Is it better to book a hotel directly or third-party?
It's Cheaper to Book DirectUsing third-party booking services has additional fees that you may on top of the rate. Online travel agents also charge a commission, which could be up to 20% of the booking, from the hotel.
People Also Ask
Reality is, hotels tend to offer the best rate when guests book directly with them. At the same time, hotels are very clear about their prices in order to avoid any misunderstandings that might affect the guests' experience. Because of this, when you book directly with a hotel, prices are final and free of hidden fees.
Direct booking can be more profitable for hotels because it eliminates the commission fees that are typically charged by OTAs. These fees can range from 15-30% of the room rate, which can significantly impact the hotel's bottom line. By encouraging guests to book directly, hotels can increase revenue and profitability.
A lot of hotels punish people for booking through third-party sites. They don't like paying the commission and would rather you booked with the hotel directly. The consequence is that you get the worst room within the room category you book a lot of the time.
- OTA's (Online Travel Agents or what you call 3rd Party) feature the hotel on their platform in exchange for 15%-20% or even higher discount commission rate. They also demand Price Parity, meaning that the hotel cant just quote a 15% higher rate on to them to make up for the commission they are losing.
According to HotelTechReport's rankings, which are based on real user reviews and software specs, the best hotel booking engine is Cloudbeds, which was voted #1 at the 2021 HotelTechAwards. Other top booking engines include Bookassist, SiteMinder, NetAffinity, and Avvio.
In 2019, only 11.8% of bookings were made directly. In 2021, this figure climbed to 21.5%, an increase by 82% in two years. In the first quarter of 2022, the share of direct bookings was on average 19.3%, which indicates that booking directly remains significantly more popular than was the case in 2019.
Figuring out the best time to book a hotel isn't an exact science — there's plenty of variation throughout the industry. But if we're looking at statistics, the lowest prices for hotel rooms are typically found just 15 days before your stay. Yes, last-minute bookings are (usually) better.
On average, the same-day rate of a hotel room is 10% cheaper than booking in advance. But this comes with a caveat. Don't rely on this strategy if you're traveling to a busy tourist city or a town where a large event is happening. You might be fortunate, but most people book rooms well in advance.
If you book your room through a third party site, you generally get a better rate because these sites sell room-nights when the hotel is not busy. So if a hotel has 50 rooms left to sell, it might give a third party site 10 at a discount to hedge its bets.
If you're debating when to book your hotelOn average, properties are about 13% cheaper when booked 15 days out versus four months out. The biggest difference in pricing comes from high-end hotels, which average nearly 22% cheaper.
Figuring out the best time to book a hotel isn't an exact science — there's plenty of variation throughout the industry. But if we're looking at statistics, the lowest prices for hotel rooms are typically found just 15 days before your stay. Yes, last-minute bookings are (usually) better.
“Throughout the day of check-in, prices keep decreasing,” says Shank. “If there are still these empty rooms by 4 p.m. the day of arrival, the hotel will have a lot of certainty that they are not going to get filled otherwise. That's when they're really willing to put a really, super good deal on it.”
Most travel agencies agree that the cheapest days to book hotels are Fridays and Saturdays. While these are the most expensive days for actually checking in and out, the best hotel rates are on the days when most people are traveling.
Yes, it does matter if there are two guests instead of one on a hotel reservation. Hotels typically charge per person and may have additional fees for extra guests. Additionally, some hotels may not be able to accommodate more than one guest in the room booked.