Agoda discriminating non-Thai speakers!

[chr1st1an]

I recently compared prices on Agoda in TH vs EN and realized that English speakers usually pay more!! <deleted>!

Reason enough not to book through them anymore. I am a member of HotelQuickly and I wouldn't want to miss that app, so much cheaper than anything on Agoda (even cheaper than their TH price haha)

[whoisyourdaddy]

Encouraging local travel perhaps?

Not really sure why you feel the need to make such a big deal out of it, so if Thai is cheaper, you book on Thai. if you have another one which is even better, just book there.

[chr1st1an]

I would book in TH (and I would have booked in TH in the past, too), but I didn't know! Agoda is just trying to make more money off foreigners. Farang prices, doesn't even stop with large companies like Agoda

[Skint]

Send them an email I doubt any fcuks will be given

[chr1st1an]

Send them an email I doubt any fcuks will be given

HAHAHA good one. as if agoda would have a good customer service

I had issues 2x (misbooking by agoda) and both times no action was taken when i complained..

[Skint]

It's worth mentioning there are a lot of tight people on here

[whoisyourdaddy]

I would book in TH (and I would have booked in TH in the past, too), but I didn't know! Agoda is just trying to make more money off foreigners. Farang prices, doesn't even stop with large companies like Agoda

Agoda does not do anything. Hotels set prices and have full control of pricing and availability.

[whoisyourdaddy]

It's worth mentioning there are a lot of tight people on here

Hey it's no joking matter. There is $2-$3 dollar price difference, its the scam of the year

[chr1st1an]

I would book in TH (and I would have booked in TH in the past, too), but I didn't know! Agoda is just trying to make more money off foreigners. Farang prices, doesn't even stop with large companies like Agoda

Agoda does not do anything. Hotels set prices and have full control of pricing and availability.

Agoda has it's "best price guarantee" (joke in itself already) - how can they guarantee me to get the best deal when at the same time they sell the same room cheaper in a different language?!

[chr1st1an]

It's worth mentioning there are a lot of tight people on here

Hey it's no joking matter. There is $2-$3 dollar price difference, its the scam of the year

I travel often, so it does make a difference. And calculate it on agoda's overall booking volume, it must make 100s of thousands of $$ per year by cheating EN speakers

[whoisyourdaddy]

I would book in TH (and I would have booked in TH in the past, too), but I didn't know! Agoda is just trying to make more money off foreigners. Farang prices, doesn't even stop with large companies like Agoda

Agoda does not do anything. Hotels set prices and have full control of pricing and availability.

Agoda has it's "best price guarantee" (joke in itself already) - how can they guarantee me to get the best deal when at the same time they sell the same room cheaper in a different language?!

AGAIN for the second time, Agoda does not set anything, Hotels have full control over pricing

[whoisyourdaddy]

It's worth mentioning there are a lot of tight people on here

Hey it's no joking matter. There is $2-$3 dollar price difference, its the scam of the year

I travel often, so it does make a difference. And calculate it on agoda's overall booking volume, it must make 100s of thousands of $$ per year by cheating EN speakers

Yeah you big traveler, $2 really breaks the bank

Tell me again, how you arrive at thousands of dollars when if you were to hypothetically stay in hotel 365 days per year, your total loss would be $2 x 365

But you right, it may cost you extra $100 per year and it is most certainly crime of the century.

You should sue them for discrimination and fraud.

[balo]

Agoda has been a ripoff all the time, they pretend that you save 50% on early bookings. But when you include the taxes it's the same price as all other online companies offer.

Several times in Thailand I got a better price by contacting the hotel directly .

Edited February 27, 2014 by balo

[nidieunimaitre]

It's worth mentioning there are a lot of tight people on here

Hey it's no joking matter. There is $2-$3 dollar price difference, its the scam of the year

I travel often, so it does make a difference. And calculate it on agoda's overall booking volume, it must make 100s of thousands of $$ per year by cheating EN speakers

Yeah you big traveler, $2 really breaks the bank

Tell me again, how you arrive at thousands of dollars when if you were to hypothetically stay in hotel 365 days per year, your total loss would be $2 x 365

But you right, it may cost you extra $100 per year and it is most certainly crime of the century.

You should sue them for discrimination and fraud.

Try reading before you answer!

1/ It is not 2, but 3 dollars, you are 50% off.

2/ Op did not say thousands of dollars, but 100s of thousands.

3/ No not for the Op, for Agoda.

4/ Agoda's "best price garantee" means "best price garantee", in any language.

[fatfather]

Knowing Thailand you would never book in advance, you just go where you like to go and find a nice place to stay. Thais do it, why you don't?

Fatfather

Sent from my phone

[nidieunimaitre]

Knowing Thailand you would never book in advance, you just go where you like to go and find a nice place to stay. Thais do it, why you don't?

Fatfather

Sent from my phone

Yes, if you are travelling a l'improviste, it is fun to just check out hotels when you get there.

But when I have a precise plan, I find it cheaper and convenient (reviews!) to book through a booking site.

Usually I use booking.com, occasionally Agoda - but I have always hated their last moment add ons, and now I read in this tread that they have different prices for different customers.....

[Bucko]

Knowing Thailand you would never book in advance, you just go where you like to go and find a nice place to stay. Thais do it, why you don't?

Fatfather

Sent from my phone

It is not as easy as that for some fatfather---

apart from having to drag luggage around--what about arriving late at night after a long flight--going to places like Cha-Am--getting there - then touring around the area comparing hotels--when all I want to do is get my head down ASAP --and for better or worse--things sometimes look different in daylight-- also would be more difficult for a 1st timer { not me }

Thai people would most likely turn up in their vehicle sometime during the day and take as long as they want to decide

But that's just me

[JLCrab]

For me the best reason to use Booking.com vs. using a hotel's own website is that (in most cases) you can online cancel a reservation within 3 days of arrival for no fee. Most hotel websites -- even though you can online make a reservation -- require an email and back & forth to cancel a reservation.

[manarak]

I tried to reproduce the price difference pointed out by the OP, tried 5 hotels but the price was always the same in English and Thai...

Can anyone reproduce this?

[Songhua]

The difference in the price of this particular room is created by the discount on the normal room price. On the english site the discount is 40%, on the thai site it's 44.42%.

Outcome is still the same of course .... cheaper to book on one than the other.

[Chao Lao Beach]

The only one that will give a damn is Priceline, listed on the NASDAQ who is the parent company of Agoda. Hit them up for a discrimination case as they are in the land of do-gooders.

Thanks for the tip to book via the Thai site.

[whoisyourdaddy]

Try reading before you answer!

1/ It is not 2, but 3 dollars, you are 50% off.

2/ Op did not say thousands of dollars, but 100s of thousands.

3/ No not for the Op, for Agoda.

4/ Agoda's "best price garantee" means "best price garantee", in any language.

Try understanding what you read and it that fails, look the pictures

Price difference between english and thai versions is $2-$3 DOH

[whoisyourdaddy]

Knowing Thailand you would never book in advance, you just go where you like to go and find a nice place to stay. Thais do it, why you don't?

Fatfather

Sent from my phone

Yes, if you are travelling a l'improviste, it is fun to just check out hotels when you get there.

But when I have a precise plan, I find it cheaper and convenient (reviews!) to book through a booking site.

Usually I use booking.com, occasionally Agoda - but I have always hated their last moment add ons, and now I read in this tread that they have different prices for different customers.....

You actually rely on reviews?

What are their last moment add ons? taxes?

Good to see yet another experienced traveler

[whoisyourdaddy]

I tried to reproduce the price difference pointed out by the OP, tried 5 hotels but the price was always the same in English and Thai...

Can anyone reproduce this?

Because its not Agoda who sets the prices but the hotel itself.

Some hotels would offer different pricing for different regions.

Some will block out some regions alltogether

[VocalNeal]

Maybe knowing that Thais in general earn less that westerners, Agoda is trying to give something back to the community?

Bottom line if you don't speak the local language you are fair game.

Dear OP, Please write to your mother and tell her the world is not fair!

Edited February 28, 2014 by VocalNeal

[madmitch]

If there's any price differential it will have nothing to do with Agoda as has been rightly said before, the hotels themselves set the prices, terms and conditions, not Agoda.

Agoda often offer promotions to its hotel clients and it's up to them if they want to participate or not.

It is not discrimination by Agoda, if anything it is discrimination by the hotels which offer a different price for the Thai website.

Agoda themselves have no reason to offer discounts for country specific websites as they would only be reducing their actual commission.

However, it may be worth someone mentioning this as it does not look good for them and they should be aware.

I use Agoda both as a hotel client and as a booker and do recommend them. I have found their customer service superior to its rivals, even though I don't particularly like the rate they show which is exclusive of taxes and service.

And a note to everyone that doesn't know: ignore the struck-out rack rate on all hotel sites. It is often just made up!

[geriatrickid]

Agoda has been a ripoff all the time, they pretend that you save 50% on early bookings. But when you include the taxes it's the same price as all other online companies offer.

Several times in Thailand I got a better price by contacting the hotel directly .

And at other times I have gotten a much better rate with Agoda. Here's the crunch with the online booking engines: Their inventory usually consists of the lower end rooms aka the worst rooms in the hotel. These are the rooms where you request a double bed and receive 2 singles, where the rooms are the ones over the loading dock, or near the noisiest parts of the hotel. Agoda's biggest weakness is its lack of transparency, because it doesn't include the service charges and taxes in the room rates its shows. Booking engines like Booking.com and Hotels.com do. No one is forced to use Agoda, and a smart consumer checks a few booking engines as well as the hotel. I have done this with my next trip up to Issan. There is a definite difference between the large chains website inventories and the booking engines. Fairmount, Hilton and Sheraton have all said they offer the better rooms to their card holders. Accor (Novotel/Ibis/Sofitel/Mercure) has a price guarantee that it won't be undercut by the booking engines, and in 5 years of using them, they have done that for me. The so called website discounts come by not offering the same options such as no free wifi access or breakfast. My point is that one has to check multiple service providers.

[crazygreg44]

I would book in TH (and I would have booked in TH in the past, too), but I didn't know! Agoda is just trying to make more money off foreigners. Farang prices, doesn't even stop with large companies like Agoda

Agoda does not do anything. Hotels set prices and have full control of pricing and availability.

Agoda has it's "best price guarantee" (joke in itself already) - how can they guarantee me to get the best deal when at the same time they sell the same room cheaper in a different language?!

On two occasions I found out too late, that the walk-in over the counter price of a hotel was more expensive than the agoda quoted price.

Too late, because me, too, didn't believe in Agoda's 'best price' policy.

I can assure you, they carry this slogan rightfully.

[nidieunimaitre]

Try reading before you answer!

1/ It is not 2, but 3 dollars, you are 50% off.

2/ Op did not say thousands of dollars, but 100s of thousands.

3/ No not for the Op, for Agoda.

4/ Agoda's "best price garantee" means "best price garantee", in any language.

Try understanding what you read and it that fails, look the pictures

Price difference between english and thai versions is $2-$3 DOH

Thank you sir, I followed your advise and read again, thought again, calculated again.

The difference in the screen picture was 1,363.64 - 1,263.18 = 100.46 baht, or THREE dollars, NOT 2 dollars.

Now let's move on to my comments 2, 3 and 4.

PS. Surely you have been told before that alcohol makes you argumentative and rude (in several posts)?

[VocalNeal]

It did occur to me that Thai will use Thai credit cards and non-Thai probably non-Thai credit cards, Maybe there is a small hidden (read the small print) for that or it is to cover discrepancies in exchange rate calculations.