Melnq8 - the dollar has weakened a bit against the euro in the past couple of months. Combined with DCC (which I hate, but its the hotel not booking that does this) it could add up. Still, 15% is a lot.

I had a hotel in Barcelona, that I had booked on booking.com do the DCC on me last fall. I made them reverse it and do the charge in euros. But it was NOT booking.com that did this, it was the hotel for sure.

I try to book direct but these days sometimes it is not even possible. Booking.com and Airbnb are taking over the world.

wesleymarsh: Booking only offers properties made available to them by the owner or hotel. So if the listing is still up -- Pick a Flat has left it up.

. . . and no, I'm not a booking.com acolyte. Any massive site can have a problem and I know Booking isn't perfect. But both your situation and Melnq8's seem to be caused by the properties/owners involved.

I'll blame booking when they make a mistake but I don't think either of these are Booking's fault.

kja -

We booked one hotel, a few guesthouses and a few apartments.

In every case, when we arrived, we were presented an amount in ISK, which we fully expected. It's Iceland afterall.

We had no way of knowing what currency the accommodation used for the exchange. They just presented us a credit slip in ISK.

We tried to resolve the issue while we were there, both with the accommodation owners and Booking.com, but to no avail.

I just went onto Booking.com to see if I could switch the currency to ISK - yes, it's an option. I missed that when I was booking. Funny though, when you switch the language to Icelandic, it still comes up in USD.

So yes, my mistake for not finding it earlier and booking in ISK.

We live, we learn.

That still doesn't absolve Booking.com of blowing me off when I contacted them to discuss my concerns though. The courtesy of a response would go a long way, even if just to explain their process.

I use them most holidays when I'm in popular areas, never had a problem yet, but
1) Their APP is not very clever and far too large for what it does, and boy do you have to do a lot to make a booking
2) The comments on the site are less realistic than tripadvisor in Europe

Only once had a problem with an free cancellation trying to become a paid for cancellation. A short email to them sorted it out, but I no longer leave my credit card on their datafile.

Never used them for a flat or appartment, I'd rather go straight to source. Also don't use them in certain areas where they offer low density supply (say north eastern France as an example)

Booking is trustworthy.
However sometimes they change the page where "we" control the listing on. When they do it has been know for information about the property or the calender to change without notice to the manger/owner of the property.
However if you have a problem on Booking.com you should always phone them. They can help to resolve the situation.

>>wesleymarsh: Booking only offers properties made available to them by the owner or hotel. So if the listing is still up -- Pick a Flat has left it up.<<

@janisj
You are missing 2 important points. The listing that remains is deceitful. The top portion of the listing page (with photos) is for the apartment that no longer exists. The bottom "Availability" portion offers a completely different apartment, but users won't know that unless they click on "Two-Bedroom Apartment." So, technically, this is not a "listing" for the apartment I rented. Frankly, I don't know what to call this.

On top of that, Booking knows, has known, is fully aware that the apartment I rented, the former listing, was sold months ago. They had to secure that confirmation from Pick A Flat before they would agree to issue the credit. It seems to me Booking is allowing this confusing listing to exist, and IMO, it's wrong and seriously misleading. It allows for a bate-and-switch.

>>It allows for a bate-and-switch.<<

Yes . . . by Pick a Flat since booking doesn't own ANY apartments. If one is <strike>bated</strike> baited and switched -- it would be by the rental agency or owner.

OK, that's twice now: it's BAIT-and-switch.

Also, while I think you have a point about the incorrect listing, it annoys me when posters make an attention-grabbing negative thread title, then write:
<I accept the finger of blame may not lie entirely with Booking. I don't know who bears complete responsibility. >

Why not lead with that instead of insinuating that an enormous booking agent like Booking.com should be avoided?

DCC is a scourge upon the earth.

>>Never used Booking for a flat or appartment, I'd rather go straight to source.<<
I would never use Booking for anything other than research. I did a favor for a business friend loyal to Booking, who was planning to travel with me. We save money by sharing the lodging cost. He needed to be in the 16th, and he wanted his Booking "points," whatever those are. We both wanted AC. He's no longer going with me.

I insisted on posing the question about legality to the owner/manager before I committed. Booking does not have a "Contact the Owner" feature like other sites do, another minus. So I did more research and found the Pick A Flat site. I wrote them there to confirm legal and working AC. It took them forever to respond, and not a word about the possibility that the apartment was being listed "for sale." I get it, why would they mention that?

>>it's BAIT-and-switch<<
Of course it's BAIT, says this old fisherman. I have no idea why the fingers typed B-A-T-E, twice. As for "insinuating that an enormous booking agent like Booking.com should be avoided?" I ended my thread title with a question mark. Grammar enthusiasts should know what that implies.

>>since booking doesn't own ANY apartments<<
It doesn't matter that Booking is not the owner. They're a middleman, which can be worse. Just one more layer of complexity and hassle when something goes wrong or isn't quite right. I don't care how much money there is to save (I don't see it on my balance sheet), Booking is not worth using for me. And the discount offers and room guarantees I've recently received from several Paris hotels proves it.

You still have not provided the actual website you contacted to ask your questions. That would be helpful in assessing exactly where the problem occurred.

There are also two other rather puzzling things. You said your friend wanted you to use Booking.com so they would get credit. It struck me that I have never received credits and never read about any credit or loyalty program with Booking.com when I joined, and used it, so I checked. Booking.com appears to have no loyalty, points or credit program.

Even if they did have some kind of loyalty program, you were the one booking and paying with your credit card, so your friend was not involved with the booking. How could they get any credit for your booking?

Your friend must have been confused or mistaken. However, just in case Booking.com has created a loyalty or credit program in the last few weeks, please ask your friend and post where we can find it. I am sure those who use Booking.com frequently would like to know.

About the Iceland currency conversion issue: whenever I get a confirmed rate at Booking.com in dollars, but will be charged in local currency, it is always specified in the details from my Booking confirmation: 1) that I will pay in local currency; and, 2) what the amount in local currency I will pay is. That amount in local currency is precisely what I've then paid.

Never had a problem with Booking. Once, on the day of my arrival, a hotel in Rimini overbooked for one of my three days; that morning I got urgent e-mails from both Booking.com and the hotel that I was lucky enough to manage to see while at the departure airport; the hotel put me up at a better hotel nearby at the same rate for the first night. But that wasn't Booking.com's fault, it was the hotel, but Booking was totally reliable, flexible, and helpful.

Nothing but stellar service from Booking.com. An amazing outfit.

Sassafrass has a point -- one does not get 'credit'/brownie points for using booking.com If you have booked enough times you do have access to what they call 'Genius' deals. But they aren't all that different than any of the pay-in-full/no refund specials.

>>since booking doesn't own ANY apartments<<

>>It doesn't matter that Booking is not the owner. They're a middleman, which can be worse. <<

OK - maybe I'm not communicating this very well. Booking.com would not benefit in anyway by Pick a Flat 'walking' you to a different flat they own. You booked a property Booking.com had as 'available' per Pick a Flat. And they are then done with the transaction. If that flat was actually unavailable, it is Pick a Flat who would Bait & Switch you to a different place.

Just the same as if you booked a specific room type in a hotel because the hotel had released it to Booking.com Then when you get to the hotel there was a mix up and that type of room is not available. Not Bookings' fault . . .

I had a terrible experience booking a hotel in Tropea, Italy through booking.com. Probably not Bookings fault, but the hotel cancelled my pre-paid 500 euro+ reservation as I was on my way to the airport to begin my trip. Luckily, I was able to book into another hotel with the help of the wonderful owner of the B&B in Rome, but it was a very stressful thing. It took literally months of negotiating with Booking to finally get a refund, but not from the hotel, or Booking, through my credit card company!! The only reason I prepaid was because they would not guarantee the seaview room that I had requested without prepaying. Lesson learned believe me!!

>>If that flat was actually unavailable, it is Pick a Flat who would Bait & Switch you to a different place.<<
If Booking permits owner-users to Bait&Switch, then they are culpable.

>>You still have not provided the actual website you contacted to ask your questions.<<
The first question I asked was availability for my dates. I don't remember the site I used for that inquiry. The "Residence Maillot-Etoile" apartment that I rented, the one-bedroom with AC and terrace, was listed on several sites when I did my research last winter. In the meantime, I found the corporate website for Pick A Flat by using Google, and that is what I used for the remainder of my communication.

>>How could they get any credit for your booking?<<
My friend used my credit card via his account. Sorry, Sassafrass, I have no interest in Booking's policies, and I don't feel like investigating my friend's knowledge. "Genius deal" does ring a bell, though, although I can't say for sure my friend had my undivided attention at the time.

It may be interesting to note, the property I rented was called "Residence Maillot-Etoile." I have a screen-shot of the original Booking listing. The new title on the current ad is "Pick a Flat - Maillot-Etoile area." Also, if you click on "See all 22 photos," you will see photos of two different apartments, but the only way you'll know which one you are looking at, you'll need to read the captions at the bottom of each photo. Yes, both apartments are on Rue Pergolese, but why use photos of an apartment that no longer is available?

I don't care what anyone says, this is SHADE, and Booking is letting them get away with it.

You are right. It is called the genius Program. You actually join it. If an owner of the property you are interested in renting is also part of the program, they give a 10% discount to renters who are part of it. Perhaps your friend is a member and the apartment owner is also.

For me, booking.com is a great resource for hotels. Perhaps now I would use trivago.com but I have had good results with booking.

Never paid up front and I used free cancellation.

I always booked months in advance and weeks before the trip reviewed the reservation and many times found a the rates cheaper. Then cancelled and rebooked at the cheaper rate.

A few times when having used booking, we left a day earlier that the reservation was for and was never charged for that night. Made reservations for the next day in a different city on booking--NO PROBLEM.

People can do what they want, but as far as I am concerned, it's a great site

We have used Booking.com for hotels all over Europe and Canada and never had an issue. I like their policies and they work for us.

We used them for two hotels in Iceland, and never had any issues there either. The hotels we used were honest, etc.

For us, we will continue to use Booking.com, and actually are for our upcoming Germany/Austria trip in September.

I agree. I think most of the ranting is due to the lack of understanding as to Booking's role. They are simply the middle man, and while janisj tried to explain this, some refuse to understand just where Booking's responsibility lies and where the hotel 's and, even the person booking a room responsibilities lies. Some will not read the information throughly and just make assumptions. Seldom a good idea.

I have on several occasions had to make some sort of deposit at time of booking i.e. rhe hotel has taken the deposit from credit card, but that's always made clear during the booking process and never have had a problem with hotelier deducting the deposit from final price.