In one post, I talked about booking a hotel through TravelBook.ph and in separate post, I talked about booking through Booking.com. In this post, I will be comparing the two booking sites but I will only be talking about value for money, not the ease of booking as I already touched that area in each individual post.
It is normal for both sites to claim that they offer the best value for your money and that makes it confusing to most people including me. At first, I was torn between these two sites as I wanted to book through one site only. But the hotels in my shortlist are not available for booking through one site only so I didn’t had a choice but to book through two sites; TravelBook.ph for our overnight stay in Cebu and Booking.com for our 3-night stay in Panglao.
I am happy and satisfied with the booking I made with TravelBook.ph as it is indeed evident that I availed a discount. Let’s say the rate of hotel A based on the hotel’s website is Php 1000 for a standard room. TravelBook.ph offers 35% discount for that particular hotel/room so the cost is supposedly 650 but you have to pay for the 12% tax which is Php 78 (12% of Php 650) so the total amount that will be charged to my credit card is Php 728. Indeed, when I checked my account online (and also when the paper bill arrived), the amount stated when I made the booking is what appeared on my bill.
Whereas with Booking.com, they make you believe that you are getting a good deal but in fact, you will be charged with the same amount the hotel will charge you when you book with them directly. Take for example the hotel I booked with them. In the hotel’s website, my preferred room costs Php 1500/night. So for three nights, I will be paying Php 4500 (including taxes) if I book directly with the hotel. When I booked with Booking.com, my total room price is said to be Php 4017.87 (less discounts already). However, I failed to see the small text below the total room that says “VAT (12%) not included”. Being the first timer that I am, I proceeded with the payment only to realize later than the amount reflected on my credit card bill is “drum rolls”... Php 4500. The same if I booked with the hotel directly. I felt bad for the confusion and felt worse when I tried to check TravelBook.ph for the same hotel a couple of weeks after. Check the comparison below:
 |
| Hotel rate via TraveBook.ph |
 |
| Hotel rate via Booking.com |
 |
| I guess when I booked with Booking.com, this is what they showed me. They had me at "value deal". |
 |
| They make me believe that Php 1339.29 is the discounted rate but in fact it is the hotel’s actual price less the 12% tax. |
The sad thing is, Booking.com doesn't offer free cancellation and I’m not even sure if they allow cancellation of bookings. Maybe if I booked with Agoda instead, I could have disputed the charge since I read somewhere in Agoda.com something like "show us another offer that is cheaper than Agoda and we’ll charge you that same price". Oh well, I will just charge it to experience.
This post is not intended to discredit Booking.com and I am not discouraging you, my readers, to avoid booking with them. I just want to remind you to be very meticulous when making transactions such as this to prevent you from paying more and getting scammed. I am not closing my doors on Booking.com, I just have to be very careful next time (but there isn’t a next time with them if I can find good deals with TravelBook.ph) :D
No comments