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I logged in to the BA Avios shopping portal with the intention of clicking through to hotels.com, to book 3 rooms for a 4 night family trip to Rome. Having then seen the “Avios & Hotels” tab I thought I’d compare the price quickly. They were the same price but offered 10 Avios per £, a 500 Avios bonus, and with the familiar look of BA.com I thought I’d be getting 3x Avios paying with my BA amex, rather than just the 1.5x with hotels.com.
After weighing up the hotels.com stamps on offer and the delay in receiving the 6x Avios via hotels.com tracked spend etc., I decided to book with “BA” for simplicity, however noted (only after it was too late) that the credit card merchant is processed as the Avios group – not BA (similar to when buying Avios etc.). The confirmation email then states the booking is actually provided by Expedia. And having since gone to BA.com and searched from there they don’t even sell the hotel I wanted to book. Anyway, just a lesson for me with regards “BA” spend on the amex card! May catch you out when deciding where to book a hotel.…assuming this isn’t processed as BA spend, as I now expect.
I usually book via Avios Hotels for the 10 Avios per £1 rate but after a hotel promised to refund my stay… there is literally no way to contact Avios Hotels to chase the refund, and I was passed between four BA phone numbers trying to explain “no, not a BA Hotels booking, an Avios hotels booking” before being told to submit a “complaint” via ba.com which seemed odd. So yes, be prepared to fight for those 10 Avios per £1!
Interesting, so it really is just an online store front trading off the BA brand. Of the stays that you completed and that weren’t refunded, did the Avios post automatically within 31 days of the stay, as per the terms?
I have only used Avios Hotels once, the 10 Avios/£ were added to my account very quickly after the stay, I think it was within a few days. Just the standard 1.5/£ on the BAPP.
I am pretty sure the hotel had the booking from Expedia, with no mention of BA or Avios on their details.
Same here, Avios Hotels reliably posts. When hotels.com had decent rewards*, it was my go-to, but now I choose between BA Avios, hotels.com and booking.com depending upon price and Avios return.
* I won’t have enough stays to complete a reward before it all gets killed.
I have just booked on hotels.com direct as to go through the BA shopping portal the hotel was £200ish pounds extra for the week via the BA shopping portal. In the portal’s blurb it said not to log into your hotels.com account as it would negate the points offer. Decided to go for the hard cash instead of the Avios. Confirmation is from expedia/hotels.com. Assuming 1.5 Avios for BA card.
Thanks for the confirming the Avios post reliably from Avios hotels.
I believe when hotels.com finally close the stamps scheme you will get the value of stamps held into the new scheme so not too bad if you won’t hit 10 nights, as the stamps won’t lose their value because you didn’t reach 10.
From the BA shopping site you do still earn Avios if you login to collect stamps during the hotels.com purchase, just less (6/£ yesterday). What I did notice is the hotels.com app was cheaper than their website – and I’m not sure you can track the Avios spend via the BA shopping portal if completing the purchase on the app.
Hotels.com is one of those vile and deceitful businesses that varies its pricing depending on how you get to its website or app. You think you have a deal by using TopCashback or the eStore, but you are actually paying over the odds for the privilege. Once the stamps go, I am happy to say that it will pass into history for me.
Always try the hotel directly, too. They will often match or beat the hotels.com price and you aren’t giving encouragement to a bunch of unethical snakes.
Always try the hotel directly, too.
This. Two hotels booked this week, in both cases the best the hotel website could offer matched the best rates from booking (genius rate) and hotels (members rate) and others.
I emailed the hotels telling them how lovely the hotel looked and how I really wanted to stay there, and if they could offer a better rate as their rate matched booking com. One of them reduced the rate by €21 per night, the other offered free breakfast (a €16 fee each day which I had planned to pay anyway, so a real saving).
Not huge numbers, but it gives me satisfaction to see the hotel get a little extra, the aggregators nothing, and I save too, all for a 60 second email.
I don’t think I’ve failed to get some kind of a discount in any booking in the last year by emailing direct.
Hotels.com is one of those vile and deceitful businesses that varies its pricing depending on how you get to its website or app. You think you have a deal by using TopCashback or the eStore, but you are actually paying over the odds for the privilege. Once the stamps go, I am happy to say that it will pass into history for me.
Always try the hotel directly, too. They will often match or beat the hotels.com price and you aren’t giving encouragement to a bunch of unethical snakes.
Absolute rubbish.
I’ve just done a test with a hotel I use regularly. Price is the same regardless of whether I go through TCB or not, and the web site is giving me the same price as the app.
When you factor in cashback (usually at least 10% if you book more than a month in advance) and the free night stamps, Hotels.com is usually unbeatable value.
I saved £120 a week ago by cancelling and rebooking some Hotels when the Top Cashback rate increased to 20% for one day only.
Alex G, on this forum a few months ago I posted about a repeatable example where the price was higher if I started my journey with the eStore. And in this thread we have an example cited of differential pricing for app users which cannot be integrated with an eStore journey.
Just because they don’t do it every time, it doesn’t mean they don’t ever do it. I’ve earned more than 100,000 Avios with hotels com in the past few years, and I have learned to watch them like a hawk.
Regarding whether it’s better to book direct with the hotel. It will depend on the hotel. Three hotels in the past year have said they can’t offer me any better deal than the one on hotels.com. Some hotels don’t have the systems to process such requests.
Absolute rubbish.
I’ve just done a test with a hotel I use regularly. Price is the same regardless of whether I go through TCB or not, and the web site is giving me the same price as the app.
When you factor in cashback (usually at least 10% if you book more than a month in advance) and the free night stamps, Hotels.com is usually unbeatable value.
I saved £120 a week ago by cancelling and rebooking some Hotels when the Top Cashback rate increased to 20% for one day only.
I have seen 5 different prices for some hotels on hotels.com
A: price on app
B: price on app when pressing an emailed link
C: price on website with clean browser
D: price of website when clicking through TCB
E: price on website when clicking an emailed link / special link e.g. from Lloyds extras offerBut for other hotels any combination of A to E could be the same or different prices.
Last summer I stayed at a B&B in Scotland where the price was the same via all possible booking/payment methods – spontaneously turning up at 8pm and paying cash for an otherwise unsold room was the same price as booking 12 months in advance with hotels.com stamps and TCB.
Very friendly and chatty owner, but when I tried to show him how all his competitors charged different prices for direct or via OTA, he didn’t seem to understand or was pretending not to.
Regarding whether it’s better to book direct with the hotel. It will depend on the hotel. Three hotels in the past year have said they can’t offer me any better deal than the one on hotels.com. Some hotels don’t have the systems to process such requests.
As an independent travel agent I was initially amazed by the fact that a hotel’s direct price was often higher than hotels.com etc. In fact, there are B2B sites which offer much higher discounts than anything public (especially on high end properties) and the hotels usually have no interest in beating them because they drive repeat business from agents/tour ops etc. (there is the odd hotel that will do a better deal direct, but it’s rare). So usually, it’s better to go to the trade, depending on the mark up.
When I booked yesterday I priced the hotel up 3 ways. Direct on hotels.com, via BA Shopping Portal, and also checked on the hotel’s own web-site.
The hotel direct was the same price as hotels.com direct, however the hotel did not offer pay on check out it wanted full monies up front. So that was the deciding factor for me. I think you just have to weigh it all up and go with what works best for you.
When I booked yesterday I priced the hotel up 3 ways. Direct on hotels.com, via BA Shopping Portal, and also checked on the hotel’s own web-site.
You really needed a 4th way, contact the hotel direct (email/phone). You may be surprised how many would give you a better deal, including pay on departure.
When I booked yesterday I priced the hotel up 3 ways. Direct on hotels.com, via BA Shopping Portal, and also checked on the hotel’s own web-site.
You really needed a 4th way, contact the hotel direct (email/phone). You may be surprised how many would give you a better deal, including pay on departure.
The hotel website price should be considered akin to the prices in an antique shop; there’s lots of scope. It’s worth looking at their offers as it can give an idea of how they are pricing benefits and rooms. Obviously, if a hotel gets a booking from an OTA or any brand run site, they have to pay (and sometimes offer extra benefits) so a direct booking is highly desirable. The individual hotel will also have corporate rates (maybe 40% ish discount) as well as room rates eg for meeting delegates or wedding guests or rates adjusted for local guests. Many benefits cost the hotel very little but may be valuable to the guest – upgrades, free parking, breakfast, free laundry etc.
Clearly no hotel (or indeed any service provider negotiating a deal) is just going to blurt out a 25% room rate reduction with pre-confirmed upgrade (and if part of a brand will be wary of being too open) so one needs to think of the right gambit. It does help if you have stayed before and made the right moves at that time.
One also learns a lot about the rooms, views, size variations, location/orientation etc. by actually talking to someone. It takes a bit of time but for the serious savings and enhancement of one’s stay, it’s well worth it.
You really needed a 4th way, contact the hotel direct (email/phone). You may be surprised how many would give you a better deal, including pay on departure.
I’ve seen folks say this in the forum and I’ve subsequently tried to do it a few times over the past two years, but I’ve yet to have this strategy actually work. I’m always just directed back to the website to book.
An example.
A hotel I regularly book for business in Surrey is £80 a night if booked directly with the hotel.
Hotels.com have it for £72 a night. TCB will give me CB of £6 (10% of net price). Hotels.com will give me a free night stamp worth £6. So I’m paying £60 a night.
The Hotel would have to offer me a discount of more than 25% to beat the deal I’m getting.
And of course by paying a higher price and getting cashback, I’m earning more Avios and reaching my spending targets faster.
I also find hotels often tell me to “go book online”, ignore the request altogether or provide an even higher price than OTAs… And that’s from small B&Bs to big, expensive, chain hotels. So sometimes one needs to decide whether it’s worth the hassle.
The Hotel would have to offer me a discount of more than 25% to beat the deal I’m getting.
This reads like you haven’t even tried….
@Alex G – I didn’t think one needed to spell out that you probably aren’t even going to save the price of a cup of coffee on an £80 hotel room. I’m talking about more expensive hotels and saving £hundreds or £thousands on longer stays even after allowing for any credits or breakfasts etc that might be offered via various booking schemes, plus guaranteed/confirmed proper upgrades, none of the subject to availability or slightly bigger room nonsense.
@Alex G – I didn’t think one needed to spell out that you probably aren’t even going to save the price of a cup of coffee on an £80 hotel room. I’m talking about more expensive hotels and saving £hundreds or £thousands on longer stays even after allowing for any credits or breakfasts etc that might be offered via various booking schemes, plus guaranteed/confirmed proper upgrades, none of the subject to availability or slightly bigger room nonsense.
You should meet some ordinary people sometime who think £80 a night is plenty for a room.
And if you are paying £20 for a cup of coffee, then you have more money than sense.
The Hotel would have to offer me a discount of more than 25% to beat the deal I’m getting.
This reads like you haven’t even tried….
Tell me. If you were staying at a hotel with a rack rate of £80 a night, what level of discount would you be aiming for?
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