agoda more expensive than direct booking? + bit of scam innit

[villageidiotY2K]

hi folks, i've just booked a hotel directly here in the LAND OF SMILES.

on agoda it was priced at 790B and finally came up to 1000B due to tax service charge total of 17% blah blah and was informing that theres only 3 rooms left.

I've called the hotel directly and i was able to book direct. I dont need to pay in advance, and agoda has a policy of 24 hrs cancellation period. (even though hotel dont)

Price was 700B and i asked about the occupancy level and theres heaps on avail, misinformed scammed by agoda by informing me only 3 rooms avail.

 

So whats up with agoda????

this kind of practice really boils my blood bro

i tthink i will boycott this agoda thing and save me self some monieees 

 

oh one more think i noticed.... on agoda it mentions orignal price is aT 1200B and save 35%. what a cock of <deleted>

[msbkk]

Agoda and other agents have a quota of rooms often for the whole year. One hotel told me once that it is not allowed to offer the Agoda reserved rooms directly because they are reserved. My guess is that in your case that of the Agoda reserved rooms there were only 3 available. Another time I saw the price at Agoda but went to a hotel directly. Surprisingly the hotel price was more expensive. The receptionist told me to use my phone and book at Agoda, which I did to be able to check in immediately for the lower Agoda price.

 

My experience is that sometimes Agoda or booking.com are cheaper and other times not. Agoda has good deals if you book just 24 hours or less before arrival. And at Agoda you can collect points of I think 10%value of the booking price, that means you will get credit back.  If you have enough points you will get a free night.

[CHdiver]

There is no guarantee that Agoda is cheaper. Further, Agoda does not have all rooms under controll. They have a certain amount of rooms they sell, after they get either a new contingent or the rest will be available by the Hotel or other similiar sits to Agoda.

 

Be happy you got a good price and enjoy your stay.

[Yagoda]

I use Agoda almost exclusively outside the USA

[Chivas]

If you do a Agoda quotation right up to the point of entering personal details (and then leave it) you'll fing Agoda come back time and again via Emails with "special discounts"

 

I'd love to know how people get these points though. I had 4 Agoda bookings very recently spanning in total around 86 days of which 60 were in one continuous booking in same hotel

 

Prior to posting this I rechecked status and am showing *VIP Gold

 

How do you get these points per se or havent I done enough nights ? (fair enough) 

[villageidiotY2K]

i also got this vip gold thingy but i aint getting da deal!!! i think its like the agoda thing to make u feel important... (sorry my blood has boiled and im bashing ripoff dishonest agoda HARD ON)

conclusion ;

direct w hotel 700B, risk free cancellation

via adgoda 1000B risk cancellatio fee with ill rip off feeling

 

Im gonna take 300B, which is like 40% of the deal and celebrate have a cold ice coffee, cheers i feel much cleaner 5555

 

 

 

[Chivas]

1 minute ago, villageidiotY2K said:

i also got this vip gold thingy but i aint getting da deal!!! i think its like the agoda thing to make u feel important... (sorry my blood has boiled and im bashing ripoff dishonest agoda HARD ON)

conclusion ;

direct w hotel 700B, risk free cancellation

via adgoda 1000B risk cancellatio fee with ill rip off feeling

 

Im gonna take 300B, which is like 40% of the deal and celebrate have a cold ice coffee, cheers i feel much cleaner 5555

 

 

 

 

Use 4 different browsers with 4 different VPNs switched on (even of all set to your home country) you'll likely find 4 different prices

[Celsius]

This is terrible. Are you American? You should sue.

[Nick Carter icp]

4 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

Im american and if I see a product at tesco for 100 and then at big c for 50...i'll buy the latte

 

is called shopping around...its a scam if ur stupid enough to fall for it

 

thanks for the stereoptype..but i expect as much on this site.....

 

   More abuse of posters on this site .

Have you declared war on ASEANNOW ?

[treetops]

1 hour ago, villageidiotY2K said:

I've called the hotel directly and i was able to book direct.

 

Are you getting breakfast included in the deal you booked directly?

[Nick Carter icp]

I detest  those sites .

   "Last room left"

*25 people looking at this ad now*

 "Hurry, book now before its too late"

*2 minutes left to purchase"

    Gets right on my nerves .

The price often jumps up as well , advertised as 2000 Baht and when you go to pay, its 3000 Baht and no explanation for the price difference...........................but hurry, 1  minute left to purchase 

[retarius]

I gave up with these 'services' long ago. They didn't make my life any easier, that's for sure. Now I book airlines and hotels via the businesses themselves, and pay no commissions to Agoda, Booking .com or whomever. Much easier. 

[Nick Carter icp]

Original price (1 room x 2 nights)฿ 13,547.06

Our price ฿ 6,100.02

Instant discount-฿ 1,184.90

Room price (1 room x 2 nights)฿ 4,915.12

Booking feesFREE

Price

 

฿ 5,785.10

 

 

    Booking a place just now . Why not just say the price , rather than giving numerous prices 

 

 

 

We have limited availability at this price - book now!

It's only 2 days until your check-in. Rates may rise if you don’t book now.

Last minute price drop!  Book now to secure your room.

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, villageidiotY2K said:

i also got this vip gold thingy but i aint getting da deal!!! i think its like the agoda thing to make u feel important... (sorry my blood has boiled and im bashing ripoff dishonest agoda HARD ON)

conclusion ;

direct w hotel 700B, risk free cancellation

via adgoda 1000B risk cancellatio fee with ill rip off feeling

 

Im gonna take 300B, which is like 40% of the deal and celebrate have a cold ice coffee, cheers i feel much cleaner 5555

 

 

 

Do you have the free breakfast for 2 for your 700 thb?

[Nick Carter icp]

Advertised at 2600 Baht , clicked on to book :

 

 

 

Original price (1 room x 1 night)฿ 6,773.53

Room price (1 room x 1 night)฿ 2,960.92

฿ 227.99

Booking feesFREE

Price

 

฿ 3,728.95

[NoDisplayName]

2 hours ago, villageidiotY2K said:

misinformed scammed by agoda by informing me only 3 rooms avail.

 

I have 100 pairs of elephant pants in my shop.

 

I list 10 pairs on Ebay for sale at 100 baht.

Someone ordering through Ebay can only access 10 pairs.

Is that a scam?

 

A local comes into the shop and I offer to sell for 90 baht.

Does that make the 100 baht listing on Ebay a scam?

 

 

[JAS21]

Agoda shows a price without the ++.  So we never bother with them.  We look up the hotel on Booking.com.  Then my wife phones and asks the price with breakfast …usually get a better price.

 

But this doesn’t normally work with 5* hotels …they either seem to offer a higher price or say use our agent.

 

 

[Chivas]

19 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

Agoda shows a price without the ++.  So we never bother with them. 

 

 

 

Not on mine. Price never moves as I click thro and certainly didnt on the 4 seperate bookings as per my earlier post

If it says $21 than thats what it is

 

(I got bored of reverting it to Sterling as next website visit somehow its back on USD again lol)

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, villageidiotY2K said:

it was priced at 790B and finally came up to 1000B due to tax service charge total of 17% blah blah

That is the annoying scam.

What's the point of comparing prices on the internet when the first shown prices have little resemblance with the actual charged prices?

I guess some people just click, click, click, and the realize too late that 5 times 790 is not the same as 6123THB or something like that.

 

[Robert Paulson]

My problem with agoda is they take a huge cut and if you like a hotel it’s really better all the funds go to the hotel. Credit cards work this way too the credit card company takes a cut. I think in the long run cash and face to face is better for everyone

[Chivas]

When I scrolled down page (going back to the lack of points I highlighted earlier) I see this

 

On the left it indicates 6 bookings in last 2 years and on graph it shows 7

 

Its actually 4 lol

 

 

[ChipButty]

I am told trip.com is good here in Thailand, 

[treetops]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

Agoda shows a price without the ++.  So we never bother with them.

 

That's down to your settings and can be changed to show the all in price.

[KhunLA]

I only use Booking.com, and on rare occasions, Agoda ... and ... only for information.   Can't remember last time I booked on either.

 

Wife always calls hotel direct (ph # from Gmap) and always cheaper, most no pre-payment.   As already stated,  '3 rooms left' is there allotment only.  Also many sites will state 'no pets allowed' but actually are when called, or no pet charge, or price simply cheaper all around w/pet charge, and room rate cheaper.

 

Only site I use is Accor if booking Ibis hotels in advance, as same price, sometimes cheaper, and no prepayments, w/late cancellation available.

 

Gmap for most research and bunch of other hotel options not listed on booking sites.

[Keeps]

I use Agoda extensively and continuously find them competitive on their pricing. On occasions, I contact a hotel directly to see if they can/want to match the Agoda price as I would much prefer that the whole amount went directly to the hotel. Sometimes hotels will do this, other times they instruct me to book with Agoda for the better price. One particular apartment I use regularly in Chiang Mai give me a small discount on the Agoda rate - they advised that Agoda take a 30% cut.

 

Agoda often show different prices for the same room but the terms vary. Some offer free cancellation, pay later option, pay at the hotel, include breakfast etc. When I book via Agoda the final payment is always that originally shown when browsing the hotels - this includes any tax etc so there is never any nasty surprises when it comes to payment.

 

As far as I know, there is no points to be had with Agoda. I believe the various VIP tiers are just based on the number of bookings you make over a set period of time. I have platinum status and when viewing a hotel and the different rates based on the various options mentioned above, it will automatically show if the price reflects a platinum member discount. Also, you sometimes get cash back rewards depending on the room rate basis you chose. I have however noticed that recently, the expiration date of the cash back is much shorter than it used to be. 

 

I personally find Agoda to be excellent and seem to have a much different experience with them than some of the OP's on this thread have. 

[treetops]

2 minutes ago, Keeps said:

I personally find Agoda to be excellent and seem to have a much different experience with them than some of the OP's on this thread have.

 

I'm with you and Agoda are my first point of call, and for almost two years during Covid I was using them every couple of weeks.  When I was going to revisit a hotel I would often discuss a discount but I think the problem was that regular front desk staff just don't have the authority to offer anything.

 

I have only one exception to that where I was lucky enough to talk to the manageress on about my 3rd or 4th visit and she helped me out.  I've been paying a reduced rate there ever since and it's a place I'm at regularly (2 or 3 times a month).