Better deals can be obtained by booking direct with hotels rather than through online travel agencies like Booking.com or Expedia, a new investigation claims.
A Which? Travel probe found that eight out of ten hotels it contacted offered cheaper rates than an online travel agent or their own websites.
The eight were able to offer a better price or other incentives such as free breakfasts or upgrades, with the research suggesting travellers are paying up to 12% more for their rooms than they need to.
The consumer group found that it is usually more expensive to book a room online than booking direct by phone or email.
This was due to a combination of commission charged by OTAs and enforced ‘rate-parity clauses’ which prevent hotels from offering lower prices on their own websites than those listed by OTAs.
OTAs charge commission of between 15% and 25% on bookings, which hotels – especially smaller properties that cannot afford to absorb the cost – often have to pass on to customers.
Both Booking.com and Expedia denied to Which? that their commissions are driving up prices.
But Which? found that hotels will often be able to offer a better rate if they are contacted directly, either over the phone, via email, or in person, as rate-parity clauses only apply to prices offered online.
Rate-parity clauses have been banned in France, Italy and Austria for preventing competition.
But the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK chose not to ban the clauses in its recent review of the hotel booking industry.
The consumer group has shared its findings with the CMA amid concerns that rate-parity clauses could potentially result in higher prices for consumers.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “Customers shouldn’t be duped into thinking they’re getting the best price from a hotel booking site when more often than not, they can get a better deal by avoiding its commission and booking directly with the hotel.
“Hotel booking sites might be a good place to start your search, but you should always call or email the hotel for the best chance of getting the cheapest deal – even in cases where they can’t offer a better price, there’s a good chance they’ll throw in a freebie or two.”
A Booking.com spokesperson said: “Properties choose whatever prices they want to list on Booking.com, which they can do at will and free of charge.
“Then Booking.com works hard to advertise their property for them to customers all over the world. If Booking can indeed find them a customer, the property then and only then pays a small fee in exchange for the service.
“By contrast, if a hotel or small bed & breakfast in the countryside for example, were to advertise on TV in markets all over the world in order to find customers and generate business, it would likely be so expensive that the properties would need to charge even higher prices for their rooms in order to stay in business.
“Booking.com is a much more cost-effective platform for properties to advertise, allowing them to pay only when they generate actual business.”
An Expedia spokesperson said: “For the past 20-plus years, Expedia Group has helped hundreds of thousands of hoteliers compete for consumers’ business and provided transparency to the market, helping consumers discover these hotels quickly and efficiently.
“We provide a global marketplace for chains and independent hotels alike to compete with their peer hotels, by making them visible and bookable to consumers worldwide.
“Our focus is on ensuring that the best rates and availability are presented to consumers in order to attract travellers to our sites to book with our partners.
“The ability to book packages with Expedia is a great example of this, where many hotels and certain airlines give us special discounted pricing as part of an Atol protected package that are not offered as standalone purchases.
“Hotels pay no upfront cost for using an OTA. They have the freedom to review their room demand and availability across their different distribution channels and, using our technology solutions, update the rates and availability that they provide for display on Expedia Group websites.
“This combination of attributes is particularly valuable for Europe’s small independent hotels.
“According to Oxford Economics, as much as 82% of bookings through an OTA go to independent hotels whose share of the overall EU market for hotel bookings is much lower at 57%, making it fair to say that OTAs level the playing field for small hotels verses the big global chains.”