This can be a tricky one.
When a Hotel signs up with a 3rd party site say for example Hotels.com they agree to give rate parity. Rate parity means the Hotel must give at least the same price as the Hotel is selling on their website. Why?
Well the 3rd party does not want to be at a disadvantage pricewise and they say they spend money to get a booking to the Hotel. A valid argument. If they do not get rate parity they can take a Hotel off their site. 3rd parties charge up to 25% commission to the Hotel.
When I was with D4 Hotels I broke rate parity and got away with it but that is another story. Hotels may offer package deals including meals that you will not get on the 3rd parties so if you are going for more then just a room this could be the best deal.
The big ace in the 3rd parties pocket is the % off offers for longer stays. For example 20% off for 3 nights or more. Believe it or not most Hotel websites do not have a function to sell a % off price. This means that you could have a Hotel selling €99 per night on their own website and €99 per night with 20% off for a 3 night stay on a 3rd party. Crazy but true.
When I am booking a Hotel I use booking.com as they seem to have the best offers and they will not charge your credit card up front.
Call the Hotel? Yes it is worth a try but it depends on who you get on to. A Receptionist a lot of the time will just read the price from a chart or the p.c. You have Hotels that are tuned in and a lot that are not. I don’t know how many times I have been told yes if you see a lower price on a website book it (and don’t bother me). Ok I will and it will cost you 25% commission.
If you have the time and you want to make sure you will get the best price best to try all options.
What worked for you? Let me know.
3 Responses to “Is it best to Book on Hotel own website or a 3rd Party?”
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Spot on. I recently went to make a booking for a hotel near Mallow in conjunction with a wedding. When I called they gave me a higher rate and referred me back to their website that had a cheaper rate and that was not run by them, so they had to also pay commission on that booking. All they had to do was match their Internet rate when I called and they could have saved on commission.
‘When a Hotel signs up with a 3rd party site say for example Hotels.com they agree to give rate parity. Rate parity means the Hotel must give at least the same price as the Hotel is selling on their website.’
I wonder if this could be described as price fixing?
I would not think this would be price fixing. The Hotel would set their own price. All rate parity then does is give the same price for their Hotel to the 3rd party. Say for example was selling a room for €100. If they then gave the 3rd party the same room to sell for €110. Over a period of time people would move away from the 3rd parties. This would be good for Hotels but Hotels do not have the sales & marketing power major players such as Expedia have worlwide. If Hotels did not use 3rd parties their bookings would drop.
They sell a room for €100. After they take a cut the Hotel gets €75. The way the Hotel would see it is they may never have got this booking without the 3rd party?
Thanks for the feedback.