When I was traveling, I was usually pretentious go-show only for lodging. However, when I was traveling to Labuan Bajo a few years ago, I didn’t get a hotel at all. I thought, “Ah, Flores must be empty of visitors, there must be a lot of rooms.”
However, it turned out that the combination of the small number of hotels and at that time, which was in high season, made it difficult for me to find lodging because on average it was full. So now when I travel, I always book a hotel first at an online travel agent (OTA). Loh, why not just at the hotel so it’s not complicated? Eits, who said complicated? Take a look at it first!
1. Flexible Hotel Room Booking
When I was traveling to Korea, I booked a hotel using an OTA. But whether I was sleepy or what when I booked, I didn’t realize I entered the wrong date. But when I tried to contact the OTA, it turned out that the date could still be changed without any cost as long as it was done a few days before the date we were supposed to check in! Well luckily I still can, if not I could go bankrupt, hehe. Oh yes, changing details like that I also only need to play a finger on an OTA application on a smartphone. Easy!
2. Multiple Payment Methods
In my experience, booking a hotel directly on the hotel’s website does not have many choices. Mostly only by credit card. Not everyone has a credit card, right? If you use OTA, you can use bank transfers, e-money, paypal, credit cards, maybe even pay cash at the nearest minimarket.
Or those who are interested may be able to pay in installments for credit card users, although I don’t recommend going into debt haha!
3. Can Book without paying first
Not all OTAs have this capability, but some big names allow us to book without having to pay in advance — even entering credit card data is not necessary. Sometimes if we go abroad and need a visa with hotel booking requirements, this can be very profitable. So if our visa is rejected, at least our hotel booking money won’t be forfeited!
4. Prices can be cheaper
Often I find prices on OTA can be cheaper than direct hotel websites. I wonder why? In my theory, if the hotel cooperates with the OTA, the hotel will definitely sell the ‘wholesale price’ to the OTA. The price has been reduced by their marketing costs. Because OTA itself helps hotels in marketing matters, right? Plus, the tight competition between OTAs makes prices go down even more. If that’s the case, of course we are the customers who will benefit.
5. Complete and Detailed Information
On all hotel websites and OTAs, there must be many explanations and photos about the hotel’s features. However, if you book on OTA, there is one thing that is definitely not on the hotel website directly, namely reviews from users! By reading reviews and people who have stayed at the hotel, we can judge for ourselves whether the hotel will suit us.
When I was staying at a hostel in Singapore, I read a user review on the OTA where I booked that this hostel was good and cheap, but the receptionist was a bit sloppy and unhelpful. What a fad, I even stayed there and it turned out to be true what the review said! But you have to be careful too, if there is a review that is too good or too bad, the information may even be less accurate.
6. Can get discounts and promos
In some OTAs that sell hotels, planes, and tour packages at the same time, sometimes we can get discounts! For example, if you order a flight and a hotel at the same time on the same OTA, you can get a discount of a certain percentage. Yes, the name is also a marketing tactic for OTAs to attract customers. If they don’t, they won’t sell, right? Now it’s just us who are smart in choosing which OTA can meet our travel needs.
Do you prefer to book at an online travel agent or go directly to a hotel? Let’s share in the comments!
Thank You!
Create by ipadguides in category of Travel Story