I'm wondering about something that came up this morning as I was checking rates for a hotel in Barcelona I'm booking for the end of November. I checked four websites -- hotels.com, expedia.com, booking.com and priceline-europe.com (which I believe is the same as booking.com).
According to a supervisor at Expedia, if I book through Expedia, my credit card is immediately charged and my bill is paid in U.S. dollars. On the other hand, if I were to book through the booking.com website, they would not charge my credit card at this time (merely use it as a guarantee), and I would pay the hotel directly in euros at the end of my stay. What I'm wondering is, given that the dollar seems to be strengthening against the euro, which method of payment will yield the best price? My thinking is if I pay now through Expedia in U.S. dollars on my credit card, there will be no currency conversion fees and I lock in the rate as quoted online today. On the other hand, if I reserve through booking.com, and pay in euros at the conclusion of my stay, I may pay less if the dollar is even stronger by then, but I might incur fees when withdrawing euros with my debit card which could offset the savings. Of course, the unknown in this is the exchange rate on Dec. 1. Any thoughts on which site offers the best deal based on how they collect our money?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
I'm always leery of places that want my money up front like that. It can be a H%#@$* of a job to get it back if you change or cancel. I'd prefer to spend a few extra pennies on the risk that the exchange rate may worse, than let them have my money before the service is rendered.
Posted by
Boulder, CO, USA
780 posts
Keep in mind that alot of these companies are outsourced, your credit card and identity info will go through places like Singapore, India, Thailand, etc... so be careful!!! Im always leery about giving ifo to a company that only exists online that you can see...
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19284 posts
Because I am not fluent in any other continental European languages except German, I cannot speak about Spain, but for Germany, booking websites are not a good deal. Finding the hotel information on the town website www.{town name}.de and contacting the hotel directly is by far the best method. In Germany, I have never had any hotel ask for a payment in advance.
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Andrea,, I have never used a booking agency, , I find best rates when I use the hotels offical website to book. Have you done that yet to check that you are getting the best rate??
I also never pay up front, as noted too much hassle if you cancel . I use CC for room guarantee, I have never stayed at a hotel that didn't require a CC number, here, in Europe, or in the States. I am not worried about it being " outsourced" since if someone used number fraudlently you just contact CC company and they will fix that. We had 2,000. dollars charged once on our Amex card , here , in our own hometown. Amex refunded it soon as we noticed.
Posted by
Freedonia
16411 posts
Contact the hotel directly to make reservations and you may get a better rate.
These online booking services are really nothing more than travel agents. They are getting a commission for your booking. More than likely, you can do better contacting the hotel directly.
If you book through an online service, and there's a problem, you have to deal with the online service. If you book directly with the hotel, or a chain's reservation number, you deal directly with the hotel.
Posted by
OP
SARASOTA
2 posts
Thank you, everyone, for your replies and suggestions. I ended up booking my hotel through www.booking.com which is the European arm of priceline.com. Their website showed exactly what the rate quote included (taxes, surcharges) and clearly stated the hotel's cancellation policy. I had to muddle through Expedia's pages to find the cancellation policy for the same hotel. I also received excellent assistance from booking.com's customer support line. I tried to contact the hotel directly through their website and have not received a quote. With my booking.com reservation I can cancel up to two days before arrival without penalty. Expedia imposes a penalty for cancellation at any time. Hotels.com offered the same rate as Expedia, but with the liberal cancellation policy that booking.com describes. However, as I mentioned in my original post, because booking.com uses my credit card only to guarantee the reservation rather than charge my credit card, should the dollar begin to weaken against the euro again, I could end up paying significantly more at checkout. This would be the only compelling reason to use hotels.com -- they would charge my credit card immediately, thereby locking in the rate in US dollars.