Booking dot com

[CaWino]

A note of caution when using www.booking.com, be careful to read the option column, asterisks or conditions. Many rooms have free cancellation, but others do not. Most rooms do not require advance payment, but some do. Don't be surprised!

 

[Reporter]

As part of the Priceline conglomerate, Booking.com is a major player in international tourism. They say they verify that all reviews are written by someone who has actually been a guess (even so, read with a shake of salt.) I often find prices lower than what is posted on the hotel's own site. One warning, however: When it declares that a hotel is sold out, it means that the rooms Booking.com has access to are gone, not that everything is full. Try alternatives, including direct communication with the hotel.

 

[and]

I'm aware of the exorbitant fees Booking.com charges (they can go up to 20%) for listings, thus at most I only search for a few properties and then contact the property directly.

If I can get the same price directly from the hotel, I would rather support them than a billion+ $ conglomerate.

 

[Cameron]

For my last night in the UK this month, I stayed at the Heathrow Hilton for a next morning flight. I used American Airlines to book the hotel, and it went through Booking. Interesting that AA uses that aggregator. Booking is owned by Priceline.

 

[Andrew]

Southwest.com also now does its hotel bookings through booking.com, and Cameron's post got me to see that they include bookings in Europe, even though Southwest doesn't fly there. They have some hotels with extra bonus Rapid Rewards points, although likely at a higher price than can be found elsewhere. Still, I see some in Paris earning 17,000 points, which translates to about $275 in air travel.