Agoda and Booking.com

[phuketrichard]

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.

more bullshit, i worked for priceline, Accor and agoda, (way back when it was planet holiday) staff were hired to constantly monitor all hotel sites that worked with them

it is more difficult to find out how much hotel is selling on his own website or most probably

why would they not see it, do u have special super sleuth technology that can hide ur prices from them but allow customers to see them???

LOL

Edited November 28, 2015 by phuketrichard

[taninthai]

Up to you if you belive or not ,I'm not gonna get my knickers in a twist over it...good night sleep well

[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.

more bullshit, i worked for priceline, Accor and agoda, (way back when it was planet holiday) staff were hired to constantly monitor all hotel sites that worked with them

it is more difficult to find out how much hotel is selling on his own website or most probably

why would they not see it, do u have special super sleuth technology that can hide ur prices from them but allow customers to see them???

LOL

As for me, i am not saying that can't see it. I am assuming that it is not in primary target to check the prices publish in the hotel own website. As from my own experience, in 5 years, never got rates parity alert about our own website by either Agoda, booking.com or Expedia while i must admit that the prices on our own website is lower than on their websites. In the other hand, we are getting regular alerts from expedia when Agoda is only few cents lower for example. Expedia explained me that it is because of automatic generated search and it's mostly due to exchange rate only.

[NoshowJones]

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

and don't forget Agodas 17% added taxes.

[pomchop]

I use the big websites to look at various hotels. Then I always contact the hotel direct and ask them to match the lowest rate I have found. Not one time have I ever had a hotel refuse to match the price.

Expedia/Priceline averages a 21% commission on hotel booking and are often BULLIES who try to intimidate hotels with their tactics.

I always prefer to book direct ....if you book via Expedia etc and have a problem the hotel will shrug their shoulders and say YOU contact Expedia and sort it out...and I think but of course can't prove that when you book direct and the hotel doesn't have to give expedia etc a MASSIVE 21% commission that you often get a better room.

Remember that expedia doesn't OWN a single hotel room, airplane seat, etc....all they have is some well promoted fancy software and huge ad budgets....one day someone else will beat them at their own game. These guys are making MASSIVE profits and the exhorbitant commissions will ultimately just result in hotels raising their rates.

Book Direct.

[taxout]

Let's see. It's 10:00pm and as usual I'm booking my room for the next day.

I can go to Agoda or Booking.com and get a confirmation immediately.

Or I can write out an email, post it and wait for a reply, probably the next morning, if that, offering to match the online rate.

Now what should I do?

As to those who suggest that online bookers get the dumpy rooms, my experience in general has been the opposite: most hotel people now seem very savvy about the effects of a bad review and if anything treat online bookers better.

[JAS21]

Let's see. It's 10:00pm and as usual I'm booking my room for the next day.

I can go to Agoda or Booking.com and get a confirmation immediately.

Or I can write out an email, post it and wait for a reply, probably the next morning, if that, offering to match the online rate.

Now what should I do?

As to those who suggest that online bookers get the dumpy rooms, my experience in general has been the opposite: most hotel people now seem very savvy about the effects of a bad review and if anything treat online bookers better.

Your clock is fast else you are not in Thailand.

[Lockheed]

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.

I had a similar situation in Pattaya a few days ago, I got to reception and the girl said you've booked through Booking.com and you need to pay us some money. I went through Agoda, so after 10 minutes of stuffing around, we realised Agoda is working for Booking.Com, how stupid.

I one stage I used Agoda all the time, but now occasionally, and go directly to the hotel and get a price, often it's cheaper and if not I book the same hotel online, or go elsewhere.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Lockheed

[sandyf]

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.

We use Agoda a lot and they normally offer different prices for the same room, refundable,non-refundable,free cancellation, pay later etc.

[innerspace]

If same or next day try hotel quickly instead. Not got the lower places but got quality places at lower rates when available. Peak season may be a bad time to check, not sure to that extent.

[Satcommlee]

Must have booked 100+ nights with agoda and have always found that the walk to the room is the longest physically possible!

Almost always at the end of the corridor, or in the least desirable part of the hotel.

Still not displeased with the service and have on a few occasions sat in the hotel lobby after rejecting walk-in pricing and simply booked online to save quite a lot of money.