booking.com and hackers

I actually currently have a post about what I believe to be fraudulent Seattle listing on Booking.com.

I am also planning a trip to New Zealand and staying about ten places. I believe about eight were booked thru Booking.com, that seems to be the way many of the lodgings handle the transaction. Other than a property cancelling us two days later where no other properties were available, I've not had a problem. Even then, Booking found us another place to stay and paid the difference. That said, on the New Zealand forums I've been following, there have been people that have reported they've been contacted from someone claiming to be Booking and requesting credit card info.

I always use booking.com and I did receive a fraudulent communication through the booking.com site purportedly from an apartment I had booked through them. The email claimed I had to input my payment information again or I would lose my reservation. I carelessly (you might say stupidly) did so. Possibly they tried to use the card and were not successful and they then asked for a MasterCard credit card. They sent an outside link to use. At that point I exited. I still thought it really came from the apartment so I canceled the booking and got a different apartment. After checking with booking.com customer service I was told the email was a fraud. Unfortunately, the original apartment lost my business through no fault of their own. Booking customer service was helpful and as we can tell from the article they are also a victim as well as the hotels and apartments involved. There is a warning on the message page for each accommodation listing about being aware of the scam. I trust booking.com site. I am a bit angry that scammers have taken my feeling of security and taken some of the fun of booking our lodging.

I can not comprehend these criminal minds that come up with these schemes. I do not think that I am capable of thinking like these criminals think.

It seems to me that these hackers are creative and intelligent enough to earn their money engaging in legal behaviors. Perhaps there is some "excitement" at creating havoc for others.

I suppose it's not surprising that booking.com would eventually be targeted by hackers. Now that people are being made aware of it, hopefully few will be victimized.

I rarely / never use booking.com as I prefer to book directly with the hotels, and I book directly with airlines for flights.

A lot of smaller places and guesthouses only book through booking.com. You can't book directly with them.

I've used booking.com for places in Portugal, Iceland, and all over the US. I hope that their site stays safe.

I think that is exactly right. I seek out the smaller locally owned places. In Europe, I'm still able to book directly for most places. For New Zealand, I would go to the lodging's website and then for the actually booking, I'll get navigated to Booking.com. That's fine, I just always first try to book direct. I have no issue, really, with Booking, they seem to take care of their customer.

I normally use booking.com, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the particular trip.

Never had any problems, always the pre-paid , no refund, cheapest rate.

On 2 occasions , however, this time in France, in August/Sept, the first time in Paris, the other in Metz, the 2 star hotel told me not to do that. ie, don't use booking.com. I'll take that blunt advice.

I don't think people understand than hotel booking sites charge the hotel anywhere from 15-30% of the rate as a fee to use their services.

So, if you use a third party site, like Booking.com, and pay say 100 Euro for a room, the hotel may only get 70 Euro.

If you are really looking for a cheap rate, contacting the hotel directly saying you can book at a third party for XXX and then ask if they can do better by booking direct.

If you read the article, you will see that it was not booking.com itself that was hacked, but an unknown number of hotels that use booking.com. The staff of the hotels were tricked into installing malware that allowed the hackers access to the reservations made by individuals, and those people were sent the scam messages.

It is true that booking.com does charge their clients a fee for the booking; it probably varies depending on the size and business volume of the individual property. For hotels and other properties that have their own booking system, of course it is advisable to use that. But some smaller hotels and individual apartment owners rely on booking.com to manage their booking for them—-I found that to be the case with a number of small B and B’s and vacation apartments in Italy. So sometimes one doesn’t have the choice to book direct.

I don't think people understand than hotel booking sites charge the hotel anywhere from 15-30% of the rate as a fee to use their services.

I always assume that hotels give the worst rooms to those who book on 3rd parties since they make less off them.

I always assume that hotels give the worst rooms to those who book on 3rd parties since they make less off them.

That hasn't been my experience, but I guess it could happen.

Yeah, probably just a wrong assumption. I used to use Expedia back in the day and it was fine.

Not a bad assumption though, knowing human nature. I do assume if I book via a 3rd party, I would not be the 1st choice to have a free room upgrade if one was available. And I have found that sometimes a free breakfast is thrown in if booking direct.

Of course, if a hotel or B & B doesn't have their own booking site, then you have to use a third party. But it's best to ask which one they want you to use.

I don't know if they give the worst rooms to people who book on third party sites, but they aren't going to give you an upgrade.

A couple of weeks ago, I checked into a hotel that upgraded me to a one bedroom suite simply because I booked direct with the hotel. It didn't have a frequent stay program so that wasn't the reason. They told me because I booked direct.

The hotel actually benefits. A smaller one like the one I originally booked is more in demand than a suite. So by upgrading me, they freed up a smaller room to resell. (I asked and they said I was right.)

Ahh, so that's why I sometimes get upgraded. Thought I was extra charming 😁

My experience just today. I am usually a big fan of booking.com and start my searches there. If I can book direct, I will always do so ... within reason.
Trying to book a hotel on Mont St-Michel. Booking.com rate was very high, around 300 euros. Googled the hotel and found a rate on Hotels.com for $217 (US Dollars). Checked hotel website - 250 euros. Politely emailed the hotel using the appropriate French salutations asking them to match the Hotels.com rate. They said "check our website for the lowest rate." Uh ... there is quite a significant difference in 250 euros and 217 USD. Guess which I chose? I immediately got a confirmation from both Hotels.com and directly from the hotel with all the parking info, etc.

I suppose they may give me the crappy room with no view, but I can take that chance for one night. (All the rates I quoted were refundable up to a few days before the stay.)

Hotels.com block-books rooms at some hotels, so it may beat the hotels' rates significantly in some cases. You do have to be careful about the cancellation policy, because those room blocks may not be so easy to cancel. You found a great bargain.

I've found a direct booking especially helpful at chain hotels during low-occupancy periods. I join the affinity group, book the cheapest possible room for single occupancy and occasionally get a nice upgrade. On the other hand, I use booking.com a lot for non-chain hotels. It's fairly often cheaper than booking the same hotels directly, and I really don't like having to submit a reservation request to a hotel and wait to see when they'll get around to answering me. Yes, I know some small places not on the booking.com platform would probably be even cheaper, but I trust the reviews on booking.com.

Hotels always say to book direct, and they'll match anyone else's price. And that seems to be the best advice most of the time. At least give them a chance to get your business.

And if heaven forbid anything goes wrong or you need to make changes, there won't be a third party in the way pointing fingers in all directions.

I've been traveling for decades and have never used a third-party booking site (including booking.com) for any hotel, B&B, or guesthouse. I've always been able to reserve rooms directly with the original hotel or B&B.

On this upcoming trip to England, I booked a total of 10 accommodations. Some are larger hotels that have direct booking but others are small B&Bs that I found, usually on Google or maybe here on this forum. For those, I usually just email the place directly if the website does not offer a booking option, and everything has worked fine.. Last year in Scotland was the same. I was able to book directly with the lodging for every destination, no matter how small. Germany is even easier, because many small towns are able to lists accommodations on the town tourism website, which almost every town and city in Germany has. So it's easy to go there and contact the places directly.

Websites are easy for find online. Even if you find it on booking.com, the listing should contain a link to the hotel's website. Another place is to get the website from Google maps.

Gail & Mary

Sometime way back I did hear or read that if you book a lodging through a third party site, you might be given one of the less desirable rooms.

And I can relate to that.

If a hotel is busy and almost full, then I can understand a hotel giving the better room to someone who booked directly as opposed to someone who books through booking. I would think that they would want to reward the person who books directly and perhaps they do make more money off of the person who books directly.

You should also sign up for every affinity program you think you'll need for upcoming trips. And look at your credit cards to leverage that into higher levels. I got into Hilton, Marriott, Avis and Hertz gold levels just be having Amex Platinum, lower level cards may offer similar. And I bet Chase Sapphire and Discover travel cards do the same.

Are they window dressing? Yeah usually, but you will get some perks. Sometimes a free bottle of water even!

Curious to know what a room upgrade might typically involve.
We typically stay in budget accommodation and I doubt there is usually much difference in the rooms. In Switzerland all our accommodations had communal bathrooms/toilets but I don't think any had rooms with private bathrooms/toilets. All had good views but perhaps there were rooms with poor views.
In France and Italy most had private bathrooms/toilets and decent views.
We have stayed in 3 chain hotels, all Ibis Budget. Rooms seemed pretty uniform.
So what do you get with a room upgrade?
Re 3d party booking. I often use them as a reference but then book directly with the hotel/BNB/campsite. Quite often just book at the desk having checked there is accommodation available. Quite a few times paid cash rather than card and have recieved a small discount for doing so.

If you only stay in ultra budget accomodations, you're not going to get much in the way of an upgrade. Perhaps a slightly larger room or one with a better view.

But most other hotels or B & B's have slightly better rooms for a number of reasons...larger, views, amenities, etc.

By booking direct, I've been given quieter rooms, suites, bottles of wine and or water, free drinks, free breakfast when it's normally not included, and so on. It also helps if it is a chain and you belong to their frequent stay programs. (It's free, why not join. Sometimes you can get an discount by being a member.)

If you like the convenience of all your bookings being on one platform, then continue to do what you do.

One other thing, depending on the hotel, when booking direct, they will also ask if you want to send a message to the hotel with special requests. I always ask for a quiet room on a higher floor so they know that when assigning rooms rather than just bring it up upon check-in. It's easier for them and less time consuming for you. I don't always get it but at least I was able to ask. And, understand, you may have made the request six months in advance but the hotel won't see it until they are ready to assign you a room. Usually anywhere from a few days to the day before, or even the morning of your arrival.

One other tip.....if you book a refundable room, keep checking your booking. Rates may have changed and gone down. Then just cancel your old booking and make a new one. (Make the new one first then cancel the old one.)

Frank, you are so right. I booked a hotel in Waikiki last October, for five days in January at the usual high price for Honolulu, but checked in early December and rebooked as you have suggested here. I can attest to saving money. Our stay will be $500.00 less! Booking.com often works for me and they have always had smooth service, so I don't rule them out for our lodging.

Ahh, so that's why I sometimes get upgraded. Thought I was extra charming

But it might actually be because you are charming. A lot of people are rude and that room upgrade might actually go to the person who shows kindness versus just who spends the most money.

It just happened to me. The message comes thorough the Booking.com app right below the legit messages so why wouldn't one think it is legit? Fortunately my computer flagged the website as a scam when it came time to enter the credit card number. Then I remembered this topic.

Thanks for posting this story.

I never use booking.com in the US, but I did for some nights of our Norway trip, and this did happen for the first hotel I had booked using booking.com. I knew they already had my cc info, and I wasn't giving it to them, again. They were persistent with several messages. I thought maybe it was just a website glitch, but it didn't happen for any of the other hotels. Now, I'm guessing that hotel was the victim of cyberfraud.

Annie: This was not a reservation paid for, and at some point before the stay the card I reserved the reservation with will get a new expiration date so I was expecting a message to update my card info. I only book cancelable rooms now, not prepaid.

Also: Many booking.com places do not have their own website so booking.com (or other 3rd party) is the only option.

I just got what I believe is a fraudulent email supposedly from booking.com.

This email asked me to validate my information about my upcoming booking next October. It gave me a button to verify and said that iI had to click on within the next 10 minutes.

Of course I did not click on and I have just started a new discussion about this email.