Advisory on Third-Party Hotel Booking Platforms

As you may know, there are numerous websites such as Travelocity, Hotwire, and Expedia that facilitate the comparison of prices for airline tickets, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and vacation packages. However, in my personal experience, these platforms often present rates identical to what one can obtain if booking directly with the hotel. My main concern arises from the unexpected additional fees that are often applied at the final stage of the booking process.

It's important to highlight that third-party booking websites (TPWs) occasionally offer rooms at lower rates compared to what the hotel would provide in person. I recall a time when I was stranded in Fort Lauderdale after missing a connecting flight to Aruba. It was a particularly busy weekend, but a TPW managed to find me a reasonably priced room. Interestingly, it would have been quicker to take a taxi to the hotel—which I eventually had to do—rather than reserving the room online, so I opted for the cab. Upon my arrival at the hotel, they quoted me a price about 50% higher. When I showed them the online rate on my phone and asked if they could honor it, they replied with a flat “No.” I ended up sitting in their lobby and booked the room online.

Conversely, I have faced situations where my booking through a TPW was never received by the hotel, or the hotel misplaced the reservation entirely. Although both instances were eventually resolved, it required a significant amount of effort and persistence on my part.

Returning to the main subject of this newsletter—imagine you want to secure a reservation at a particular hotel without the need to compare rates. For instance, consider the Longhorn hotel situated in Las Vegas. The following image reflects what a Google search might display:

In the search results, Google ranks the official Longhorn website second. If you click on the first link, you will be presented with a $38 room rate. That appears to be quite reasonable.

Next, if you proceed by clicking on “RESERVE,” here's what you would encounter:

Hold on! What’s this $19.99 service fee? If you click the drop-down arrow next to “Room cancellation policy, hotel information and fees,” this is what will be displayed:

This is utterly outrageous and unethical! Third-party hotel booking sites earn substantial commissions from hotels. It’s quite unusual, to my knowledge, for both parties to be charged for the identical service. I'm increasingly frustrated by being given one price initially, only to be surprised by hidden charges at the last step of payment or on the bill.

Conversely, if you navigate directly to the Longhorn website, you will find the same room for $38, sans any service fee for making the reservation. There is a $7.90 amenity fee, which I could also express my grievances about, but that fee applies regardless of the booking source.

This clearly demonstrates that you receive the same room at the same base price regardless of how you book. However, by unnecessarily going through a third-party website, you incur a $20 service fee. Essentially, it’s a charge for placing an unnecessary intermediary between you and your hotel.

What can we learn from this?

• If you are certain about where you want to stay, make your reservation directly through the hotel’s website.
• During a search for a specific business, many websites might imitate that business for better search engine rankings. Pay close attention to the URLs to ensure you’re directed to the correct page.
• Before making any online purchase or reservation, scrutinize each line for hidden fees. This advice also applies to dining bills, although I don’t wish to digress on that subject.
• Do not patronize Reservations.com.

Written by: Michael Shackleford