Should You Book Your Trip Through a Site Like Expedia?
Finding travel deals is easier than ever and you can usually get the lowest price directly from your hotel or airline. This begs the question: Are third-party travel sites worth it? Expedia recently expanded its points program , which allows customers to earn travel rewards through them. This isn’t the first online travel agency (OTA) to offer something like this, so let’s see how they stack up.
Disadvantages of third party booking
Apart from the points programs, there really isn’t any benefit in booking travel through sites like Expedia, Travelocity or Orbitz. Travelers used to book flights and hotels through these sites because their prices seemed so much cheaper. But now you can get the same deal, if not a better one, when you book directly with the airline or hotel.
I found, for example, a roundtrip flight on Google Flights and Travelocity and the price was exactly the same if you booked directly through United. I watched the same flight on Expedia and Orbitz, with the same results. While these sites say you can get a better deal if you combine your flight and hotel, most hotels come with a Best Rate Guarantee, which means if you can find a cheaper deal online, just give them a call and they will find him. …
Plus, you’ll get the best customer service when you book directly through the hotel. Once I checked into a hotel that I had booked using the travel app and the hotel manager joked, “Have you booked on HotelTonight? We’ll give you the worst room. ” I asked if hotels really do this. He said: “We prefer that you book directly with us. Some places will provide you with better service. ” Here’s what one hotel insider at Consumerist admitted :
My hotel does not maliciously host third-party internet guests in our smallest rooms, but when occupancy rises, we have to get there. You may not get the best rooms if you book directly, but at least during the arrival process you will not be allocated to less desirable rooms.
When you book directly with a company, you’re also more likely to get help if something goes wrong. Hotel manager Jennifer Goodwin explains why this is happening :
In case something happens and you just aren’t happy with your stay, the hotel will also take care of it faster and easier for you. Let’s say I wanted to give you a 20% discount, if you have already paid through a third party, we have to contact them, they have to process it through their system; It’s a much more convoluted process to order this through someone else than just order it through us.
It’s the same with flights. If you have a delay or cancellation, it will be more difficult to deal with the airline if your ticket was purchased through another company. Also, if you need to make changes to your reservation, many OTAS will charge you at the top of the airline charges fees.
What third-party rewards look like
Customers seem to already be aware of the downsides as fewer people are booking trips through these sites. In response, many of these sites are now offering reward programs to bring those customers back.
However, keep in mind that many hotels and credit cards under their brand have their own reward programs and you can only earn points if you book directly through the hotel. Therefore, if you wish to use any of these third-party rewards, you will have to choose between their program or the hotel’s reward program. Let’s take a look at some of these third party programs to see if they are worth it.
Expedia + Awards
Expedia’s Rewards Program comes in three tiers: blue, silver, and gold. While silver and gold will give you certain additional perks (like a free drink at some hotels), here is the basic point structure for all three tiers:
- 1 point for every dollar spent on flight + car packages
- 1 point for every $ 5 spent on the airline (and you can still use your frequent flyer miles)
- 2 points for every dollar spent on hotels, hotel packages, cars, activities and cruises
If you book at one of their hotels with VIP + access, you will also receive Reward Points. This all sounds great, but glasses don’t really mean anything. The big question is, how many points do you need to book your free trip? This is where it gets tricky.
Expedia has a different process for redeeming flights and hotels. When flying, you must have enough Reward Points to cover the full cost of the flight, and The Points Guy says you get about 1 cent per point. So a $ 250 flight will cost you 25,000 points.
On the other hand, you can start paying for hotels with as little as 3,500 points. Here’s a rundown, according to travel hacker and personal finance writer Holly Johnson :
- 3,500 Points: $ 25 Coupon
- 7,000 Points: $ 50 Coupon
- 14,000 Points: $ 100 Coupon
- 21,000 Points: $ 150 Coupon
You still have to spend thousands before getting the $ 25 off, which is not much. Expedia scores are hard to monetary as they vary by travel type, but based on 2 points per dollar spent on hotels, that’s about $ 0.01 per dollar spent, even less for flights.
That sounds low, but it compares well with most hotel reward programs , which range from a paltry 0.4 cents (Club Carlson and Hilton Honors) to 2.2 cents per point (Starwood Preferred Guest). This is all very confusing, but the bottom line is that it will take you ages to earn a free flight, so if you are going to use the Expedia program you are probably better off spending the money on hotels.
But here’s the thing: your hotel can be more expensive if you book through the site as well. I looked at a three day stay at a New York hotel. The total amount directly through the hotel was $ 788. Expedia? 1019 dollars. Based on my research, if this is not one of Expedia’s VIP hotels, you will be paying a little more per night, which kind of negates the value of both earning and using the rewards.
Orbits “Orbax”
When you book through the Orbitz Rewards Program , you earn Orbucks. Here’s what you earn:
- 5% discount on hotels booked through the mobile app
- 3% discount on hotels booked by a computer
- 1% back on flights
Let’s say you have a planned trip to Austin and you booked it with Orbitz. The flight will cost you $ 500, which will bring you 5 orbax. The hotel is priced at $ 750 per week, so booking through the app will earn you 37.5 Orbax. That’s just 42 Orbucks for a $ 1250 ride. Fortunately, Orbitz makes it easy to calculate ransom: One Orbuck equals $ 1. For hotels, that figure is five cents per dollar spent, which is pretty good compared to other hotel loyalty programs.
However, as with Expedia, hotel prices seem to be more expensive (unless it’s a hotel that has teamed up with Orbitz to offer some sort of daily deal). Orbucks offers decent value for money, but not worth it if the hotel is more expensive to start with. You basically spend a lot more money to get some cashback, which doesn’t really make any sense.
Hotels.com Welcome Awards
Fortunately, the Hotels.com rewards program is a little simpler. For every 10 nights booked through them, you receive a free night. This is something like a punch card that you can get from your local coffee shop. The cost of a free night is equivalent to the average price per night you paid for these 10 eligible hotels.
You are on the hook for taxes and fees (and of course any other expenses you accumulate). If the hotel you want to book is more expensive than your average rate, you simply pay the difference.
Participation in their bounty program also includes access to Secret Prices. However, this is a rather vague perk. Hotels.com explains it this way:
The secret prices are even lower than our special offers. The amount of the discount depends on the dates you choose, the destination and the hotel you choose.
It doesn’t really tell you much, but overall, Hotels.com prices are still as high as any other OTA. Again, if this is not one of the hotels featured on the site, the price will probably be better if you book directly through the hotel.
Bottom line? I probably won’t subscribe to them anytime soon. While some of them come with extra perks that seem fun (free drinks, potential room upgrade for gold members), it just takes too much money or time to get any discount. Plus, there are these downsides to consider – is it worth it if I’m going to get the worst service from an airline or hotel? However, if you’re willing to put in the time and research, or use the sites anyway, the rewards can be worth it.
Expedia + and Orbitz Rewards may be more appropriate when purchasing airline tickets. After all, you can still earn frequent flyer rewards and miles, so why not double them? For hotels, this is probably not worth it unless you want to stick with “VIP hotels” that already have deals with sites, in which case Hotels.com seems to offer the best deal. In short, they are worth checking out if you’re always looking for a great deal, but for the rest of us, there are faster , more profitable ways to save money on travel.