FrequentSherm

Hello,

I have spotted what appears to be a fantastic deal for Hotel only in the Seychelles (honeymoon).

Four Seasons Hotel on Mahe
5 nights B+B in Garden View villa B+B booked direct with the hotel: £3,596
5 nights B+B in Garden View villa B+B booked direct with BA: £3,192 (a saving of £400)

5 nights B+B in Ocean View villa B+B booked direct with the hotel: £5,228
5 nights B+B in Garden Ocean View villa B+B booked direct with BA: £3,923 (a saving of £1,300)

This appears to be too good to be true... The hotel's site clearly states it includes all taxes and fees. BA's general T&Cs states that "Your accommodation price (if any) will usually include all Government taxes and compulsory service charges, however some destinations and/or hotels will require you to pay additional taxes and compulsory service charges whilst you are at the hotel e.g. City Taxes, Resort Fees etc. We will endeavour to provide you with information about any such charges at time of booking."

Does anyone have any experience of BA's price being misleading? I cannot see any statement through the booking process that the price excludes any fees.

Thanks,

Stuart

groenroos

I assume the second one there is also meant to be Ocean View - otherwise I can tell you exactly why the price difference is

I haven't ever experienced the pricing excluding taxes or fees; and I have often seen travel agents (BA Holidays and others) offering rooms for less than booking direct. Typically the difference is explained by BA having access to rates not generally available - and you're unlikely to get loyalty points and other perks, which explains some of the price difference.

Additionally, it's good to always look out for "local city taxes", "resort fees", and other things like that, which are payable directly to the hotel, whether or not you are booking directly with the hotel. Why these items that have "taxes" and "fees" in the title aren't part of the "taxes and fees" that are included in the price, I'll never know.

corporate-wage-slave

I haven't got much personal experience of making BA hotel only bookings, but from reading threads about this over the years, the general principle is that generally the price given by BA is all in. The two exceptions can be the very low tourist tax fee in some European cities (often only a Euro) which lower end hotels may then collect on arrival. Higher end hotels often just sink this, on a big bill 1€ isn't material. The other exception if Las Vegas and a few other places where hotels have resort fees, but BA is then usually very clear about what this fee should be and will highlight it during the booking process. Either to say it is included or to say it's charged on arrival.

So for a hotel like this I wouldn't expect any undeclared surprises, and I'm not surprised by the rates, the margins on this sort of business are huge. Once you are over $200 a night, margins of 100% plus are quite common, so though this looks like a fat discount I don't think the Four Seasons Accounts Receivables are going to be too stressed by it. Nor is Álex either, for that matter.

mikeyfly

Well in the case of Vegas where there’s a circa $50 per night resort fee, this is made very clear through the booking and payment screens that it’s payable to the hotel direct and not included in the BA holiday cost.

secretmachines

edited