Excerpt from Which?
If you regularly book hotels on your computer, you could be paying over the odds for your stay, Which? Travel has found.
It’s little-known that Booking.com, Expedia and Hotels.com offer mobile-only discounts on selected hotels – promising up to 40% off stays – but only if the booking is made on a smartphone.
A spot check on Booking.com revealed that 15 out of 50 listings had a cheaper ‘mobile-only price’. A pop-up announced: ‘You’re getting a reduced rate compared to the rate available on a computer or laptop.’
We slashed £270 off the price of an apartment in Amsterdam on Booking.com using this trick. We also saved £60 on a weekend in Edinburgh with Expedia.
Misleading discount claims on Expedia and Hotels.com
Don’t automatically assume you’re getting a good deal. We found one so-called discount that was cheaper if you booked on your computer, and many others failed to offer the savings advertised.
Five out of 10 ‘mobile exclusives’ that we found on Hotels. com were the same price when we cross-checked them on our laptop. For Expedia, four out of 10 were the same price.
Even when mobile prices were cheaper, we found savings could be hugely exaggerated. A Hotels.com ‘40% off’ mobile exclusive for Ocean Drive hotel in Seville sounded appealing at £235. But, when we checked on our laptop, we were quoted £274 – a much smaller mobile saving of 15%.
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