$27 A Nite For Foreigners...$54 A Nite For Thais...Reverse "Double Pricing"

[Pattaya Spotter]

So I'm on an extended road trip from Pattaya to Phuket taking advantage of the lack of crowds (absolutely none) and absurdly low prices for accommodation during this time of Covid (5 star resorts normally 8k-10k a nite during high season now 1k-2k and 4 star places 500-1k). So I was on one of the large online travel agencies checking out places and prices for a couple weeks out and found a rate of $27 for a 5 star healthy lifestyle resort in Rawai (3 massive pools, 3 storey gym, on-site gourmet Italian deli and resto) so I went ahead to the booking page and entered my information. It asked me the nationality of the ID I was using to make the booking and I selected Thai (was going to use my TDL). The page immediately refreshed itself and said the $27 rate wasn't available but a $54 rate was...DOUBLE the original quoted price.

 

Thinking something just may have gone wrong i exited the page and fired up the tab again...this time I entered my USA passport as my booking ID but it still showed the $54 price. At this point, some may have just given up and assumed the initial $27 price was some "mistake" price, especially for a resort of this caliber. However, I was determined to try again to snag this room for $27 a nite for a week. I closed the tab again and deleted the cookies from the booking site and started fresh. This time again putting my US ID for the booking nationality, and up popped the $27 price again. I proceeded to complete and pay for the room at this price. It was charged to my US CC and I received my booking confirmation a few minutes later. Moral...it pays to be persistent. (PS: The resort currently has Covid direct booking prices of B1500-B2100 a nite.)

Edited March 21, 2021 by Pattaya Spotter

[richard_smith237]

I don’t think it’s double pricing as we know it, it’s website applying algorithms.

 

That said it adds an additional facet to the dual pricing argument & it’s definitely wrong (IMO) to charge differently based on Nationality alone. 
 

We all know many booking sites apply algorithms based on location it it sometimes pays to make booking using a VPN... in this case described by the Op it seems the booking site has applied dual pricing based on nationality - any Thai would be right to be upset with this as much as we Westerners disagree with dual pricing when it works against us (well, some of us anyway, others who’ve posted on the subject seem to believe dual pricing is virtuous!) 

[fdsa]

 

the hotel gets free 50% from the government for every Thai visitor, so 27$ is real room cost and 54$ (+27$ instant and +27$ later from the government) is pure income.

[lopburi3]

I had this experience in a large Pattaya hotel about 25 years ago - low price offered foreigners as promotion - booked and on arrival they wanted to charge higher rate as wife was Thai.  Luckily had not prepaid.

[Pattaya Spotter]

36 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I don’t think it’s double pricing as we know it, it’s website applying algorithms.

 

That said it adds an additional facet to the dual pricing argument & it’s definitely wrong (IMO) to charge differently based on Nationality alone. 
 

We all know many booking sites apply algorithms based on location it it sometimes pays to make booking using a VPN... in this case described by the Op it seems the booking site has applied dual pricing based on nationality - any Thai would be right to be upset with this as much as we Westerners disagree with dual pricing when it works against us (well, some of us anyway, others who’ve posted on the subject seem to believe dual pricing is virtuous!) 

I just found it odd that the site (and its algorithm) was charging Thai nationals (a lower income country) twice the price of non-thais...even if residing in Thailand and making the booking from within Thailand. Maybe this resort has requested its booking partners to actively discouraging Thai nationals from booking there, which is even more strange because one would think they would take any bookings they could get right now.

[Pattaya Spotter]

13 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

I had this experience in a large Pattaya hotel about 25 years ago - low price offered foreigners as promotion - booked and on arrival they wanted to charge higher rate as wife was Thai.  Luckily had not prepaid.

I'm confused...wouldn't it have been better if you had prepaid? Then they couldn't do anything to change the booking contract no?

[lopburi3]

4 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I'm confused...wouldn't it have been better if you had prepaid? Then they couldn't do anything to change the booking contract no?

Not even sure prepayment was an option - it was a newspaper advertisement rate.

[klauskunkel]

18 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

(3 massive pools, 3 storey gym, on-site gourmet Italian deli and resto)

you wanna make sure all these facilities are in fact open and operating

[chuang]

Thais are paying more than foreigner... Double standard... Scam...etc etc..

[SomchaiCNX]

Yet again, most people here don't know. Yes some Hotels have different prices (contract rates) for different markets. European, Asian, Thai for example.

[Fat is a type of crazy]

I've noticed that too.. sometimes I'd come back to get  a good price I'd seen before and it's gone up.. but if I search on a different device it's the cheaper price.

The prices can vary if you search first by a comparison website and then to the selling website rather than straight to the selling website. The first is cheaper even though I assume the selling website has to give the comparison website a commission.

Sometimes prices in Australia seem really cheap given poor exchange rate but maybe they get less customers from Australia so they keep it cheap.

 

This is bringing back memories of the before times when I used to actually see my girlfriend and travel in Thailand. Lucky you Pattaya Spotter. Sounds like fun.

[DUNROAMIN]

I have found  this with International Booking companies, if you check prices several times, then refresh and go back in they up the price. Also telling you to book now as there are only 2 rooms left at this rate. 

 

 

[Pattaya Spotter]

6 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

you wanna make sure all these facilities are in fact open and operating

They are...I visited and did a room and facilities tour before making the booking online.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Pattaya Spotter

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

I have found  this with International Booking companies, if you check prices several times, then refresh and go back in they up the price. Also telling you to book now as there are only 2 rooms left at this rate. 

 

 

I fell foul of that with Airbnb. I wanted to book 2 weeks but not consecutive, separate enquiries had shown the same price for each week but after booking the first week the price on the second week had gone up.

I complained to Airbnb and they said the pricing was based on demand, a victim of my own booking. They got the owner to intervene and I got the second week the same price.

Very easy to get caught out.

[Pattaya Spotter]

14 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

I have found  this with International Booking companies, if you check prices several times, then refresh and go back in they up the price. Also telling you to book now as there are only 2 rooms left at this rate. 

 

 

I think the cure is to delete the browser cookies of the booking site, refresh the  browser, and try the booking again. 

[DUNROAMIN]

57 minutes ago, sandyf said:

I fell foul of that with Airbnb. I wanted to book 2 weeks but not consecutive, separate enquiries had shown the same price for each week but after booking the first week the price on the second week had gone up.

I complained to Airbnb and they said the pricing was based on demand, a victim of my own booking. They got the owner to intervene and I got the second week the same price.

Very easy to get caught out.

yeah, many of these companies play dirty tricks and should be reported, however, it seems there is no watch dog for these people.