Hotel Booking Sites Sued by San Francisco

No they aren’t. Neither Booking nor Kayak are being sued.

Booking was hacked. It didn’t imitate websites.
One company being sued in this article is BookOnline.com

Phil, neither Booking.com or Kayak are mentioned in the article. The two companies being sued are GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com. I've not used Kayak but have used booking.com for years and have never seen them intentionally mislead users into thinking they're booking directly with a hotel, as Guest Reservations does.

I ran into a Guest Reservations snare attempt just 2 weeks ago when tired and not paying attention. Was scratching my head for a wondering why a specific accommodation was going to cost THAT much more through what I thought was the hotel's own site than the same on booking.com. A second look at the web address provided the answer. LOL, must remember not to make bookings after a sleepless night! :O)

Re Booking.com, what Kate and Elizabeth said. The article is not about them but about a site with a similar name (probably chosen on purpose to fool the traveler).

"The city names the operators of GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com, as well as the online travel company Booking Holdings, as defendants."

This sentence was further down in the article

Booking Holding is the parent company of Booking.com

And even further down, more mentions of Booking Holdings

The city claims Booking Holdings is not only aware of the third-party sites’ conduct, but is an active participant in the scam, supplying hotel rooms to the third-party sites and facilitating the transactions — all while collecting a fee for each booking.

“Because Booking Holdings receives revenue each time a consumer books a room on a partner platform rather than through the hotel directly, it has a financial incentive for its partners to sell rooms. Though it is aware that the website defendants are securing reservations deceptively, it does nothing to stop them, all the while profiting from each hotel room booked.”

The city says more than 1,800 consumer complaints have been filed with the Better Business Bureau against GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com, with BookOnline.com earning a BBB rating of “F.”

The city’s claims include unfair business practices against the third-party sites and aiding and abetting against Booking Holdings. It asks the court to block the defendants from continuing their supposed unlawful conduct, as well as order them to pay restitution to California consumers and a $2,500 civil penalty for each violation of unfair or fraudulent business practices."

Again Booking holding is the parent company of Booking.com and Kayak as well as others

I heard about this during the middle of the night news on ABC and then went and did a search. Being an insomniac, I am often up in the middle of the night listening to the news.

I did another search

And here is an article that does mention Booking.com and Kayak in the title as well as in the article.

I will again mention that Booking Holdings is the parent company of Booking.com and Kayak as well as others which i think might include Trip Adviser

https://sfstandard.com/2026/07/29/san-francisco-hotel-booking-lawsuit-city-attorney/

"The city names the operators of GuestReservations.com and BookOnline.com, as well as the online travel company Booking Holdings, as defendants." per the original link supplied by BostonPhi7.

She is correct when she notes booking.com's owner, Booking Holdings, is a co-defendant.

Hopefully this serves as a wakeup call to them.

Happy travels.

I can only say that I have used Booking.com extensively and have had no issues with them.

I too have had no issues using Booking.com.

The court case is about the parent company of booking.com knowingly allowing fraudsters to work on their platform. I have no idea whether the City of San Fransico will win either.

Still I am hopeful the city's lawsuit to will inspire Booking Holdings to do more to prevent fraudsters from using their platforms.

Happy travels!

What Carol said.

I have used booking.com for many years and many trips.

I have had no problems with them and I plan to continue to use them.

I have a trip planned for October and used booking.com for my hotel reservation. I have a cruise booked for September 2027 and will use booking.com to book my hotel pre-cruise.

But some members have posted about having problems with booking.com.

If they have been doing wrong, they need to make it right.

I actually have had many booking.com issues, but nothing very serious. Nonetheless my wife complains loudly every time I use them. Their orientation is not IMO very consumer friendly.

jphbucks

There have been several members on forum who have reported issues with booking.com, some serious.

Maybe they have gotten too big or maybe the parent company, Booking Holdings, has.

Q: Does Booking Holdings provide the technological infrastructure for guestreservations.com?

A: Yes, Booking Holdings enables operations for GuestReservations.com by supplying essential backend capabilities. Legal filings state that the company provides core support including:

Hotel inventory access; Payment processing services

Certainly implies complicity.

I can only say that I have used Booking.com extensively and have had no issues with them.

To do the actual booking or as a research tool?

markcw

Thank you for your input.

For myself, all this conglomerate stuff is truthfully too complicated for me.

joe32F

I know you are not quoting me but I have used booking.com both for research and booking many times, over. a period of years.

I have had good experiences but I am aware that other members on forum have not. And I have heard things or read things that make me question the business practices of booking.com or perhaps the problem is with the parent company, Booking Holdings.