Accommodation on Agoda and Booking.com is Cheaper When Clicking through from TripAdvisor.

Russ on 24/07/2024 - 14:28
Last edited 31/07/2024 - 22:41

I'm considering a Japan holiday, and have been browsing which hotels I'd like to stay at, on Booking.com and Agoda.

But often those sites have only one or two pictures of the hotel room, so I looked up the same hotels on TripAdvisor. And then noticed the same rooms appeared to be cheaper on TripAdvisor!

So I clicked through the TripAdvisor links to Booking.com and Agoda, and indeed the rooms were AU$10 - AU$20 cheaper per night, than if I booked directly on Booking.com or Agoda. And these were already some of the cheapest rooms in each city!

Can someone please confirm I'm not seeing things? And is there some hidden catch that I haven't noticed?

At the time, I was logged into Booking.com, but I've never logged into TripAdvisor nor Agoda. And it couldn't be cookies in my web browser, as I boot from a Linux live-CD and install the latest version of Firefox before web-browsing, so the browser starts with no cookies at all.

For example, Hotel Mystays Kameido, 2 adults 1 room, "Annex Twin Room - Non-Smoking, Linen Change Excluded", from 1/12/24 to 7/12/24. For this room and hotel Booking.com doesn't change (AUD566=6x94.33), but Agoda goes from "AUD95" per night to "AUD84" per night.

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Comments

  • coffeeinmyveins on 24/07/2024 - 14:34

    Can someone please confirm I'm not seeing things? And is there some hidden catch that I haven't noticed?

    Dynamic pricing? AB testing prices? any one of a dozen reasons

    And it couldn't be cookies

    Don't need cookies to track and understand customer behaviour..

    • Russ on 24/07/2024 - 14:37

      I'm using incognito windows too, but they could be "fingerprinting" my PC.

      • coffeeinmyveins on 24/07/2024 - 14:39

        that's exactly what they're doing

      • jv on 24/07/2024 - 14:43

        I'm using incognito windows too

        Use a VPN and set it to Turkey.

  • brad1-8tsi on 24/07/2024 - 14:35

    prices vary from site to site. It's always been the case.

    • Russ on 24/07/2024 - 14:39
      +1

      But it's on the same site, Agoda in the example above. Agoda offered a better price when I clicked through from TripAdvisor, than if I went direct to Agoda.

      • No on 24/07/2024 - 17:24
        +1

        I have experienced this a few times before. Agoda will give a different price depending if you come via hotelscombined / trivago / cashback sites / tripadvisor / google.

  • Russ on 24/07/2024 - 14:35
    +1

    In case anyone is wondering, on the hotel's own website the cost is 9000JPY, which is 88.26AUD according to Google.

  • isthisreallife22 on 24/07/2024 - 14:36
    +1

    I have consistently found it best to first search (in a fresh incognito browser session) tripadvisor to get a baseline lowest cost, then work around other methods to see if I can find something cheaper. It is often the best

  • fivespice on 24/07/2024 - 14:47
    +2

    Try everything - through TripAdvisor, incognito, logged in, via cashback link, direct with hotel etc. Don't think there's a surefire way to get the optimal price.

  • 6079 Smith on 24/07/2024 - 15:10
    +2

    I’ve found Booking.com fairly stable but Agoda varies wildly depending on where you’ve clicked through and if you’re logged in. I generally find that accessing through TripAdvisor or Google Hotels gets the lowest

  • Shadowsfury on 24/07/2024 - 15:42
    +1

    yeah I've noticed the same every once in a while too

    Probably related to tagging you and realising you're going through an aggregator so better to show you a good price

  • CodeXD on 24/07/2024 - 16:04
    +2

    I found this new website https://www.vio.com/ that searches a few different websites including booking/trip advisor/agoda and I found it cheaper compared to going directly from trip advisor.

    Sometimes it will be a whole series of vio -> trip advisor -> agoda to finally get the cheapest price but it worked for me.

    • Russ on 25/07/2024 - 21:59
      +2

      Thanks, that works, but sometimes in a different order! Vio never offered me TripAdvisor for the places I was looking at, but I was able to go TripAdvisor->Vio->Agoda.

      For a different hotel, Vio->Agoda was $3/night more expensive than TripAdvisor->Agoda. I wasn't offered a "double hop" for this hotel, on either site.

      For everyone reading this post, here's an example for Quintessa Hotel Haneda, 1-7 Dec 2024, 2 people, "Twin Room - Non-Smoking":
      $697 Booking.com
      $660 Booking.com after logging in (says 10% discount level for me)
      $624 TripAdvisor->Agoda ($104 x 6)
      $552 TripAdvisor->Vio->Agoda ($92 x 6)

      That's a huge $145 difference! Almost 21% off!

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