Expedia, go to hell.

[Moirae]

Good! Haha. Its always best to book direct. And some chains (like mine but I don't want to give away where I work) have special online rates when you book through the direct website. In fact our website boasts the cheapest rate you can book anywhere.
It also allows for far more lenient cancellations, and I can tell ya a clerk is far more willing to give free upgrades to people who book direct over 3rd party. You also won't get the crappiest room in the house. (I stick 3rd parties in the former smoking rooms and back near the train tracks. I'm not putting a guest who paid us far more in a crappy room.)

I'm curious how you can do that. The third party websites have guarantees of rate parity as part of their contracts, that includes on the hotels own websites. You're free to sell how you want on the phone, though.

I highly recommend anyone call the hotel (or the hotels reservation line) directly. You will get better rooms, a bill on check out, and less hassle if something goes wrong.

[Skittles88]

I'm curious how you can do that. The third party websites have guarantees of rate parity as part of their contracts, that includes on the hotels own websites. You're free to sell how you want on the phone, though.

I highly recommend anyone call the hotel (or the hotels reservation line) directly. You will get better rooms, a bill on check out, and less hassle if something goes wrong.

They tell you that. That doesn't mean its true.
Booking.com for example.. Says they have the best rate and yet we are the ones who load those rates. A lot of hotels do discounts for having a AAA membership or being over the ago of 55, costco memberships, but most 3rd party sites do not offer those rates.

[Crucible1]

Expedia / Booking.com / Orbitz / etc all generally have the same routine contract and margin wise. They run on a revenue share model of about 20-30 percent. Usually hotels are only required to have rate parity with non special discount special lowest rate. The main reason to be affiliated with them is for the one stop shop idea they create. Brand loyalty is a great thing, but with all of the independent hotels around, or smaller chains, it makes it a necessity to utilize third parties for bookings. The internet has given them too much purchase in the current hotel reservations setting.

[Moirae]

They tell you that. That doesn't mean its true.
Booking.com for example.. Says they have the best rate and yet we are the ones who load those rates. A lot of hotels do discounts for having a AAA membership or being over the ago of 55, costco memberships, but most 3rd party sites do not offer those rates.

Maybe you've been lucky enough that they don't call you on it. Every hotel I've ever worked for, the local reps keep track of the rates on all the websites vs our website. I've received both phone calls from the local reps and emails about rate parity. If it happens to much, the third parties aren't beyond cutting the hotel off from sales. The sites don't look for discounts on your own websites, but they do keep track of rate parity.

The third parties are the ones with the power.

[Shalom]

(I stick 3rd parties in the former smoking rooms and back near the train tracks. I'm not putting a guest who paid us far more in a crappy room.)

Back near the train tracks is a plus for me, not a minus.

The former smoking room is a deal-breaker, though.

[Skittles88]

Maybe you've been lucky enough that they don't call you on it. Every hotel I've ever worked for, the local reps keep track of the rates on all the websites vs our website. I've received both phone calls from the local reps and emails about rate parity. If it happens to much, the third parties aren't beyond cutting the hotel off from sales. The sites don't look for discounts on your own websites, but they do keep track of rate parity.

The third parties are the ones with the power.

Nope they have no and in fact, our brand has introduced something which states if you can find a lower rate than the special online book rate on the website, they'll compensate you. Mind you you must pre pay for the deal, but its still a far better deal then Expedia can cough up. Our brand has far more power than 3rd party ever will.
The rate all the 3rd parties have is out Best available rate and therefore they can't say anything.

[Jetfire]

I used to use Expedia/Travelocity/Priceline to book regularly, but I started realizing that I could save more money and have less hassle if I just dealt with the hotels directly.

My wife went and I went on a road trip out west earlier this year and I booked every hotel room direct, at good rates and had no issues with anything whatsoever.

No more 3rd parties for me.

Ditto. Once I may have booked my travel on Travelocity or Expedia.

Nowadays, I'll start my search on Expedia, but then go directly to the hotel (or airline) site and see what they're offering.

Since most of my travel is the annual trip to Vegas for Fan Faire, I get that through Total Rewards anyway, or SOE's rate for the rooms.

[Catwoman2965]

I've never used any 3rd party site to book a hotel. I will check, but I don't know if I've ever seen a rate significantly less than what I can get on my own, and I figure why get someone else involved, when, if there's an issue, its twice as hard to get it resolved.

[Moirae]

It's great to see people becoming more savvy about these online websites. They just aren't all they're cracked up to be. Especially since they aren't actually at the hotel location so can't guarantee anything. You'd be surprised how many people I have tell me that Expedia said we had a pool, or Orbitz told them we have parking, or some such. Or my favorite little lie... it's a 5 pm cancel during a special event (not in this city it isn't, it's usually 30 days unless you can prove someone died).

[Desk clerk knows all]

We always charge the third party credit card the morning of arrival so we can catch any problems before the guest checks in. One time they had booked 3 rooms under the same and all three credit cards were declining, when I called they told me that they were "pending" and said when the guest arrived I should just have him pay the hotel directly. I said "does that mean his credit card was declined when he made the reservations?" and he said "yes" I ask why they were holding 3 of our rooms when they didn't have payment, but he had no answer. I told him I was cancelling the reservations and he said fine. That guest never did come in for the rooms. I've also had a couple times when the credit card was declined and when I called expedia about it they said "oh that reservation was cancelled" but it never got cancelled in our system. Our hotel chain also has the lowest internet rate gtd, so if you book on any of the 3rd party sights the best rate you get is our standard rack rate. Where as if you book on our website you can get discounts for AAA,AARP ect. Also if you book through 3rd party you can't get membership points or airline points-so there is really no advantage to anyone except the 3rd party website-they suck!

[BroSCFischer]

*Ahem*

I think I'll just leave this here.



I also can't tell you how many times I've had someone book a room at our hotel, when they were looking to book in [Same Name as Town I work In], IL. That's a few THOUSAND miles away.

Dumbasses.*

SC

*I was just watching Arguing with Myself, and I think I picked up a few tips from Walter.

[Seshat]

at least they are explicit to the guest that the guest needs to abide by our prepay and cancellation policies. Expedia doesn't currently have that set up and they told us "We aren't sure how to code for it".

I could code something like that asleep and with both hands tied behind my back.

[wolfie]

One time they had booked 3 rooms under the same and all three credit cards were declining, when I called they told me that they were "pending" and said when the guest arrived I should just have him pay the hotel directly. I said "does that mean his credit card was declined when he made the reservations?" and he said "yes" I ask why they were holding 3 of our rooms when they didn't have payment, but he had no answer.

So the 3rd party service KNEW the customer's credit card was bad, and expected you to bill directly to the SAME CARD? I guess they were willing to forego their commission (unless they planned to come after you for it) on this one visit in hopes of keep a "good customer" who would give them repeat business, expecting you to "eat" the loss?

[Moirae]

I could code something like that asleep and with both hands tied behind my back.

Thats what I figured lol. There are lots of hotels complaining, so I imagine it will be fixed at some point.

[Skittles88]

Thats what I figured lol. There are lots of hotels complaining, so I imagine it will be fixed at some point.

I doubt it.

Also now they are quoting prices without taxes, so when people see the bill with taxes included they freak out.
You know what would be best? If EVERY single hotel dropped Expedia. Maybe then they'd get the point.