Is it time to ditch booking.com?

[Brendan Burgess]

A good article by Conor Pope in today's Irish Times

Conor Pope: Fake listings, phantom bookings and unhelpful bots: Booking.com’s credibility problem

The site deals with 2,000 bookings per minute, usually uneventfully. But when things go wrong, they go very wrong

www.irishtimes.com

As it points out, most bookings go through without any problem. But when there is a problem, it's impossible to resolve.

I use it to find a hotel and then try to book directly. But sometimes, the hotel's own website is more difficult to navigate or the deals on booking.com are better.

 

[iamaspinner]

I use it the same way as BB, but if I decide to book via booking.com, I log in via Aerclub to get points that I use later on when buying Aerlingus flights.

Never any issues with booking.com. On the contrary a hotel cancelled my booking once and booking.com offered a discount without asking if I rebooked, which I did. I got the refund very promptly and without asking.

 

[Fortune]

On checking my emails, it looks like I haven't used booking.com since 2012. These days when every hotel has their own website with online booking it just doesn't make sense to bother with them.

 

[Gervan]

I have no complaints against Booking.com and have been using them for decades, with no problem. I travel often, and also change my mind often. All the information I need about my hotels is in one place, not scattered over different websites.
I always book with free cancellation, and only once had difficulty getting my money back from a property. I complained to Booking.com and the money was instantly refunded to me.
Now I can book taxis with them, direct from the airport to a property my travel is even easier. I don't have to find a reliable taxi, don't have to worry about locating the property.

 

[gledswood]

I use Booking.com for a huge amount of my research. Maps, photos, room sizes....they give a lot of information that is often not available on the hotel's own website. Yet, it has been years since I booked with them.

I am just back from a week in France staying in three different hotels. All booked direct with the hotel. I was able to email the hotel beforehand and ask questions about specific rooms, showers, size of beds etc.

I also read the hotel reviews on Booking and Tripadvisor and read the forums of the location I am visiting on Tripadvisor.

I use Rome to Rio to find out about transfers, bus and train timetables.

I have found Booking.com usually more expensive than booking direct with the hotel. Sometimes it goes the other way. I have contacted the hotel and asked them why it is cheaper to book through Booking.com and usually I get a lower price. These are usually family hotels that rely on Booking.com for their business and ignore their own website.

This morning I was researching hotels in Italy for 2027. I used Booking.com for my research but checked on the hotel's website also. They had no pictures of the bathrooms on Booking or the hotel website so I went in to Tripadvisor and found "travellers" photos of the bathrooms. Now I know why they were not advertised anywhere. Awful shower curtain type of showers or showers over bath.

I like booking direct and not with through a third party. I find that I might use booking.co if booking an apartment though, but haven't done so in a while because a bit of research and you can sometimes find the apartment owner's own website.

 

[Sarah Ryan]

No issues with them, my last booking was with them last month two nights in Seattle.

I did have one nightmare booking for a property in Galway which was nothing like described, but I put through a complaint and managed to eventually get a refund.

 

[Nordkapp]

For our trip next year to the Algarve Booking.com is 350€ more expensive, add back our discount and that rises to over 700€. Best to check both direct and with booking and take the best price option