Agoda and Booking.com

[JAS21]

I normally find that their prices agree ...however we are now staying in Cha-am ...we nearly always use Booking.com by the way...

Luckily we checked both and the total price with agoda was about 3100 as against about 3880 with Booking. For exactly the same room.

So worth comparing

[phuketrichard]

both owned by Priceline but run independently

with agoda, did u follow thru to AFTER they added the tax??

[craigt3365]

One reason I try to use an aggregator when possible. Though they are also getting gobbled up by the big companies.

[taninthai]

If you are a hotelier and you drop your prices with anothet agent so they are cheaper than agoda ,agoda will contact you asking you to set prices the same ,this is because agoda have a price promise

Edited November 22, 2015 by taninthai

[siam2007]

both owned by Priceline but run independently

with agoda, did u follow thru to AFTER they added the tax??

indeed that seems to be the point - agoda does NOT include Taxes and only adds them when you finalize the booking, whereas booking com does.

as both is owned by priceline, they can afford to offer two different booking systems that appeal to different type of travellers.

hotels.com / expedia is their main competitor.

[SantiSuk]

Run independently but they seem to have the same website architecture and the prices are pretty much identical once you add the taxes in to Agoda's headline prices.

They do seem to have different properties on their books at the very fringes though and Agoda tends to let you pay on arrival (having taken a credit card as guarantee) whereas you pay booking.com direct (or is it the other way round) so always worth checking both.

[JMWPACIFIC]

Run independently but they seem to have the same website architecture and the prices are pretty much identical once you add the taxes in to Agoda's headline prices.

They do seem to have different properties on their books at the very fringes though and Agoda tends to let you pay on arrival (having taken a credit card as guarantee) whereas you pay booking.com direct (or is it the other way round) so always worth checking both.

Indeed, it is the other way around in my recent experience booking rooms in Burma. I even found once that agoda wanted full payment and "non-refundable" but maybe that was the hotel's requirement.

[Iamemjay]

Yes, the Agoda tax add-on usually equalises the price. Its interesting that whilst they are competitors they often act in concert.In my recent trip to Europe and my upcoming trip to Japan, all my bookings were made through Agoda, yet most of the booking confirmations were headed up "Bookings.com". I asked one pensione owner "What gives?" They were surprised. They said they were with Bookings.com and had never heard of Agoda. All of the Agoda/Bookings.com were pay on arrival, which played havoc with my travelling budget.

[IMA_FARANG]

I was for many years a member of Agoda, and used their member discounts, but I have now switched to Booking.com for the reason they have many places that let you pay in local currency without using a Credit card, especially in SEA countries.

I only use Agoda for places in the U.S.A. where many hotels will not let you book a room unless you have a credit card verification in advance.

[taxout]

Yes, in some markets and some hotels when you book on Agoda you'll get a confirmation with a booking.com reservation number that tells you to mention booking.com to the hotel. So obviously they work in concert in some respects.

That said, I have occasionally found differences between them, especially in rooms offered. For example, one site might have a cheaper room at a particular hotel offered as a single which the other site doesn't. Or one might offer prepay at a discount, while the other offers only pay-on-arrival for a bit more. So comparing can still pay off.

Edited November 23, 2015 by taxout

[puuchaibaa]

One reason I try to use an aggregator when possible. Though they are also getting gobbled up by the big companies.

Can you recommend some aggregators you use? They are the same as consolidators, correct?

[nidieunimaitre]

both owned by Priceline but run independently

with agoda, did u follow thru to AFTER they added the tax??

indeed that seems to be the point - agoda does NOT include Taxes and only adds them when you finalize the booking, whereas booking com does.

as both is owned by priceline, they can afford to offer two different booking systems that appeal to different type of travellers.

hotels.com / expedia is their main competitor.

Funny thing:

If you use German or Dutch the Agoda website will have the tax etc included right from the start!

Don't know about other languages.

Maybe this is because of legislation in more advanced countries?

[taxout]

I haven't found consistency with the add-ons. I get used to booking.com in particular showing everything, then suddenly some time some places there are extra charges, taxes especially, in the fine print. If they should do anything, it's be consistent.

[nidieunimaitre]

I was for many years a member of Agoda, and used their member discounts, but I have now switched to Booking.com for the reason they have many places that let you pay in local currency without using a Credit card, especially in SEA countries.

I only use Agoda for places in the U.S.A. where many hotels will not let you book a room unless you have a credit card verification in advance.

Booking.com has in my opinion by far the most complete and accurate room descriptions of all booking sites.

That is why I always check with them before I check multi - sites.

And I gladly pay (a little bit) more as a thank you, call it a tip!

Also they give you the full price straightaway.

[siam2007]

both owned by Priceline but run independently

with agoda, did u follow thru to AFTER they added the tax??

indeed that seems to be the point - agoda does NOT include Taxes and only adds them when you finalize the booking, whereas booking com does.

as both is owned by priceline, they can afford to offer two different booking systems that appeal to different type of travellers.

hotels.com / expedia is their main competitor.

Funny thing:

If you use German or Dutch the Agoda website will have the tax etc included right from the start!

Don't know about other languages.

Maybe this is because of legislation in more advanced countries?

Exactly. It is the law there.

some countries still apply a common sense

[patekatek]

One reason I try to use an aggregator when possible. Though they are also getting gobbled up by the big companies.

Can you recommend some aggregators you use? They are the same as consolidators, correct?

Try "Hotelscombined dot com". They will list prices for several internet booking companies. I use it all the time.

Hope this helps.

[taxout]

The only problem with the aggregators is that they don't pick up special rates. For example, sometimes you're shown a lower member's rate when you're signed into a booking site. And Agoda in particular sometimes has lower rates on its mobile app than on its desktop site.

[JAS21]

both owned by Priceline but run independently

with agoda, did u follow thru to AFTER they added the tax??

I booked through Agoda ... that is why I started this topic ... was amazed at the difference in price. Usually they both come out pretty much the same AFTER adding + + to Agoda pricing.

We were travelling with a friend and she used travelzoo to compare prices. I bulked at paying nearly 3900thb but 3100 was just okay ... for exactly the same room and breakfast.

And I just checked for Friday night same room sea view with breakfast 3111.6 with Agoda and 4667 with Booking see screen prints below

Edited November 26, 2015 by JAS21

[taninthai]

Yep it's a last minuit flash deal with agoda,hotels often do this to fill there last room

[JAS21]

Yep it's a last minuit flash deal with agoda,hotels often do this to fill there last room

Maybe as there were 250 ISUZU guests arriving the first evening that we were there... breakfast was very busy next mornig ..... then they all left and there was peace and quite again.

[naboo]

I have booked through Agoda, paid online, arrived at the hotel, been told my booking was through Booking.com, showed them the booking on the Agoda app on my phone with confirmation of payment via credit card, called Agoda who told me yes, it was a booking through Agoda on behalf of Booking.com, told by the hotel that they need cash payment, the rep on the phone confirmed, I didn't have cash and why was I going to pay when they had already charged my account. I left the hotel and booked an alternative with Agoda on their app using my credit card then had hassle over two weeks getting a refund for the first hotel.

Eventually I was refunded by a rep who thought the whole situation was stupid and that Agoda shouldn't be selling Booking.com bookings. I was also given 10% off a booking of my choice in the subsequent 12 months.

Years of using Agoda, my only complaint is that the points expire. I've lost $100s because I forgot to redeem them.

[KhaoNiaw]

I use both and there's not usually much between them. But I was looking at hotels in Singapore recently and they were pretty similar except that Agoda said tax and service were included and Booking.com said they weren't. I was a bit surprised because with tax and service at 17% that's a fair bit different.

[zierf1]

Use skyscanner and also check the prices directly on the website. Sometimes even booking and agoda will try to scalp you. Their "discounts" are just marketing gimmicks.

[jadee]

I like Agoda but always ask my wife (who's Thai) to phone the hotel and check anyway. Sometimes, the hotel price is cheaper. Other times, Agoda lists rooms and prices that the receptionists don't know about or don't quote.I like the reviews on Agoda, I've found they are pretty accurate for the hotels I've booked via the site.

[phuketrichard]

Use skyscanner and also check the prices directly on the website. Sometimes even booking and agoda will try to scalp you. Their "discounts" are just marketing gimmicks.

bull;

the hotel sets the discounts NOT the booking agent.

+ the hotel can NOT offer lower prices ONLINE than they give the booking agent.

its in their contract

[Spaniel]

I just booked three nights at the Chiang Mai Gate Hotel in Chiang Mai for mid December using Agoda which was a bit cheaper then booking.com. Prior to booking I checked the hotel website for a better price but they said the nights I wanted were fully booked. No problem booking those same nights with Agoda.

[taninthai]

Use skyscanner and also check the prices directly on the website. Sometimes even booking and agoda will try to scalp you. Their "discounts" are just marketing gimmicks.

bull;

the hotel sets the discounts NOT the booking agent.

+ the hotel can NOT offer lower prices ONLINE than they give the booking agent.

its in their contract[/quote our hotel has cheaper prices on website than booking agent?

[phuketrichard]

prove it

[taninthai]

prove it

haha don't really feel the need to give details out on a forum but it's our bussiness we can do what we like,if we give a lower rate to another agent agoda will contact us to change it,but what you advertise on your own website they obviously do not see,we currently have a special offer on the website from know till 7 Dec.

[jphasia]

prove it

haha don't really feel the need to give details out on a forum but it's our bussiness we can do what we like,if we give a lower rate to another agent agoda will contact us to change it,but what you advertise on your own website they obviously do not see,we currently have a special offer on the website from know till 7 Dec.

Confirmed on that. Also hotels have a parity clauses with OTA's (Online Travel Agents) such as Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia and even if Booking.com and Agoda are both from Priceline, they are checking each others on the rates published. They are asking to follow this parity wherever the hotel publish his rates, his own website. However, it is more difficult to find out how much hotel is selling on his own website or most probably, they are looking at the big booking traffic from the big online companies that are bigger impact.