three reasons NOT to book this online rate...

Online bookings can be a big mistake, and this article will highlight one of the pitfalls of using expedia, hotels.com, or other online wholesalers. This information is based on a mock booking at the beautiful Park Hyatt Sydney — a one-night stay on 14FEB for the lead-in room. The screenshot above is from expedia.com, and the rate is displayed in US dollars.

It would be a mistake to book this rate online. Here are three reasons why...


Reason One — expedia's rate is non-refundable

Take a careful look at the small print at the top center of the screenshot, just above "Free WiFi," you'll see the words Non-Refundable. Click on the question mark icon, you'll find this explanation.

Reason Two — expedia's explanation is deceptive

"This specially discounted rate?" Expedia seems to justify the non-refundable rate with the claim that they're somehow saving you money ... but they're NOT.

The Hyatt website shows a rate $983 with tax included. Hotel rates in Australia always include tax, but Expedia is hiding the room tax. You won't know about it unless you click the "price details" link. Or until you book the room and learn that your card has been charged a non-refundable $983. (By the way, the rate on hyatt.com is refundable.)

Reason Three — you're missing out on an even better value

For the same $983 USD, you can book the same room through your Virtuoso travel advisor, make no prepayment, have the freedom to cancel up to 48 hours before arrival, and receive additional Virtuoso amenities that will definitely save you money.

• Daily Full Breakfast for two per bedroom, served in The Dining Room
• One way airport transfer in BMW 7 Series (includes tolls)
• an upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
• Complimentary Wi-Fi

Do you enjoy being your own travel agent and booking on the web? At least book through the Virtuoso website to score these amenities! This link will take you to the Park Hyatt Sydney page on Virtuoso.com. Fill in your dates, select a Virtuoso travel advisor, and take advantage of the best luxury value out there!

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

when things go wrong with a reservation...

WorldMark Bend's page on Expedia

Wholesalers do have their place in the travel world. Working through websites such as expedia, booking.com, and hotels.com can be very convenient for consumers. But do you really want to entrust your vacation to an impersonal website for whom customer service means you get to wait on hold until someone in a 800 call center somewhere in the world deigns to pick up your call?

Here's what can happen when disaster strikes. Read this story about Holly Parsons who made her reservation at WorldMark Bend four months before her intended stay, yet was walked due to overbooking by the hotel. Expedia's response? They informed that her reservation was cancelled ... and then refused to refund her money.

Expedia was hiding behind legalese. They argued that they owed no refund to their customer because their T&C's state there will be no refunds in the event of an overbooking "caused by external factors beyond the direct control of Expedia."

Hogwash. Expedia should be ashamed of itself, as if a supercomputer operated by a complex algorithm were able to feel shame. Expedia accepted their client's money in exchange for a specific product. When they were unable to provide that product through no fault of the client, they should have (a) advocated with the hotel on her behalf — e.g., you will not walk our client if you want us to sell our hotel, (b) proactively offered alternatives, and/or (c) promptly refunded any monies they were holding on behalf of their client. (By the way, Holly could have called her credit card company and disputed the charge.)

A personal travel advisor gives you many advantages over an impersonal computerized algorithm, otherwise known as an online travel agency (OTA). We know you. We've booked your past trips, we know with whom you're traveling, we learned your preferences, and we can give personal advice based on our own knowledge of your destination.

Things are less likely to go wrong. Hotels sometimes do overbook and have to walk guests; it's an unfortunate fact of life. Question: whose guests will be walked? Answer: the ones who booked through a wholesaler (to whom the hotel is paying a 20+% commission). Many of our preferred partner hotel relationships include a guarantee that the hotel will never walk one of our clients.

And if things should go wrong, I will be on the phone on your behalf, most likely with a sales manager whom I personally know. Your personal travel advisor provides you with this quality of service, all for the same price and often with Virtuoso amenities.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

a very misleading travel website

TravelersFirst.org is a very misleading website that exists for a single purpose, to get signatures on a petition in support of the so-called Internet Travel Tax Fairness Act sponsored by several large OTAs (online travel agencies such as Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity). While I don't take a position either way on that proposed legislation, I do object to misleading statements in support of the act. The basic issue is that cities would like to collect sales tax on the full rate for rooms booked through OTAs, and the Act would prevent this from happening.

To demonstrate the facts of the matter, let me do an actual comparison based on a booking for a 6th Avenue View room at the Ritz-Carlton Central Park in New York for one night, August 14. These were the quotes as of 12 noon on July 14th.

Orbitz will charge you $795 for the room + $121.56 in taxes and fees for a total due at booking of $916.56.

If you book direct through Ritz-Carlton, you will pay the same $795 for the room + $120.77 in taxes for a total payable at check-out of $915.77.

Here's what the OTAs aren't telling you:

• Orbitz charges you up-front, then remits their NET rate to the hotel. If the NET rate is 80% of the published rate, Orbitz keeps 20% as profit.
  
  
• Ritz-Carlton pays sales tax to New York based on the NET received from Orbitz, and New York misses out on much needed revenue. But you're still paying "taxes and fees" on the full 100%. What's happens with the the sales tax on the remaining 20% that doesn't go to New York? Answer - Orbitz keeps it as a "fee", adding to the 20% they're already marking up the room.
  
  
• The proposed legislation fights the attempt of cities like New York to collect the full amount of the sales tax that is collected, rather than allow the OTAs keep it as a "fee."

So despite the alarmist headlines of the website, here are some facts:

• Converting Orbitz's "fee" into sales tax to New York will not make your stay more expensive.
  
• Sending the sales tax to New York will actually help the local economy of that city.

And while I'm on the subject, I can get you a much better deal for this same booking at Ritz-Carlton Central Park:

• I can get you upgraded at time of booking. You'll pay $745 for a Deluxe room and be upgraded to the $795 6th Avenue View room.
  
• You will receive a complimentary Daily American breakfast for two, in BLT Market or via room service. Free just by booking through a Virtuoso travel consultant.
  
• You will receive an additional $100 hotel credit to be used for any charge within the hotel except room and tax, another Virtuoso amenity.
  
• You won't pay a cent until you check-out.

Ritz-Carlton Central Park (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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booking expedia? read the fine print

This happens more often than any travel consultant wants to think about. A couple contacted me, wanting to plan their honeymoon on Maui. I gave them quotes on several resorts they were interested in and, as they were looking for a great value, recommended another property, the Napili Kai Beach Resort (pictured above). This is a very nice, low-rise group of condos on a great beach. The resort has swimming pools, putting green, beautiful grounds, and a nice restaurant.

I quoted them a complete package including round-trip air on the flights they wanted, five nights in the room category they preferred, and a rental car for the entire period of their stay on Maui. I included in the quote a very reasonably priced travel insurance policy that would allow them to change or cancel their reservations for any reason at any time, very important since the Napili Kai has a rather significant cancellation deadline.

They emailed me a few hours later, having priced out the same package on expedia for a slightly lower price. They asked a reasonable question: why did my package price out higher? So I did my research ... doing a mock booking for the same package on expedia. The result of my research? Expedia's price did NOT include taxes and surcharges on the rental car; mine did. When booking with expedia, it's always important to read the fine print about taxes and fees. You usually need to click through to another page to get to that information — and why is that, I wonder?

Consider the benefits of using a luxury travel consultant. I am, of course, biased in expressing this opinion, but hear my argument. While you may save a (very) few dollars by booking on some website, there are distinct advantages of working with a trusted travel advisor.

• A no-walk guarantee. My supplier, Classic Vacations, has a no-walk provision in their contract with every property they represent. You will not get to the resort and find that the hotel sold your room to someone else.
  
• An emphasis on service. Classic is not a mass marketer selling hundreds of thousands of vacations directly to consumers on the internet. While expedia does have an 800 number, I've read countless accounts of customers unable to get through in a timely way to get their problems resolved. My clients have a toll-free number to call 24/7 if they need help.
  
• Working with a human being. When you use a travel consultant, you're not reduced to clicking buttons on a webpage. You have an experienced travel professional working for you. You can ask questions and get advice. I have traveled the world, very likely have visited the places you're thinking of traveling to, and have a network of contacts who can smooth the way for you.
  
• Special requests. Would someone at expedia call the sales manager at Napili Kai, let them know a honeymoon couple is coming, and ask that they be VIP'ed for their stay? I don't think so ... but this the kind of service I provide every day for my clients.
  
• Small touches like having all the paperwork for your rental car pre-filled. There is a special Classic counter for my clients at the Hertz office in Maui; they won't have to wait in line for their rental car.

How did the story turn out? My clients ended up booking through me. It doesn't always happen, but my job is to give my clients the best advice, service, and value I possibly can. travel consultant (search here on Google) copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website. .

beware of orbitz...

I participated in an online forum last week on the subject of booking luxury hotel rooms online. My assertion: you can usually get much better value booking from a travel agent specializing in luxury travel, especially an agent who is a Virtuoso member. My assertion was challenged by another forum participant who urged readers to forget my advice. "[E]asy to book any of the luxury ones on-line," he wrote. The discussion continued, with another member telling of bargains he had gotten on Priceline. He also mentioned skyauction.com as a source of "excellent hotel luxury values."

So I did an experiment (which readers are encouraged to duplicate on their own). My methodology was as follows. I simulated three identical bookings (on Friday, Dec. 8 at 12 noon PST) for the lowest priced "luxury hotel" in Paris offered by skyauction.com, the Splendid Etoile (pictured above): one room for two guests for two nights, checking in March 15. (Skyauction has a two night minimum).

(1) I simulated the booking on skyauction.com.
(2) I simulated the identical booking on orbitz, travelocity, and expedia (the Big Three).
(3) I simulated the identical booking on Sabre (a GDS used by travel agents that shows availability and all available rates).
(4) I compared the rates, payment terms, and cancellation policy.


The results

(1) Skyauction charged a base rate of $245 a night, adding $32 per night for taxes and service fees, and a $20 processing fee. Total cost: $574. This amount is charged immediately to your credit card, and the reservation is NON-CANCELABLE and NON-REFUNDABLE.

(2) Orbitz charged a base rate of $318.42 a night including breakfast, adding a total of $57.95 in taxes and fees. Total cost: $694.44. This is a pre-paid rate (meaning they charge this immediately to your credit card). If you cancel more than three days prior to arrival, Orbitz charges a $25 cancellation fee. Within three days, you are charged for one night.

By the way, neither Travelocity nor Expedia showed availability at this hotel.

(3) The Sabre GDS showed all the available rates. The "Exclusive Hotels Best Rate" was 119 EUR ($158) with taxes included. Total cost in USD: $316. You guarantee the room with your credit card (your card is not charged), and you can cancel without penalty up to 3 days before arrival. Within three days, you are charged for one night.

(4) Another observation: Skyauction, orbitz, and travelocity give Splendid Etoile a four-star rating. Expedia gives it a three-and-one-half star rating. The hotel's own description on Sabre states that they have a three-star rating from the French Tourist Board.


My conclusions

(1) If you want the experience that a luxury hotel can offer you, take online promotions of luxury hotel values with a grain of salt. Make that a lot of salt! You would likely be quite disappointed with the Splendid Etoile if you are looking for upscale, luxury accommodations. A travel consultant who specializes in luxury hotels will have extensive knowledge and experience to guide you in the selection of a hotel.

(2) Beware of orbitz, even with their "low price guarantee." The "special negotiated rate" they quoted in this experiment was more than double what any travel agent in the world can get you.

(3) Beware of pre-paying for your room. When you prepay an online travel agent such as orbitz, you may be booking a NET rate that orbitz has negotiated with the property and is marking up. How much is the markup? I don't know, but compare prices and make your own guess.

(4) Do your internet shopping first; then go to your travel agent and see what he or she can do for you. True story: A client recently came to me with a discount price she had gotten from the hotel's own website for a two night booking. I saved her 140 EUR (about $186) ... and got her free breakfasts each morning in addition, as well as a room upgrade upon arrival if available.


orbitz travelocity expedia luxury hotel sabre gds value online booking Virtuoso skyauction priceline travel consultant