What are your favourite hotel booking websites?

Status
Not open for further replies.

ozbeachbabe

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Posts
6,459
With the abundance of hotel booking websites such as Expedia, Hotels Combined, Trivago, Hotels.com etc I'm curious as to what websites everyone uses for hotel bookings - say your top three sites & why.

a) URL of hotel booking site name
b) reason you use them (eg user friendly app, 10th night free, nil payment up front, no cancellation fees etc)

Thanks in advance. :p
 
hotelscombined and openroomz are my starting point for all bookings. Booking.com is next (booking.com sometimes offers a further 10% off if you are a returning customer).

From hotelscombined and openroomz I'll book either through the lowest price, or through the hotel direct.

Some of the so called 'discount' sites (hotelclub I think?) are outrageously expensive. Even the two Expedias (.com vs .au) can have huge price differences.

I booked on Qantas once when they sent me a $50 voucher immediately after making a booking. Gave me a free night's hotel.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

For me, I have been using booking.com for my recent hotel stays. I used to use hotels.com but gave up on them as I found they too slow to confirm a reservation request.
 
For me, I have been using booking.com for my recent hotel stays. I used to use hotels.com but gave up on them as I found they too slow to confirm a reservation request.

I find booking.com particularly good for Europe.
 
If I am booking a hotel that is not part of Hilton or IHG I really like Agoda when booked via the Velocity website.
3 points per dollar (plus extra for Gold and Plat) but note that not all hotels participate.
 
I'm finding quite good value using airbnb.com

Quite often I can get an aprtment for a lot less than a hotel would cost.

Was able to get a small apartment in Shinjuku next year for roughly $71 a night with a wifi egg included int he fee. Saves me renting a phone for the trip. Just booked a few nights in a taipei apartment for < $80 a night, and the owner is also lending me a wifi egg.

It's very convenient to have a large fridge / washing machine / sometimes a microwave. I also find an apartment a bit more private.
 
hotelscombined and openroomz are my starting point for all bookings. Booking.com is next (booking.com sometimes offers a further 10% off if you are a returning customer).

From hotelscombined and openroomz I'll book either through the lowest price, or through the hotel direct.

Some of the so called 'discount' sites (hotelclub I think?) are outrageously expensive. Even the two Expedias (.com vs .au) can have huge price differences.

I booked on Qantas once when they sent me a $50 voucher immediately after making a booking. Gave me a free night's hotel.

I've found this method the best for me also. I recently booked Rydges AKL on hotels combined for 6 days over Christmas. Checked the Rydges website and saved $100 after signing up to their loyalty program. We also received an upgrade. Plus the loyalty program offers base tier members 1pm check out and 20% off meals and drinks, brekie not included. Cancelations permitted 24hrs prior.
 
I discovered cheaptickets.com last year and have had some amazing deals using them. They always have a promo code on taking around 20% off their prices which makes some hotels cheaper than what trivago or hotelscombined can come up with.

I also use agoda because they tend to have the cheapest standard prices, have a rewards program which gives you around 4% of your booking value back, and provides a 7% discount for HSBC card holders.
 
Thanks for all the tips so far everyone - some great suggestions there.

Has anyone used cash back sites such as ebates or mr rebates for any of these sites or are they ineligible?
 
Has anyone used cash back sites such as ebates or mr rebates for any of these sites or are they ineligible?

Yes, I recently used the booking.com link via Mr Rebates (agoda didn't offer Velocity points for this particular booking) and earned an instant $10 cash back.
I also make all my IHG bookings via Mr Rebates and have added hundreds of dollars to my PayPal account in the last year.
 
One site that we have used that has not been mentioned is hrs.com. Contains some good info re distances from transport. Mainly European & prices are variable but often have great prices on particular hotels.
 
The only site I used to use is needitnow.com . However I removed my business when the owner started to muck around with the economy of my home state.

Most of my hotel stays are client paid (ultimately), so I tend to book Accor direct (where available) and get some points.
 
I see no reason to book through a third party website when staying at a hilton, starwood or hyatt property because direct is always lower cost + you get points that you don't when booking elsewhere.

However if I don't have status with the brand I'll tend to shop a few sites then book where the best deal is - generally smaller hotels have specials that include free bfast/free wifi if you go direct because they can be paying 20%+ commission to online travel sites!!
 
I see no reason to book through a third party website when staying at a hilton, starwood or hyatt property because direct is always lower cost + you get points that you don't when booking elsewhere.

However if I don't have status with the brand I'll tend to shop a few sites then book where the best deal is - generally smaller hotels have specials that include free bfast/free wifi if you go direct because they can be paying 20%+ commission to online travel sites!!

I just booked a starwood property last week that was significantly cheaper and offered more benefits such as free wi-fi though booking.com than direct. Around USD40 USD saving per night on a USD169 room.
 
I use Points Hound:

How to Earn Thousands of Frequent Flyer Miles through Accommodation Bookings

It lets you earn lots of frequent flyer miles in your favourite program when you book hotels. They have a price match guarantee and you get instant confirmation of bookngs.

Dale.

I use RocketMiles and credit to AA.
Minimum of 1,000 points/miles per night. And as I have mentioned before I love how the amount of miles awarded has nothing to do with the price. A $100/night hotel may earn you 2,000-3,000 miles.

The only drawback v Pointshound is that the latter has a much wider range of hotels. May have for example 100 hotels in a given city and Rocketmiles may have 10-20. Also Rocketmiles tends to be a touch more expensive than booking direct (someone has to pay for all those miles I guess) but for me I find it well worth it. I've earnt around 75k AA miles this year through Rocketmiles.
 
I just booked a starwood property last week that was significantly cheaper and offered more benefits such as free wi-fi though booking.com than direct. Around USD40 USD saving per night on a USD169 room.

I remember SPG offer price match plus 2k points if you find a better deal.
I took advantage of that before at FP SYD.
 
If I am booking a hotel that is not part of Hilton or IHG I really like Agoda when booked via the Velocity website.
3 points per dollar (plus extra for Gold and Plat) but note that not all hotels participate.

I agree. Never had a problem with Agoda and made a number of bookings now.

Never cashed in my points. I use Agoda due to ease if use and wide acceptance especially in Asia.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top