GBC

We are planning a trip through Spain and Portugal. The website booking.com seems to have some useful listings in the places we've selected. Their prices seem a little higher but perhaps it is worth it for the service that they provide.

Has anyone ever had any good or bad experiences with this organization?
Thanks.

WillTravel

I can't see why you would spend more money to use booking.com , but it has worked fine for me. I have only used it when I got cheap rates through the site.

Any problems with third-party agencies usually involve the hotel supposedly not being aware of the reservation made by the third-party agency. So after you make your booking.com reservation, contact the hotel a couple days later to ensure the reservation is done.

TravMimi

I use both venere.com and booking.com. I usually end up with booking. I like their website and features better. I've never had a problem with them.

Andrew

I used Booking.com twice on my recent trip to Italy. Both times it worked fine. I would have booked directly with the hotels had I had the choice but either it wasn't an option or the websites were all in Italian. In one case I would have used Venere.com but there was a typo in the time-to-cancel window (before you are charged if you cancel your reservation) for one hotel and they had it as 21 days instead of 3...so I went with booking.com. Actually one of them was Priceline Europe but still booking.com .

You still pay at the hotel when checking out. Booking.com just makes the reservation.

Brazilnut

Yes, I have used booking.com with no problems, but I prefer Venere.com.

GBC

Thanks to those above. I appreciate your imput.

crckwc1

Ditto good report on booking.com. We used them for several bookings this year and never had a problem. We found that if a hotel had a rating of 8 or more on the booking site, it was a dependable choice. We have used Venere a couple of times and they were ok too.

yk

Has anyone ever had to <b>cancel</b> their reservation via booking.com? Just want to see what your experience has been.

wellididntknowthat

Hi There

I've used booking.com on many occasions for both the UK and Europe and always found it good. Had to cancel on a couple of occasions and again had no difficulties. The site is easy to use and the prices have been excellent. Thoroughly recommend them.

WillTravel

It's extremely easy to cancel with booking.com so long as you do not choose a prepaid rate. Just be sure to double-check the terms for each hotel.

swisshiker

Hello yk

I have never had a problem cancelling a reservation from this website. (Have probably cancelled on 3 or 4 different occasions over the course of a couple years.)

Happy travels!

yk

Thanks very much for your quick replies!

I'm used to just booking directly with the hotels, so I'm just not too sure about using 3rd party booking sites. But when i'm doing research, these 3rd party sites are quoting me rates cheaper than the hotel.

I've gone ahead and booked one hotel with booking.com and another one with hrs.de for this trip.

Viajero2

Booking.com is a very mediocre site with above average prices and mediocre searching options. They are Prceline's &quot;ugly stepsister&quot; with dismal customer service based in Amsterdam (NL). I called their customer service once for a quick question on a hotel and they seemed to be &quot;high&quot; on something... Many sites are better than booking.com; hotels.com, cheaptickets.com, kayak, sidestep. Hope it all goes well for you, because if it doesn't, I would hate to have to deal with their CS.

crckwc1

My experiences with booking.com have been good -- in booking, cancelling and with customer service questions. I've used them probably 20+ times and only once paid slightly more than what was offered on other sites.

kenderina

Viajero, I've booked through them a lot and talked with their costumer service and it has always been here in Spain (Madrid), and talked to Spanish people and they were extremely kind (more than a normal Spaniard LOL. I don't know why you talked with someone in Amsterdam...maybe because of the language ? It sounds strange to me.

Zeus

I've had great experiences with Booking.com. I find their prices to be the best overall. When using www.Bookingbuddy.com, which lists a number of third party booking services, Booking.com consistently shows up with the cheapest rates.

I'm not thrilled with having to give my credit card number in advance, but I understand why hotels now require it. A few years back European hotels didn't ask for a deposit but I suppose they got burned once too often. In any event, booking.com's cancellation policy is pretty liberal and fair. It still beats the non-refundable bookings at Priceline.com.

I will admit that I screwed-up on my last trip and forgot to cancel one of my reservations. I ended-up paying one night at a hotel I never came near.

Viajero2

Again, the time I called them to ask about a hotel feature, I specifically asked where was I talking to. The lady answered &quot;Amsterdam&quot;. The company is based in Amsterdam so it kind of makes complete sense to me.

My problem with booking.com is that I considered it to be way overated. There are many internet sites that are far more superior on their online/screen capabilities, better customer service, cheaper rates, and less stringent conditions. Booking.com is like 29 out of 50 sites I would use for hotel bookings.

This really is a no-brainer. If you have good experience with booking, great, wonderful! I am just posting MY EXPERIENCE AND OPINION.

WillTravel

It really depends on your market, as to which booking engine is best. Booking.com has given me some superb rates, but often it's more expensive than other options.

yk

I have another question about booking.com.

I used it to book a hotel a few days ago. It is not a pre-paid rate.

Today, I've noticed that my CC has a &quot;Temporary Authorization&quot; request from that hotel. The actual transaction has not gone thru.

I have seen such temp auth before (when we rented from EuropCar), and the charges eventually went away because the merchant never really went thru the transaction. So, I'm not worried right now.

Has this happened to any of you?

WillTravel

I don't recall it happening with Booking.com but I think I previously used a credit card that did not show temporary authorizations. However, it has happened with other booking sites where I did use a credit card that shows every little blip, and it always went away.