Booking.com??

BillieBob

Hey all,
Booking last minute for next week and see some good deals on Booking.com. I've never used them before (have used hostelworld.com and found them good) and just want to check that it's a good website and that if I book through them that the hotel will actually have the reservation?

Thanks for any feedback.

oakshade

Used them many times with no issues at all... enjoy your holls

Kathnora

Hotels.com are also good... have used them a lot with no bother. You can always check out reviews of hotels too on tripadvisor.com

AnnyHallsal

I use booking.com all the time now and think they're great. They always seem to offer the lowest price and their rating system has been reliable. Never had an issue with them.

BillieBob

Cool, thanks for the quick replies. Reckon I'll book through them as they sound good.

Ponster

JFI, They are one of the biggest hotel booking sites in the world

nic2ie

I like them because the majority of the time they only hold your credit card so you can cancel it if you need to or (if you see the price go down closer to the date cancel it and rebook it again) free of charge

number10a

Booking.com is probably the easiest place to book any hotel. And 99% of the time, you're charged nothing until you arrive at the hotel.

travelcrazy

booking.com is my favourite website of all time!! Very easy to use and rarely charge your credit card, use it everytime I'm heading off

hargo

Just be careful when you see free cancellation as we had to cancel a booking 6 days prior to arrival and had to pay 50% as it was after 8 days. It has free cancellation in big print beside booking but read the small print.

Sundew

OP like the others I thoroughly recommend booking.com
We have been using them for 5 years now.
My OH likes the fact that no money is taken out of your credit card unless you cancel with a few nights to go.
We have never had a problem with them

Daisy M

Hi I was just about to book a hotel on booking.com but it appears to state it will be taking full payment now from card. Is this correct or is it just taking card details for hotel?

nic2ie

Sometimes it does Daisy, make sure you read the cancellation policy if you do go ahead and decide to book it, I got caught out that way before.

Daisy M

nic2ie wrote: »

Sometimes it does Daisy, make sure you read the cancellation policy if you do go ahead and decide to book it, I got caught out that way before.

Ok thanks I will do I was under the impression that the free cancellation which I was paying more for would cover upto the last minute but obviously not thanks for the info. I think this site is the same as hotels.com which I used last year. It was meant to take the payment at the time but it didnt. When we got to the hotel they said payment had been declined but they had kept the reservation anyway. I think it was declined as I was using a debit card and the authorisation code is only allowed to be used once, there was ample money in the account.

killbillvol2

Daisy M wrote: »

Hi I was just about to book a hotel on booking.com but it appears to state it will be taking full payment now from card. Is this correct or is it just taking card details for hotel?

The majority of bookings on booking.com don't take the money up front. But, if you're close to the date of travel they sometimes want full payment. There are also promotions where hotels will offer a significantly reduced rate for full payment in advance. These can be great value if you're 100% certain you'll be there.

As always, read the fine print which you seem to be doing. (I have to say the fine print is a lot easier to find on that site than on a lot of others).

MOH

I used to use booking.com all the time but gave up on them after I ended up getting overcharged by a third party that they passed my c/c details to, despite having said they'd only ever send them directly to the hotel.

There was a thread about them a couple of month ago.

killbillvol2

MOH wrote: »

I used to use booking.com all the time but gave up on them after I ended up getting overcharged by a third party that they passed my c/c details to, despite having said they'd only ever send them directly to the hotel.

There was a thread about them a couple of month ago.

To be fair, apart from your issue, the rest of that thread illustrates one person's naivete in not reading T&Cs and somehow thinking that he/she could book a hotel without his/her CC details being passed to the hotel.

In fact, that thread is an example of how not to book a hotel...the OP checked reviews on Tripadvisor only after there was a problem!

bamboozle

must say i've used booking.com a lot, much better than hotels.com or other sites i've used, the reviews on it are legit as you have to book a room on it to be able to post a review.

MOH

killbillvol2 wrote: »

To be fair, apart from your issue, the rest of that thread illustrates one person's naivete in not reading T&Cs and somehow thinking that he/she could book a hotel without his/her CC details being passed to the hotel.

In fact, that thread is an example of how not to book a hotel...the OP checked reviews on Tripadvisor only after there was a problem!

In fairness, I mainly linked to it to avoid reposting my own woes all over again. I was pretty unimpressed with the way they handled the situation.

I've also noticed a new pressure tactic they seem to have lately where nearly every hotel I look at seems to have only one or two rooms left. Oddly enough, if I come back the next day, and even decide I want an extra room, the same hotels still come up again.

finbarrk

I think booking.com is probably the best website. I could never fault them anyway. Have used them numerous times over the last 4 or 5 years.

Dublin Mark

I use booking.com as my first reference when booking any trip.

Just boooked a nice weekend in Athlone with them - it is great that you can cancel without charge and there is no deposit required

Ferris_Bueller

Hey guys, just a quick question if anyone could answer it be great.

Booked accommodation through booking.com for 3 of us in Spain there about 2 weeks ago (going over next week). It says this under payment details:

"You have guaranteed your booking by credit card. Part of your payment will be taken by the accommodation provider, part has not yet been paid.
100 percent of the first night will be charged on the day of booking.
Booking.com will never charge your card. The accommodation provider will normally charge your card for the non-refundable part of your booking within 1-2 days. The remaining amount will be taken by the accommodation provider, normally during your stay, and they may pre-authorise this amount prior to your arrival. Occasionally the accommodation provider may take full payment upon your arrival. In all cases, your booking is guaranteed."

However I was under the impression that they took the full cost of the hotel off me there and then, and am just wary now that when we arrive in Spain they are going to ask us to pay the balance? Can anyone clarify this if they have used the website before?

Thanks in advance.

Daisy M

When I used them last year I thought they took the payment immediately but that was not the case. They passed on the details to the hotel who tried to take the payment but it was declined as I was using a visa debit card and it needed a new authorisation number. The hotel kept the booking and we paid on arrival. Maybe you should call the hotel to make sure all is ok?

Fratton Fred

Yep, you have to settle up with the hotel on arrival.

You can phone booking.com, their customer service is excellent and they will explain it all to you.

ProudDUB

This is nothing to do with credit cards and what not, but it does have a relevance to booking.com so I thought I'd post it here.

Just got back from a mini break to a certain West Cork locale that was booked on booking.com.

The ad for the hotel on the website said that they have free wifi throughout the entire hotel. Turns out they do not. It is only available in the lobby, and in rooms overlooking the street that was close to the wifi access point. Rooms around the back and to the side of the hotel do not have wifi. I need internet access 24/7 for my job, so this very important to me. I was moved to a room at the front of the hotel, but was woken up every morning at 5am by traffic noise, and delivery trucks making deliveries to the hotel and other nearby businesses. I did not get one single decent nights sleep on my entire stay there.

Complained about the situ to the front desk. Was told by the manager that he had asked bookings.com to remove the "free wifi in ALL rooms" tab from the hotel info on their website. He said that hee was sick of dealing with fall out & ticked off customers from it & having to give people discounts. I tended to believe him as his patter made sense. Anyway, after a week, this incorrect info was still on the bookings.com website. They did not take it down, as I presume they like having ads having untrue crap on their site. If it lures people into making a hotel booking via them, they make money off the booking, so what do they care?

So the moral of the story for me is that when booking via booking.com, if there is a hotel feature that is a deal breaker for you, call them or email the hotel for yourself and confirm it. Don't presume that the info on their website is correct or accurate. It may not be !

Eponymous

ProudDUB wrote: »

This is nothing to do with credit cards and what not, but it does have a relevance to booking.com so I thought I'd post it here.

Just got back from a mini break to a certain West Cork locale that was booked on booking.com.

The ad for the hotel on the website said that they have free wifi throughout the entire hotel. Turns out they do not. It is only available in the lobby, and in rooms overlooking the street that was close to the wifi access point. Rooms around the back and to the side of the hotel do not have wifi. I need internet access 24/7 for my job, so this very important to me. I was moved to a room at the front of the hotel, but was woken up every morning at 5am by traffic noise, and delivery trucks making deliveries to the hotel and other nearby businesses. I did not get one single decent nights sleep on my entire stay there.

Complained about the situ to the front desk. Was told by the manager that he had asked bookings.com to remove the "free wifi in ALL rooms" tab from the hotel info on their website. He said that hee was sick of dealing with fall out & ticked off customers from it & having to give people discounts. I tended to believe him as his patter made sense. Anyway, after a week, this incorrect info was still on the bookings.com website. They did not take it down, as I presume they like having ads having untrue crap on their site. If it lures people into making a hotel booking via them, they make money off the booking, so what do they care?

So the moral of the story for me is that when booking via booking.com, if there is a hotel feature that is a deal breaker for you, call them or email the hotel for yourself and confirm it. Don't presume that the info on their website is correct or accurate. It may not be !

I'm inclined to think it's easy for the manager to say it's Booking.com's fault. The details used by the site are those provided by management.

After all, the party that most benefits from having such inaccurate info is not booking.com, it's the hotel. You booked on the basis of wi-fi availability, if they didn't say they have it, you probably would have used the site to book a different hotel that did, so booking.com most likely wasn't going to lose out. You'll see plenty of hotels where the description cites wi-fi (public areas only) or something like that.

Absolutely agree with your last point though. If some element of the services provided could be a deal breaker, it's better to check before you book.

LiamMc

I have used them in the past and had already targeted a hotel which was delighted to find was also on the booking.com list. But with all these comparison sites I go into the private companies website aswell.

They asked for a review after a few days after our stay.

tatli_lokma

sign up for the daily flash deals for booking.com also - I have always found it a good way to snag a bargain. For eg, booked a hotel in Berlin for 2 nights with free cancellation. Was a good rate compared to other sites and the hotel direct. 3 days before our trip the hotel was listed in the flash deals at half the price. So cancelled the original booking with no cancellation fee because it was within the allowed cancellation period and rebooked via the flash deals link in the email. Saved ourselves €80!

JEmily

Does anyone know where on the Booking.com website you can put in the promotional code for discount? Can't seem to find it right up til the credit card details go in and the only last step is to confirm booking by which stage it would be too late...any help much appreciated

Sundew

Daisy M wrote: »

Hi I was just about to book a hotel on booking.com but it appears to state it will be taking full payment now from card. Is this correct or is it just taking card details for hotel?

daisyM: I stand corrected . We just booked a hotel in London last week and yes they did take full payment from our credit card. This is the first time ever that this has happened with a hotel we booked on booking.com and we have booked places in Stockholm, NewYork and Paris over the last few years with them.
We also booked hotel in birmingham but payment won't be charged till we get there.
Stll reckon they are one of the better sites to use and am a big fan

Chocoholic84

I've used it loads, however, I do always email the hotel as well...JUST to be sure they received the booking!

Hedgecutter

Thinking of booking a hotel using book.com but not sure ill make it booking might have to cancel. Is there any hidden charges through booking.com if I do cancel.

Hotel says you can cancel up to 4:00pm on day of arrival.

another native

I've cancelled hotels with booking.com. There wasn't any charge involved whatsoever, but I'd be very surprised if you could cancel it on your day of arrival. Best I got was free cancellation up to 11 pm on a Saturday for a Monday arrival. These may not have been the exact days of the week.

However, it will depend entirely on the specific cancellation terms that booking.com have given to you in writing at time of booking.