Booking online?

I always use booking.com. I wonder who owns them.

Booking.com
Corporate Office Headquarters

A division of Priceline.com

http://www.corporateofficeheadquarters.com/2012/04/bookingcom-corporate-office.html?m=1

I always book direct with the hotel or airline. No need to wonder who owns/controls them.

Why do people book with online agents like Expedia, Orbitz, etc.? Just curious.

Because it is convenient, easy, and often cheaper.

What Frank said.

Yep, what Frank said. I use booking.com for smaller family run hotels in Europe. They almost always put their specials on booking.com that you don't get if you call. For example, I a pension I booked recently was had specials to fill the last few rooms for a weekend I needed and the triple and double rooms were the same price as singles on booking.com. If I had called I would have paid full price. Small hotels like the convenience of the system as much as the travelers which is why many prefer it too.

There's one more reason why people book online--security. They feel a major site like Expedia is more secure than a hotel website. Sometimes the cancellation policy "appears" to be more liberal--not sure if this is really the case, but some travelers feel they will have more influence with an online travel company if there is a dispute. (Again, this may not be true, but that's the way some nervous travelers feel.)

In addition to all of these statements, if you use booking.com you don't pay until you get there (at least this was true for our small hotel in Paris).

Booking.com offers pre-paid nonrefundable rates at a lot of properties.
When in Amsterdam be sure to drop by and say hello at their HQ:

https://goo.gl/maps/5YY1A

If you visit the historic Willet-Holthuysen house next door you can watch the staff having lunch in their private upscale cafeteria!

The main reason to use an online site is to see all your options. Or at least as many as they'll let you see. If i'm not using miles or wanting to accumulate same, I want to see what all the major airlines are charging.

Whichever site you use, be sure to contact the hotel directly a few days after making the reservation to be sure they received it. I arrived at my hotel last week to find that they had no record of the reservation from Booking.com. They spent a long time on the phone with Booking.com trying to figure out what happened, and finally said they never received the email. Fortunately the hotel also owned an apartment hotel nearby and took us there. I would check shortly after making the reservation rather than just before leaving on your trip so you will still have time to make other arrangements.

I will use a site like orbitz, booking.com etc to look at options then book through the airline/hotel's website or e-mail. For airlines I have found I got better customer service (in the case of bumped flights) by booking directly through their site. If a hotel has a cheaper discount on booking.com I mention it when I call/email and they have always honored it. Again, I think that I get better service by booking direct. I have gotten some sweet hotel upgrades because I booked direct with the hotel/B&B. It also helps the smaller hotels stay in buisness since they don't have to pay whoever a surcharge.

I use booking.com when looking for a place I haven't stayed before. I also make a dozen or more reservations per trip so using booking.com saves a lot of time, and all my reservations are kept in a chronological file (including previous trips) linked to my profile.

I have found that most towns in Germany have a lot of accommodations listed on their town websites. Booking websites, like Booking.com, typically show 1/2 to 1/3 of the available accommodations, mostly those that are more expensive. Reason: booking websites take a percentage (often 15%) of the price. Only those accommodations that charge more to begin with can afford to pay the commission.
For my last trip to Germany, I booked directly with three properties that I could also have booked with Booking.com. At one, I paid the same as I would have though Booking.com. At another, I saved almost 20% by booking a package not offered on Booking.com. At the third I only saved a few Euro, but I still paid less. At several other locations, I booked with a property not listed on a booking website and paid less then I would have through a booking website.

Booking websites rely on your being ignorant about the best way to book and exact a fee for your ignorance.

Booking websites rely on your being ignorant about the best way to book and exact a fee for your ignorance

Well no, they provide a service and expect to be paid for it. What is wrong with that? If it's not a service you want to use, you don't have to and thus you aren't paying for it.