Why do people use hotel booking web sites?
 

Like Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity...

What is that advantage when they consistently come up with the same price as the hotel web site?

I mean, I can see Priceline, because it REALLY is cheap, but these others??? I don't get it.

I have never found a better price at hotels, although I have at Travelocity and expedia. They used to have bargains, but not anymore.

On occasion I have been able to book a room on one of those sites that I was unable to book at the hotel's site - specifically a Saturday night, one night, at a specific hotel in Las Vegas. Also, on a cruise we took last month Celebrity cruiselines indicated cruise was full, but I was able to book cabin at same price thru Travelocity.

I also use the websites for comparison shopping - to see what hotels are in a specific location. Then I check hotel site and the other travel agent (which is really what Travelocity et al are) sites and book cheapest - which is now usually the individual hotel site.

I haven't booked hotels at USA yet (except GC lodges), but for bookings of European countries hotels, reservation centrals tend to be cheaper than hotel webs by far.
Of course, there are always exceptions.

I look at Expedia, Travelocity & hotels.com. Then I check the hotels website (I usually call the hotel too). I choose the best value. It's usually the hotel directly but not always. I may try Priceline or Hotwire the next time for Las Vegas and San Francisco.

They're good for gettin basic hotel info and sorting either by stars or amenities. Have found that mostly - but not always get better price from hotel itself (but it's way too much trouble to go to tens of separate web sites to compare).

Priceline is so good, there is no reason to use any other site for reservations UNLESS you need to pinpoint the location of your stay, within a particular area.

And another obvious answer to your question is similar to why people use Expedia for airline trips.

You cheat the system by 'using' Expedia, which has many travel alternatives and prices between point A and point B... figure out which airline best meets your needs, and THEN go to that airline's website to save five bucks on the actual reservation (vs. Expedia cost).

So if you were going to Chicago, your options for lodging are (A) Priceline or (B) hunting around at several, if not dozens of individual hotel websites looking for the great rate and/or location, OR use Hotels.com or Travelocity, or anyplace which will disclose the name of suitable candidates before you commit your money.

That should have been pretty obvious.

Quikbook.com is often cheaper than the hotels' own sites for NYC.

"That should have been pretty obvious."

Oh yeah. I'm such an idiot.

Several times I used Expedia and Quikbook when their prices were lower than hotels' websites.

If their price is the same or higher, there is no advantage.

About 15% of the time, Travelocity is cheaper than the actual hotel site

Keith

There is no best way to book. I'm an avid user/fan of Priceline, but often do better (especially during high season, dates with special events...) with other resources.

Many of the booking websites are a good resource for shopping the hotels/rates, especially if you are not familiar with your destination.

Travelocity (and others) often offer rates considerably higher than the hotels' websites.

Sometimes, Expedia, Hotels.com, especially Quikbook, will have rates much lower than directly through the hotel.

My new favorite place to start is Kayak.com

It's best to start shopping as soon as you know you're going and book the best you can find that you can cancel. Then, keep shopping.

Even if you've booked directly through the hotel's website, rates sometimes change significantly between the time you book and the dates you stay.

I shop all the web sites, take the best price and call the hotel with it. They will nearly always match the rate with no penalty for changing or canceling like the consolidators. At times, if booked directly with the hotel, I will get an upgrade or some small perk as a "valued customer" too. I take what works the best.

They give an overview of what is available and what the rates are.

Also, sites that specialize in European hotels (such as www.utell.com) sometimes offer better deals than can be found elsewhere.

I can see shopping on those sites (although I think Tripadvisor does a very good job listing hotels in a region) but 99% of the time I couldn't see buying on those sites.

I'm partial to easy cancellation terms! (Unless I've snagged a room on Priceline for like $50. :) )

The new thing - where hotels charge more for the usual 6:00 PM cancellation - is sort of an annoying trend. Has anybody else noticed that?

For Las Vegas, I was seeing prices a little lower vis tripres.com and travelworm.com for my dates in June, as compared to the hotels own websites.

Unfortunately Priceline doesn't seen to work if you want two adjacent rooms (or even better, a connecting door). I hunted for ways to specify these parameters and gave up.

Calling the hotel and asking them to match prices with something I've found online has worked for me too.

Note: If you do use Expedia, Travelocity, etc, don't use your main email address. My husband's email got slammed with stuff after buying a plane ticket from one of the travel big sites.