Did you even take the time to read any of the links I gave pinniped? Why does my saying 'book direct' mean that I am on a 'jihad'? If others say the same thing as they do in the links I gave, are they too on a 'jihad'?

To me this is very simple. A third party in any transaction who does not add value to the equation, is a parasite. As I have written, initially they did bring something to the table, lower prices on late bookings. Those days however are gone. Now they add nothing to the equation at all except well marketed scare tactics and misleading information that is designed to do only one thing, make them money.

European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Booking your holidays online: Commission and consumer protection authorities act on misleading travel booking websites

For example, I did a search just now for an independent hotel that I am familiar with and for which I know which sites they deal with. One they do not deal with is booking com. So I searched on the booking com site and surprise surprise, up pops, 'we have no rooms available at this hotel for your chosen dates'. That is an outright lie as far as I am concerned. They never have a room since the hotel never does business with them. So what they do is avoid saying that in the hope that you will choose one of the hotels they do list in the area.

I like to do business with companies that are honest and upfront about what they offer me. If I ask in a supermarket, if they have cheddar cheese, I don't want to hear they are 'out of that at the moment', if they never stock it. I also don't want to hear, 'but we have apples which 3 people are looking at right now; hamburgers which 4 people have bought in the last 2 hours and only 2 packages of cookies left on our shelf'. I want a simple, 'sorry, we do not stock cheddar cheese.' Try and find an OTA that does that. They all attempt to avoid telling you an answer that does not suit them and try to mislead you into booking with them based on fear tactics. What would you say to a supermarket if they told you every week that, 'were out of that at the moment' and never told you the honest truth, that they don't stock the item you want? Would you consider that as being an OK business tactic to employ? Or would you take your business elsewhere?

Maybe you are willing to do business with a company that lies and misleads pinniped. Maybe you consider that 'normal business practice', I don't know. But I do know that I do not do business with a company that uses such tactics to try and get my money. I always book directly with the hotels I use, either by phone or at the front desk and I am quite sure I do not pay more on average than anyone else and most likely get better value for my money as well.