The New "Big Three" of Travel Search Engines: Competition Dies

[craigt3365]

As America's wide field of airline competitors has consolidated down to just three major players, consumers also have less choice when it comes to which companies are controlling the travel search results they see.

Not too long ago, when you referred to the “Big Three” in online travel you meant Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity.

Well, all three of those brands do still have something in common—something they share with other household names in online travel: Hotels.com, Hotwire, Venere, CheapTickets, Trivago, Wotif, CarRentals.com.

They are all owned by Expedia, Inc.

Yes, in early 2015 Expedia finally gobbled up its two arch-rivals—Travelocity and Orbitz (and all of their subsidiaries)—and added them to the crowded slate of booking sites, OTAs (online travel agencies), and travel search engines it already owned.

Continued:

http://www.frommers.com/deals/airfare/the-new-big-three-of-travel-bookings-competition-dies-among-search-engines-too

[craigt3365]

This part blows me away!

Well, of course there are Booking.com, KAYAK.com, Priceline.com, RentalCars.com, and Agoda.com.

Yeah, those are all owned by The Priceline Group—which, for good measure, also owns the restaurant-reservation service OpenTable.

OK, so how about TripAdvisor? It is a populist, crowd-sourced site for unvarnished (if woefully inexpert and often ill-informed) travel information, right?

True. And did you know TripAdvisor was only spun off from Expedia in 2011? Or that TripAdvisor also owns (deep breath here): Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, CruiseCritic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, GateGuru, Independent Traveler, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, Jetsetter, TravelPod, Viator, and VirtualTourist?

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/deals/airfare/the-new-big-three-of-travel-bookings-competition-dies-among-search-engines-too#ixzz3lyJ9uYzu

[JLCrab]

Airline flights I book direct with the airline. Hotels I use Booking.com because it s easy to cancel the reservation at least 3 days ahead for no fee. Canceling a reservation with a hotel's direct website is often like pulling teeth. I don't need the TripAdvisor-type reviews because I'm old enough such that I rarely go anyplace that I haven't been before.

Edited September 17, 2015 by JLCrab

[AlQaholic]

I never actually make use of any of those sites for actual booking or payments or whatever... (Famous Trump quote). What I do is look at the lists and reviews, select a couple of prospects and then do a google for those items, such as airlines, hotels....for example if you look for a flight to Hong-Kong you would see a number of different airlines, one would be Cathay Pacific, google that and you end up on the Cathay Pacific web site, there you can book the same flight for half the price compared to those other so called travel sites.

And if you cant find a google search for a particular hotel or the hotel does not list their contact details because of deals with overseas travel agencies and sites, search for it in the local language, usually you will find the contact info.

Edited September 17, 2015 by AlQaholic

[quandow]

I've compared Orbitz, Priceline, etc. against booking directly at the airline's web site, I've never seen any advantage. It just doesn't make sense that adding a middleman can save money unless they purchase groups of seats, and I haven't seen that happen.

[phuketrichard]

I use kayak to check which airlines go to where i am going

and see the prices,

go to the airlines website an see if can get a better deal

one would be Cathay Pacific, google that and you end up on the Cathay Pacific web site, there you can book the same flight for half the price compared to those other so called travel sites.

sorry, have to call u out on this;

if u can show me ONE airline to anywhere that is half the price listed on kayak, i will agree otherwise ur just posting bull

hotels always use either agoda or Booking.com, depending on where i am traveling to, cause i know i can NOT get a better deal online via the hotels website, if they use the hotel booking agent.

NEVER use ta for recommendations for anything cause most of them are fake or written by people that did not necessarily use the service they are writing a review on.

[IAMHERE]

Kayak (priceline)

Expedia

???

what is the 3rd major player after priceline & expedia ?

[rapom]

I got email from airfare watchdog yesterday quoting roundtrip San Francisco to Bangkok Oct and Nov departures $472 on China Southern Airlines. My flight from Los Angeles in July on same airline $975.

[phuketrichard]

yes different dates

so??

i got the same email

check the cost of a flight around xmas

[asdecas]

The point of the article is that what appears to be a wide choice has devolved to being only a narrow choice, and with the connivance and obfuscation of the owners, only an apparent one at that.

All part of global corporatisation, like it or loathe it. For myself, I prefer the local coffee shop to Starbucks where I can find it. Others have different opinions.

[manarak]

Kayak (priceline)

Expedia

???

what is the 3rd major player after priceline & expedia ?

the big three today are:

Expedia group

Priceline group

Tripadvisor group

the concentration is worrying, not only because of the clear possibility of unlawful price fixing but also because of the danger of conniving to squeeze out smaller operators and affiliate agents working on commission.

Already today, the commission in the hotel business in Europe are ridiculous, somewhere around 3 to 5% in total for the booking platform of which the affiliate gets 50% which equates to about 1.5 to 2.5% of the total, while in Asia it is 15%, where to affiliate gets between 5 to 8% of the total.

The other day I got a commission of 10 USD from a 1000 USD booking of a European luxury hotel, which is disgraceful considering the cut-throat prices for hotels in Europe.

Edited September 17, 2015 by manarak

[manarak]

Kayak (priceline)

Expedia

???

what is the 3rd major player after priceline & expedia ?

the big three today are:

Expedia group

Priceline group

Tripadvisor group

the concentration is worrying, not only because of the clear possibility of unlawful price fixing but also because of the danger of conniving to squeeze out smaller operators and affiliate agents working on commission.

Already today, the commission in the hotel business in Europe are ridiculous, somewhere around 3 to 5% in total for the booking platform of which the affiliate gets 50% which equates to about 1.5 to 2.5% of the total, while in Asia it is 15%, where to affiliate gets between 5 to 8% of the total.

The other day I got a commission of 10 USD from a 1000 USD booking of a European luxury hotel, which is disgraceful considering the cut-throat prices for hotels in Europe.

Another disloyal practice by travel sites is to no longer grant affiliates a long lived tracking cookie for their clients. most travel sites today only pay for direct clickthroughs, which is particularly unfair, since an affiliate site will promote a certain travel site, showing a good price, but then most people who book hotels don't book immediately. They close the site and book several hours or days later by going directly to the travel site without visiting the affiliate site again, and in this case the affiliate gets no commission despite having originated the sale.

And last but not least, Google is slowly pushing into the market as well.

[laobali]

Easy daily affiliate income from TripAdvisor through CJ, getting paid for clicks rather than bookings. Been doing it for years.

[meltingpot2015]

I use www.hotelscombined.com for booking hotels.

I think they also have a sister site, forget the name. With hotelscombined you can sort by price, guest rating, recommendations, distance from centre, star rating of hotel. Its a meta-search engine, that searches the availability across Hotels.com, agoda, booking.com, lastminute.com, expedia etc.

I find the guest rating option useful, as it is only based on guest who have stayed at that hotel. i.e. rating and reviews (you have to visit agoda, booking.com to see reviews) are linked to a booking. So, no bogus reviews like you would see on Tripadvisor (TA). Although, you can get some idea about the hotel from TA reviews.

I seem to recall some sites like agoda and hotels.com run price guarantee schemes. i.e. if you find a lower price at a another site, just submit a claim and they will refund the difference in price.

Edited September 17, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[manarak]

Easy daily affiliate income from TripAdvisor through CJ, getting paid for clicks rather than bookings. Been doing it for years.

How easily are you making 5000 USD a month off tripadvisor clicks?

I'm talking about serious business, which is very difficult to make through PPC with tripadvisor

[laobali]

Easy daily affiliate income from TripAdvisor through CJ, getting paid for clicks rather than bookings. Been doing it for years.

How easily are you making 5000 USD a month off tripadvisor clicks?

I'm talking about serious business, which is very difficult to make through PPC with tripadvisor

I didn't say I was, only that it's easy - depending on site traffic.

[sage1255]

OP- The Frommers article you cite is extremely misleading. The article refers to the "big # of Travel Search" as OTA's or online travel agents. They are nothing of the kind. They are ticket consolidators. They negotiate prices with airlines at a discounted rate and resell them to the traveler. That is why when you book a flight with the Expedia, Priceline or Trip Advisor group, you are buying from a ticket consolidator. That is evidenced by looking at your credit card statement which will show your payment going to an Expedia, Priceline or TripAdvisor subsidiary.

A travel agent is a commisioned sales person or agency that sells tickets on specific airlines and code share partners with the charge on you creditcard statement going to a specific airline, not through a middle man like a consolidator.

Why is this an important difference? Lets say you book a flight on Orbitz with the itinerary being JFK-LHR on British Airways with a connecting flight to Thai Airways from LHR-BKK. Lets say there is weather problems in JFK and your flight leaves 3 hours late and you miss your Thai Airways connection to BKK. Even though Britsh Airways was late, BA is under no obligation to re-book your flight under IATA rules. Thai Airways is under no obligation to take your ticket and rebook you either. When flying multiple airlines, most consolidators will not issue you an E-ticket (which is proof that the airline has received your money from the consolidaor) for your whole itinerary. And because in your passenger name record with each flight segment shows you booked through the misnomer of a "travel agent" any changes to your booking must be handled by Orbitz or consolidator you used to purchase your ticket. Have you ever seen an Expedia, Trip Advisor Priceline agent or office at any airport? No of course not.

Using same example and you purchase a ticket through a bonafide travel agent, the agency will issue you an e-ticket and the charge will show on your credit card, in the case above as a charge by British Airways. This means that British Airways is now responsible to rebook your ticket which you can do at any British Airways ticket counter or office in the world. Bristish Airways has been paid directly and is responsible under the same IATA rules.

The Big 3 are good to search for air travel values only. The saavy traveler will maybe pay a little more and book directly with an airline or a bonafide travel agent.

Hotels work the same way. The Big 3 will lock in a super low rate on rooms at hotels and resell on their websites for a profit. So when they tell you "NO BOOKING FEES" they dont need to charge fees, they make their money from their discounted rate. Many hotel sites operate like travel agents and book rooms directly on behalf of the hotel and the traveler pays hotel directly and like airline travel agents are paid commission by the hotel.

After over 40 years experience in the aviation and travel industry is to use the Big 3 as a guide only. Never give them a dime directly.

[timendres]

I use kayak to check which airlines go to where i am going

and see the prices,

go to the airlines website an see if can get a better deal

one would be Cathay Pacific, google that and you end up on the Cathay Pacific web site, there you can book the same flight for half the price compared to those other so called travel sites.

sorry, have to call u out on this;

if u can show me ONE airline to anywhere that is half the price listed on kayak, i will agree otherwise ur just posting bull

hotels always use either agoda or Booking.com, depending on where i am traveling to, cause i know i can NOT get a better deal online via the hotels website, if they use the hotel booking agent.

NEVER use ta for recommendations for anything cause most of them are fake or written by people that did not necessarily use the service they are writing a review on.

Likewise, I have never seen half price. There are times when I can get a better price from EVA Airlines, because I registered as a user with them, but it is very rare and usually less than a 10% improvement. I accumulate points with EVA, and sometimes those get me a better deal.

On the other hand, Expedia and their ilk have algorithms that are leveraged by the airlines to both increase pricing (when planes are nearing full capacity), as well as move seats at lower pricing (when a plane is not filling quickly enough). So there are times that you can get a discount from Expedia that you will not see on the airlines's site, simply because the airline does not have the same algorithms. That said, again I have never seen a 50% difference.

[AlQaholic]

I use kayak to check which airlines go to where i am going

and see the prices,

go to the airlines website an see if can get a better deal

one would be Cathay Pacific, google that and you end up on the Cathay Pacific web site, there you can book the same flight for half the price compared to those other so called travel sites.

sorry, have to call u out on this;

if u can show me ONE airline to anywhere that is half the price listed on kayak, i will agree otherwise ur just posting bull

hotels always use either agoda or Booking.com, depending on where i am traveling to, cause i know i can NOT get a better deal online via the hotels website, if they use the hotel booking agent.

NEVER use ta for recommendations for anything cause most of them are fake or written by people that did not necessarily use the service they are writing a review on.

I agree, I was wrong on that one, the information I provided is rather old and before all these budget airlines populated the air in SEA. That was like 10 years ago I did that trip to HKK, I just checked Orbit compared to Cathay after your post and was astonished by the incredible number of competitors on that route, Haven't even heard of Hong Kong air before now. Thanks for the correction and info. And I would add 10 years ago those sites where not as developed and networked into the tourism industry as they are nowadays.

Edited September 18, 2015 by AlQaholic

[BKKdreaming]

How is China Southern Airlines ?

I took China Air last trip , same low low price as China Southern Airlines

but China air is 3-4-3 in the cheap seats so aisles are very narrow and seats are an inch or 2 narrower too

[steelepulse]

ITA matrix ( google's flight search engine) sometimes comes up with some good prices.

[dddave]

Years ago, when Alitalia was still flying, I booked a Boston to Rome flight on Expedia. Alitalia later cancelled the flight. Took me almost 2 years to get a refund and that only after I filed a complaint with the state Attorney General. Never again!

There have been a number of articles in the press lately that the airlines and major hotel groups are fighting back against Expedia and the like. Apparently, they are withholding critical scheduling and availability information for selected flights, preferring to sell those seats themselves.

Both sides are screaming "Price fixing!!"

[rapom]

I have flown 5 round trips, lax to bkk since Dec 2013. All on same China Southern flight on Airbus 380 lax to Guangzhou, then Airbus 320 to Bangkok. The A380 seating on lower deck is also 3-4-3 in economy, but I have no complaints about seat size or comfort. I always choose an aisle seat and if you sit in the 4 seat row, you only have to let one passenger out, for them to go to the restroom. No complaint on the food served, always hot. The main reason I fly this route, is it is a shorter flight time than other carriers and has short layover in China. Twenty-one hours lax to bkk and less than eighteen reverse route. Except for one return flight, the flights have been right on schedule. They have also had some lower fares.

[manarak]

OP- The Frommers article you cite is extremely misleading. The article refers to the "big # of Travel Search" as OTA's or online travel agents. They are nothing of the kind. They are ticket consolidators. They negotiate prices with airlines at a discounted rate and resell them to the traveler. That is why when you book a flight with the Expedia, Priceline or Trip Advisor group, you are buying from a ticket consolidator. That is evidenced by looking at your credit card statement which will show your payment going to an Expedia, Priceline or TripAdvisor subsidiary.

A travel agent is a commisioned sales person or agency that sells tickets on specific airlines and code share partners with the charge on you creditcard statement going to a specific airline, not through a middle man like a consolidator.

Why is this an important difference? Lets say you book a flight on Orbitz with the itinerary being JFK-LHR on British Airways with a connecting flight to Thai Airways from LHR-BKK. Lets say there is weather problems in JFK and your flight leaves 3 hours late and you miss your Thai Airways connection to BKK. Even though Britsh Airways was late, BA is under no obligation to re-book your flight under IATA rules. Thai Airways is under no obligation to take your ticket and rebook you either. When flying multiple airlines, most consolidators will not issue you an E-ticket (which is proof that the airline has received your money from the consolidaor) for your whole itinerary. And because in your passenger name record with each flight segment shows you booked through the misnomer of a "travel agent" any changes to your booking must be handled by Orbitz or consolidator you used to purchase your ticket. Have you ever seen an Expedia, Trip Advisor Priceline agent or office at any airport? No of course not.

Using same example and you purchase a ticket through a bonafide travel agent, the agency will issue you an e-ticket and the charge will show on your credit card, in the case above as a charge by British Airways. This means that British Airways is now responsible to rebook your ticket which you can do at any British Airways ticket counter or office in the world. Bristish Airways has been paid directly and is responsible under the same IATA rules.

The Big 3 are good to search for air travel values only. The saavy traveler will maybe pay a little more and book directly with an airline or a bonafide travel agent.

Hotels work the same way. The Big 3 will lock in a super low rate on rooms at hotels and resell on their websites for a profit. So when they tell you "NO BOOKING FEES" they dont need to charge fees, they make their money from their discounted rate. Many hotel sites operate like travel agents and book rooms directly on behalf of the hotel and the traveler pays hotel directly and like airline travel agents are paid commission by the hotel.

After over 40 years experience in the aviation and travel industry is to use the Big 3 as a guide only. Never give them a dime directly.

The Times They Are a-Changin’ since 1964, sage...

Today, nearly all airfare selling websites are connected either directly or indirectly to one or several GDS (global distribution systems) such as Amadeus, Sabre, etc. The sales are made directly with the airlines which credit a commission back to the website, which is also exactly the way travel agents are working.

[sage1255]

Yes the Big 3 uses Sabre Amadeus, etc for bookings however the reconciliation of moneys paid to the Big 3 vs moneys paid directly to an airline is completely different. Airlines use the ICH (IATA Clearing House) which settles accounts receivables and payables between airlines. When a ticket is booked through an airline and a disruption in travel occurs, airlines issue what is known as a FIM (Flight Interruption Manifest) which is a mechanism the ICH uses to reconcile these accounts.

The Big 3 do not issue FIMS nor are part of the ICH, yet collect your money as if they can offer the same travel protection an airline or bonafide travel agent (salesperson for the airline directly) can offer. By the issuance of a FIM an airline can rebook you on the next available flight seamlessly. Many travel agents put themselves off as agents of the airline but are exactly the same as the Big 3.

The Big 3 are ok for a point to point non stop flight. Any connections you are taking a gamble. Anyone that has missed a connection after booking on the Big 3 knows exactly what I am taking about. Hours on the phone with Orbitz or Expedia. Good luck if you like to save 50 bucks.

[meltingpot2015]

Careful. Avoid flight booking sites like Tripsta at all costs. You will end-up paying more or worse. See the reviews at:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/tripsta.co.uk

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/tripsta.ie/55e8208e0000ff000904fadc

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/tripsta.ie/55d82b950000ff0009016841

Why would you end up paying more? because what they dont tell you is, there is no baggage allowance included. There has been occasions where the unsuspecting customer has turned up at the airport and on check-in been told they have to pay for the hold luggage. Thats how Tripsta (and similar agents) have offered the ticket at such a low rate.

I actually spoke to a Tripsta customer agent and he said customers should check with them about baggage allowance before booking. But that means, stopping the web booking process and calling them, staying on hold, by which time, your online booking has timed-out. Lets be honest, How many customers will ring-up to check this?. Nowehere in their FAQ's or their website had they said Customers should ring-up to check the baggage allowance.

Actually, websites line Skyscanner that refer you to Tripsta should make it a point to warn customers.

I immediately gave-up the booking with Tripsta (luckily no payment had been made) and went ahead booking with the Air Line direct.

Edited September 18, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[BKKdreaming]

I have flown 5 round trips, lax to bkk since Dec 2013. All on same China Southern flight on Airbus 380 lax to Guangzhou, then Airbus 320 to Bangkok. The A380 seating on lower deck is also 3-4-3 in economy, but I have no complaints about seat size or comfort. I always choose an aisle seat and if you sit in the 4 seat row, you only have to let one passenger out, for them to go to the restroom. No complaint on the food served, always hot. The main reason I fly this route, is it is a shorter flight time than other carriers and has short layover in China. Twenty-one hours lax to bkk and less than eighteen reverse route. Except for one return flight, the flights have been right on schedule. They have also had some lower fares.

Thanks , I will check them out next time , my next flight is already booked on China Air for Christmas

[simon43]

Kayak (priceline)

Expedia

???

what is the 3rd major player after priceline & expedia ?

My small hotels in Phuket only sell via OTAs.

The major 3 OTA websites that my guests book with are (right now) Booking.com, (most popular by far because no need to prepay), then Agoda (Booking.com and Agoda are owned by Priceline), and then Expedia/Hotels.com.

Expedia bought up the Australian Wotif.com group of websites a few months ago - popular for hotel bookings by Ozzies.

Orbitz and RatesToGo faded out some years ago.

Apart from these 3 major websites, Airbnb is probably a major competitor now, due to the low commission rates. Then you have websites that are popular with smaller hotels and guesthouses, like Hostelworld and Hostelbookers (previously competitors to each other but now owned by the same company)

If the hotel is sticking to 'the rules', then there should be no difference in the room rate across all of these websites - rate parity is a requirement of all these websites.

As for TripAdvisor, I'm not sure where they stand in all this - I only see them comparing OTA rates, similar to HotelsCombined.

Edited September 22, 2015 by simon43

[meltingpot2015]

If you are looking for serviced apartments in Australia and New Zealand stay away from CorporateKeys. Horrible experience with them (two experiences actually). First, they claimed they did not receive my international payment from UK and threatened to change locks if I do not pay again. I made payment again. Six months on, the first payment was traced to one of their unused accounts. After repeated e-mails and endless questions, they refunded the first payment without any apology.

Second time round, they messed up the extension of stay. asked me to leave at short-notice, then turned-up with the Police and changed the locks in the apartment. also turned-off the electricity, just to make sure I left. I packed bags in the dark, and had to leave with a stuffed suitcase and numerous shopping bags.

Their accounting practices are very sketchy. There are reports of some customers going through similar experiences to mine. Some reports of: providing dirty sheets at apartments, not responding to e-mails, maintenance requests going unattended, the list goes on...

Up to you...if you want peace of mind stay well away from them. Also, rent-a-home (they traded as Occupancy Pty Ltd...now part of stayz) was as bad. Tried to swindle us....check reviews before you commit to anything..

[manarak]

Yes the Big 3 uses Sabre Amadeus, etc for bookings however the reconciliation of moneys paid to the Big 3 vs moneys paid directly to an airline is completely different. Airlines use the ICH (IATA Clearing House) which settles accounts receivables and payables between airlines. When a ticket is booked through an airline and a disruption in travel occurs, airlines issue what is known as a FIM (Flight Interruption Manifest) which is a mechanism the ICH uses to reconcile these accounts.

The Big 3 do not issue FIMS nor are part of the ICH, yet collect your money as if they can offer the same travel protection an airline or bonafide travel agent (salesperson for the airline directly) can offer. By the issuance of a FIM an airline can rebook you on the next available flight seamlessly. Many travel agents put themselves off as agents of the airline but are exactly the same as the Big 3.

The Big 3 are ok for a point to point non stop flight. Any connections you are taking a gamble. Anyone that has missed a connection after booking on the Big 3 knows exactly what I am taking about. Hours on the phone with Orbitz or Expedia. Good luck if you like to save 50 bucks.

The words you use a bit misleading.

By "connection" you mean two independent travel itineraries.

The GDS will provide the traveler only with connections within the same alliance, so a connecting flight will be included by the same ticket issued by an airline/alliance, so the connection is covered.