I need to book a hotel in BKK for a couple of nights in mid Oct. Usually I make reservations directly with hotels, but I see Agoda is very much cheaper, I've never used them before.

On the Agoda site it gives 2 prices for the room I'm interested in. One price with no cancellation and for a couple hundred baht more can have cancellation and not get charged anything. 

So how reliable is Agoda? If I book the room now using my CC, nothing gets taken out until just before the date I have booked? And if I change my mind there are no catches? Also does anyone recommend another hotel booking service that's better/cheaper?

Agoda are very reliable

 

I think Agoda will quote prices with no taxes included, when you go to pay it will be more expensive than advertised as taxes are added. Just press on reserve the room and it will take you to the first stage of check out, the true price will be reflected here.

 

With regards to reliability, never had an issue.

Agoda, Booking.com both very reliable.

 

I always prefer to book without pre-payment, and pay at hotel is most convenient for me.

2 minutes ago, CanadaSam said:

Agoda, Booking.com both very reliable.

 

I always prefer to book without pre-payment, and pay at hotel is most convenient for me.

I would prefer that too, but can't see how to do on the reservation page.

8 minutes ago, sungod said:

I think Agoda will quote prices with no taxes included, when you go to pay it will be more expensive than advertised as taxes are added. Just press on reserve the room and it will take you to the first stage of check out, the true price will be reflected here.

 

With regards to reliability, never had an issue.

yes, thanks, I have seen when it takes me to the final page and there are taxes applied, but that price is still far cheaper that what the hotel is asking.

1 minute ago, grain said:

yes, thanks, I have seen when it takes me to the final page and there are taxes applied, but that price is still far cheaper that what the hotel is asking.

Well yes that has been almost always the case with hotels worldwide.  The "rack rate" displayed by hotels is often far higher than what you need to pay by going through a booking agency. The "rack rate" is a walk in rate really.

Just read it carefully as to cxl and/payments.  I like the ones where it says pay nothing today and tells you the cxl by date so your credit card is never charged.

 

Only problem i have had with agoda was when i booked a soi 8 hotel six months ago for several weeks this fall at very low rate.  Payment was due 90 days prior to arrival but the hotel cancelled each reservation and tried to shuffle me off to another hotel....bottom line was agoda promised to fix it as the hotel was still available on their site at almost double the rate i had been confirmed at....after numerous emails back and forth and promises to escalate and have the hotel honor the rate the hotel refused as the rate was "too low"....agoda in the end did NOTHING to assist me and the hotel is still taking res over all the exact sames dates in exact same room category for two to three times what i had been confirmed...i have used agoda dozens of times with no problems so was disappointed that they allow a hotel on their platform to just screw you around with no consequences.

Don't forget to get a quote from the hotel as well---its surprising how many times they can come in cheaper---but if your using a CC then they exchange might not be as good.

 

Their  (The internet) picks of the best

 

The Best Hotel Booking Sites

• Booking.com
• Hotels.com
• Expedia
• Orbitz
• Travelocity
• Priceline
• Hotwire
• Kayak
• Agoda
• Google Hotels

42 minutes ago, CanadaSam said:

Agoda, Booking.com both very reliable

 

16 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Their  (The internet) picks of the best

 

The Best Hotel Booking Sites

• Booking.com
• Hotels.com
• Expedia
• Orbitz
• Travelocity
• Priceline
• Hotwire
• Kayak
• Agoda
• Google Hotels

Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline and Kayak are all owned by the same company, Booking Holdings.

 

I've always found Agoda very reliable.

 

.

45 minutes ago, grain said:

yes, thanks, I have seen when it takes me to the final page and there are taxes applied, but that price is still far cheaper that what the hotel is asking.

When I log in to Agoda the prices displayed include all taxes.

 

No surprise when you get to the payment page. Been using Agoda for years and never had a problem

4 minutes ago, ozfarang said:

When I log in to Agoda the prices displayed include all taxes.

 

No surprise when you get to the payment page. Been using Agoda for years and never had a problem

 

 

Not for me - app or browser.

 

Booking.com yes.

6 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Not for me - app or browser.

 

Booking.com yes.

Have you selected the currency symbol and selected total price per night in the menu?

Check out Trip Advisor with the hotel of your choice and it will

give a price comparison of top booking sites.

 

Agoda still my most favoured, pay upfront in sterling with UK

cc card and you will get no extra charges.

1 minute ago, ozfarang said:

Have you selected the currency symbol and selected total price per night in the menu?

I have now, thank you.????

AGODA ARE VERY GOOD

38 minutes ago, ozfarang said:

Have you selected the currency symbol and selected total price per night in the menu?

Thats sneaky........

 

Thanks,

1 hour ago, CanadaSam said:

Agoda, Booking.com both very reliable.

 

I always prefer to book without pre-payment, and pay at hotel is most convenient for me.

same company, always avoid if possible and book direct.

We have used Agoda in many countries....100% positive so far....

The Chatrium has served us well as a BBK hotel.....

OP - Did you call or email the hotel for a quote?

 

If not, do so and ask them to beat the Agoda price.

 

Don't just use the advertised rate for comparison.

49 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

OP - Did you call or email the hotel for a quote?

 

If not, do so and ask them to beat the Agoda price.

 

Don't just use the advertised rate for comparison.

I did contact them and the listed price was a lot more. But as you suggest I'll ask them to beat the Agoda price. 

3 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Don't forget to get a quote from the hotel as well---its surprising how many times they can come in cheaper---but if your using a CC then they exchange might not be as good.

 

Their  (The internet) picks of the best

 

The Best Hotel Booking Sites

• Booking.com
• Hotels.com
• Expedia
• Orbitz
• Travelocity
• Priceline
• Hotwire
• Kayak
• Agoda
• Google Hotels

I live in Thailand and will use a Thai card, actually a SCB debit card. So it'll be THB.

On 8/17/2022 at 6:33 AM, JimmyJ said:

OP - Did you call or email the hotel for a quote?

 

If not, do so and ask them to beat the Agoda price.

 

Don't just use the advertised rate for comparison.

Any hotels undercutting the Agoda price risk getting kicked off the platform as it is in the contractual agreement that they must not.

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned Trivago, which gives you the price that multiple booking sites are quoting for the same property. Agoda might not be the cheapest.