people have found to be the best and why (points, free rooms, etc)??

jamesbond007

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 754
  • Location: USA
  • One penny at a time.
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2019, 08:06:29 AM »
If you one of those Chase cards, then you get about $400 worth of hotels for free per year? That would translate to about 5 nights for me on average. I also use hotels.com so every 10 nights gives me an additional night. But I am going to Airbnb these days as I can cook my own food (3 meals a day) and I save a lot more that way than the hotel cost.

Rdy2Fire

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2019, 07:49:45 AM »
If you one of those Chase cards, then you get about $400 worth of hotels for free per year? That would translate to about 5 nights for me on average. I also use hotels.com so every 10 nights gives me an additional night. But I am going to Airbnb these days as I can cook my own food (3 meals a day) and I save a lot more that way than the hotel cost.

I have a card that gives me benefits and have status at hilton and marriott was just looking at Hotels.com to see if actually made sense i.e am I really getting days free or ultimately paying them in their fees; I am still not sure which is why I posted. I like Airbnb as well but doesn't work as well for short stays (under 5 days) IMO. So seems like for sites your vote is hotels.com thx 

NotJen

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1616
  • Location: USA
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2019, 09:01:55 AM »
In most all cases, I book directly with a hotel, and get the best rate without extra fees (I’ve never seen a 3rd party site be cheaper, but that could be the places I travel).

Hula Hoop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1762
  • Location: Italy
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2019, 09:17:40 AM »
In most all cases, I book directly with a hotel, and get the best rate without extra fees (I’ve never seen a 3rd party site be cheaper, but that could be the places I travel).

That's because both Booking and Expedia (which own virtually all online booking sites) charge around 18% commission to accommodation owners.  That is, of course, passed on to the consumer.

Rdy2Fire

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2019, 06:58:18 PM »
In most all cases, I book directly with a hotel, and get the best rate without extra fees (I’ve never seen a 3rd party site be cheaper, but that could be the places I travel).

That's because both Booking and Expedia (which own virtually all online booking sites) charge around 18% commission to accommodation owners.  That is, of course, passed on to the consumer.

True on both accounts but some of these places don't have hotel or options to book directly hence why I am asking about these sites as opposed to the two brands I have status with

NotJen

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1616
  • Location: USA
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #6 on: September 08, 2019, 08:04:35 PM »
Yeah, I stay at places that you can't book direct so infrequently, that the "rewards" with the 3rd party site don't really matter because I'll never get enough points or nights to redeem them.  So I go with lowest out-of-pocket.  I'm not sure it would ever be worth it to pay more now for a possible future reward (unless your trip is long or you travel so predictably that you can calculate the actual benefit of stay 10 nights get one free, for example).

Just yesterday I just booked on Expedia for a hotel that only uses 3rd party sites.  All the sites show the same price, free cancellation, no extra fees.  Expedia said I got 10% off by reserving while signed in to my account - it was the best deal I could find, so I booked there. Since it's free cancellation, I'll still keep checking in case there is a sale somewhere else.  The last time I had a non-direct booking (that wasn't free through a credit card reward site) was at least 4 years ago, so any rewards from that stay are long gone.

Rdy2Fire

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2019, 08:18:56 PM »
Yeah, I stay at places that you can't book direct so infrequently, that the "rewards" with the 3rd party site don't really matter because I'll never get enough points or nights to redeem them.  So I go with lowest out-of-pocket.  I'm not sure it would ever be worth it to pay more now for a possible future reward (unless your trip is long or you travel so predictably that you can calculate the actual benefit of stay 10 nights get one free, for example).


Yeah trip is like 70 days

jamesbond007

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 754
  • Location: USA
  • One penny at a time.
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2019, 08:45:22 PM »
I tried calling some motels/hotels asking if they can reduce the price they show on hotels.com. based on my understanding, hotels.com charges 10% or 15% more. So I call the hotel directly and ask if they can book a room for me for 5-7% less than what I see on hotels.com That way, they don't have to pay the middleman and I get a better rate.

Most of them denied to book that way.

NotJen

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1616
  • Location: USA
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2019, 07:03:10 AM »
Yeah trip is like 70 days

That's awesome!  Shouldn't you be able to do the math and see which booking site would be the biggest benefit to you, since you'll be able to use the rewards right away?

Sorry that I'm no help - I posted to follow along, hoping to learn new hotel booking tips.  I think I first read about Autoslash here on MMM, and it's been a great way to get better rates on car rentals.

Rdy2Fire

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 451
Re: Hotel booking sites?
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2019, 07:54:20 AM »
Yeah trip is like 70 days

That's awesome!  Shouldn't you be able to do the math and see which booking site would be the biggest benefit to you, since you'll be able to use the rewards right away?

Sorry that I'm no help - I posted to follow along, hoping to learn new hotel booking tips.  I think I first read about Autoslash here on MMM, and it's been a great way to get better rates on car rentals.

Not really, since, as it was pointed out some sites are cheaper or more in addition to being different from booking direct so I was looking for peoples opinions based on what they use. With that said, I figure using hotels.com could provide me a few free rooms but are they really free?? No because of fees so I thought people who may have been using these sites for years might have some real insight