Finding hotel discounts is easy right? Well, it can be but largely thanks to a new law called Rate Parity, the process of doing so has changed entirely.
In the past, finding online travel discounts was a simple matter of logging on to Expedia, Orbitz or one of the many other traditional booking engines and performing a quick search. Fast and effective, these booking engines had all the best prices and a most convenient way of filtering them to find the best one. In fact, there was actually no reason to book direct with a hotel or look anywhere else as why bother when you know they have the best price guarantee?
So what has changed for finding hotel discounts?
If you perform a search on any of the traditional travel booking engines today, you will quickly see how the price of a hotel room, for example, is the same across all platforms. That is, every traditional booking engine will now display the same price and without any actual discount.
As mentioned above, the reason for this lack of value is the introduction of a new law called Rate parity which stipulates that all travel booking websites must retain the same price across all channels of distribution. As Orbitz, Hotels.com, Expedia and most other booking engines are “underneath the same umbrella corporation”, it means they can no longer advertise different rates across their many platforms and hence, no more travel or hotel discounts.
Moral of the story: Traditional booking engines are still fast and convenient but they are no longer the best value and do not offer discounts like they have done in the past.
Finding Hotel discounts is still easy
Although there is still an extremely easy way to find hotel discounts and more online. Exempt from the laws of Rate Parity and offering a very convenient booking engine of their own, travel membership clubs such as Hotels Etc are now the “Go to” for hotel discounts, vacation packages and much, much more.
Home to over 4 million members and with a five star reputation spanning 25 years, Hotels Etc is a travel membership club who negotiate huge discounts direct with suppliers with the intention of relaying this incredible value to their members. Ranging from 50 – 70%, these are significant discounts and with a user friendly booking engine, they are easily accessible with the click of a button.
In truth, you may not have heard about Hotels Etc until now but this is also easily explained. Hugely popular in the early 1990’s, Travel membership clubs were the best way to find hotel discounts prior to the arrival of the internet but this popularity declined with the emergence of a golden era for travel booking engines. Faced with increased competition from travel brands with highly valuable services, Hotels Etc retained a large customer base but unfortunately, failed to grow significantly there-after.
However, as with any market, the history of the travel industry has a habit of repeating itself and with the introduction of this new law called rate parity, Hotels Etc and other travel membership clubs are now enjoying a resurgence of sorts. That being said, we need not tell you anymore about the incredible offers available in this closed user group as you can just come on over and see for yourself.
Travel discounts, Travel Tips 