Hotels Wooing Guests To Book Directly With Discounts

Above, we booked our room at this Tokyo hotel directly with the hotel. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Hotels are looking to book rooms directly with travelers rather than rely on online booking agencies like Expedia and Priceline by offering tempting discounts.

According to Japan Today:

NEW YORK —Hotels are getting more aggressive in their fight to get travelers to book reservations directly with them instead of through online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline. 

Hyatt Hotels Corp has become the latest chain to offer guests a discount for booking a room directly on its own website. Members of its Gold Passport loyalty program can save up to 10 percent at hotels in the U.S., Canada and Australia. 

The move follows similar campaigns by Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. 

Hotel companies have a tortured relationship with online travel booking sites. They rely on the sites to bring travelers to their properties and fill rooms. But companies like Expedia and Priceline charge commissions of 15 percent or higher. The hotel chains would rather keep that money themselves.

I have only booked a hotel room through an online travel agency once, with Travelocity, and that was for The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas last December. The room was bundled with round-trip air fares, so some money was saved.

Above, our room at The Mirage was booked through Travelocity. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Our upcoming Hawaii trip was booked through the Automobile Club of Southern California. It was a great package (lots of money saved) for our flights to and from Hawaii, Oahu and the Big Island and one week's hotel rooms at two different hotels included.

I generally book hotel rooms in Japan directly with the hotels.

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