Many aspects are just out of your control when trying to get the lowest hotel rate. If you think being part of some loyalty program or just picking the cheapest option from the whole list is effective, then you’ve been splashing money without even knowing it. But we’ve got a solution.
An average person spends more than 10 hours planning ONE holiday & searching for the best rates. And here’s the fun part: the chances that you’ll find it is close to 0. How are we so sure about it?
There are plenty of aspects that are just out of your control. If you think that being a part of some loyalty program or just picking the cheapest option from the whole list is effective, then you’ve been splashing money without even knowing it.
1. Location & IP address. For example, Germans often pay more for a hotel in the US than any American would, only because it’s statistically known that travelers from there splash less during the vacation itself (restaurants, souvenirs, SPAs, etc.).
People from the USA vs People from Germany booking the exact same hotel on exact same dates:
2. Too many booking sites. You think you found a great price on Booking.com? How can you be sure that it doesn’t cost $1000 less on Agoda? The thing is: YOU CAN’T without checking them all.
Let’s do an experiment & see what you could have missed. Hotel in Bali. We checked as many OTAs as possible & after an hour or so, got this price contrast (saved more than $1000 only because chose to book through another booking website):
Price on Booking.com – $3116 vs Price on Agoda – $300 x 7 = $2100:
3. Loyalty programs. “Your genius level is 3rd, so you’ll always get better prices now”. Even Genius 3 members on Booking, for example, sometimes pay much more than it would cost on another provider. Or that it would cost after signing out from your account. It’s like getting that great purchase 40% OFF on Black Friday, although the prices were just increased the day before. Don’t be loyal – OTAs can rarely guarantee that the price will always be lower than on 1000 other OTAs.
Relying on our last example: do you really think that by being the most loyal Booking.com customer, you could have a discount of more than $1000? That would just be naive. But apparently, it’s more than possible to save $1000+. Just by using other ways.
We didn’t even include the algorithm aspects when the prices differ depending on what device – mobile or desktop you’re booking, or that price is affected by the cookies (lowers after deleting the cookies (or vice versa!).
The biggest problem when trying to get the lowest rate is that there’s no rule of thumb that would guarantee you’re really getting it – they depend on that many factors. Being able to compare all the prices is one thing, but how do you get around your IP address and check all the loyalty programs & algorithms existing?
If you’re down for an automatization, RatePunk does the rest of it. This browser extension constantly analyzes the data received & checks all the new information that comes in, finding more & more ways to save on your stay. It’s a 100% free & unique tool that guarantees you the lowest possible price on any stay you’re booking. And makes sure you don’t spend 1000+ hours doing it manually.
Remember the hotel in Bali where the price difference on two booking websites was around $1000? We had to go & google each of the OTAs, and here’s what RatePunk does in seconds:
See what real users say about RatePunk & join thousands of smart travelers:
