Originally Posted by pinniped
Why would you ever use Expedia, Travelocity, etc. for a hotel booking if they didn't offer a pretty good advantage over the hotel site to do so? Specifically - their niche is that they offer much cheaper rates with more restrictive rules. I use Expedia Special Rates from time to time when I absolutely want a property with a kitchen (in a Priceline zone where I can't specifically get that). That makes sense: that is Expedia's unique product. In certain cases, they do kind of fill that gap between Priceline and the full rate that I was writing about above.
I understand that you could also find the fully-refundable rates on Expedia.com (in fact, I see them there for Hampton Inns all the time), but if I want one of those I will go to the hotel site every time to book it. I don't understand why I would book that rate through Expedia when I can just book it through HHonors.com and know that I am only dealing with 1 confirmation number, 1 computer system to possibly mess things up, etc.
The reason I use expedia, on occasion, is when the rates are about the same, and the terms are about the same. A good example is a hotel that I use frequently on Long Island. The expedia rate and terms are the same as the hotel's own web site. Why book through expedia then? Well, I get a rebate on my UPromise for what gets booked through expedia.
I can see why some folks would have a problem with not receiving benefits and points on a stay where they receive no cheaper rate than that which they would have received on their own site. If the hotels are making rooms available to discounters at 30% off (which they are then marking up), why not make rooms available to their own web customers at 20% off? Problem is -- that is not really the way it is happening?
Stevekoe