Whether that argument holds in court or not, Expedia certainly has managed to lock up a surprisingly large share of the online travel agency game. Under the umbrella of Expedia Group sit some of the largest names in online travel, including Hotels.com, Vrbo, Travelocity, Hotwire, Orbitz, and Trivago. According to the lawsuit, 80% of all US-based bookings that happen via an online travel agency happen on an Expedia-owned platform.
As a counterpoint, I always book through 3rd party sites and have literally never had a problem. They are consistently like 20% cheaper than booking directly, and that’s the minimum. I’ve literally stayed at 5 star hotels for less than half the cost they charge on their own site.
And calling? Are you kidding? Do you think this is pre-2020 or something? The overworked, underpaid person at the front desk does not give a single fuck if you found a cheaper price elsewhere. Or you get routed to a call center for the hotel chain where someone reads a script at you for 8 minutes before finally revealing the price, which is always the exact same as the one on their website. This seems to be the universal experience as it’s the same regardless of if it’s a fancy place or a dirt cheap hostel. You might as well be asking if they’d be willing to install a football field in your room. The response is always a firm no with confusion on why you would even bother asking for such a thing.
To be clear, I’m not calling requesting a price match or anything. I’m calling just to book. I’m sure a lot depends on where and when you’re going, but I’ve gotten anything from room upgrades to discounts to free meals just by being nice to the person on the phone. I certainly never call expecting anything, and I’m definitely not batting 100, but there a bunch of amenities that nicer places can offer their premium customers that they’re willing to offer other customers who just happen to be nice to them.
I have basically never seen a third-party site offer me a better deal on just a hotel I’m interested in. Maybe if I had bundled car or something, or maybe I’m just going to the wrong hotels. If you’re regularly getting that level of savings I totally see why it would be worth it.
The last time I booked with a 3rd party, the pool was not working when I got there. The whole point of booking a hotel was so that my son could play in the pool for a while. They said they couldn’t let me know because the 3rd party didn’t give any contact information.