A comparison site claiming it is cheaper than its own other brands – this is somewhat confusing but a part of the tourism industry.
Comparison websites. Love them or loathe them, they have become a part of regular life on the internet. If we need something, we compare the prices online. Many are just clones of one another, their individual unique selling point being that some brands can be seen on one comparison site, but not on others. However, they all use the same principle and pretty much the same comparison “engine” to drive them – in a nutshell, they ‘gather’ quotes from participating brands’ own websites and, as the name suggests, compare them. They then generate their income by receiving a fee or commission from the brands that customers click through to make a purchase from.
The cynics will suggest that if all brands stopped using them, and instead, deducted the millions of pounds generated by the fees or commission paid by comparison sites to them, the public would benefit from an automatic reduction in the cost of their holidays, flights, accommodation, insurance and more.
However, it’s not as simple as that, because some brands simply do not advertise on comparison websites. And not all purchasers use comparison websites.
The waters, however, become a little murky with some comparison sites. We regularly see the aggregation comparison site Trivago (one that compares the results of other comparison sites and apps rather than solely individual brands) advertise on television, not just nationally, but internationally. It will pull up results in its comparison results from brands such as Hotels.com, Expedia and others, who also advertise on television under their own names.
Now here’s the rub. Trivago and Hotels.com (together with ebookers.com, Vrbo and Cheaptickets to name some of the groups other brands) are all owned by Expedia. What we have here, is the very strange claim that one of a group’s brands (Trivago) can find either the best deal from one of its fellow group member brands (Hotels.com) or its own holding brand (Expedia), both of which also advertise individually themselves, or even that one of its fellow Expedia brands can actually be more expensive than Trivago
So, in a nutshell, here is a comparison site claiming it is cheaper than its own other brands. Some may say this is all rather confusing. Others may claim it’s an economy with the truth. You should perhaps decide for yourself!
Another anomaly in the UK is train journey comparison site trainline.com. This is a platform that many users praise to the hilt. I “phantom” booked (that is, I didn’t complete the purchase) the same trip on the same train to Euston London, leaving Manchester at 11.55 on a Wednesday, using both trainline.com and the National Rail website. Both sites priced my journey at £41.50. However, if I had made my purchase through trainline.com, they would have charged me an extra £1.39 booking fee. That, to me, is not exactly a result I would personally “praise to the hilt”. Paying an extra service fee for an identically priced fare!
It has now become very convenient and somewhat “exciting” for people to design their own bespoke holidays, rather than opt for a package holiday. It’s easy to see why. You can pick your destination, check there’s a flight and then make your accommodation choice from a far larger range of options than those offered by the set package holidays. You can also add a rental car in advance from a potentially larger choice of providers and less cost than those tied into the package resort.
However, do take care when booking flights, accommodation and cars separately. Should your flight be excessively delayed or even cancelled (irrespective of the airport chaos at the time of writing), you may find that while you should receive a refund of your flight costs, you may not be refunded for your accommodation or vehicle rental. You may find hotels and apartments, in the same manner as a no show at a concert or theatre, will not offer a refund on the basis of you simply did not show up on the day, irrespective of the airline flight being cancelled. Before confirming your accommodation and/or car rental booking, ensure there is a refund option, even if it means paying that little extra.
Alternatively, while you must always take out a travel insurance package regardless of the type of holiday you book, purchase this well in advance of the holiday (many policies will not pay out for anything if you only purchase them a day or two prior to travel), and ensure your policy covers your accommodation and any purchased extras in the event of flight cancellations.
Unlike a holiday purchased as a package, you may not receive a refund for the self-booked accommodation, because:
Also, it can be worth contacting the hotel or apartment manager directly rather than booking via a platform – you may get a better deal!
