And yes downvote me but maybe think about whether spending more money going to first-party sites is actually serving you?

While I didn't downvote you, I'm one of those "idiots" who tends to book directly on hotel web sites because I'm a member of several free-to-join hotel loyalty programs. The aggregators generally do not beat prices available for members (which, again, I can be for free). It's not uncommon for me to find specials, room types, or even availability, period, available on the direct sites that the aggregators don't have. And I have never once been told "sorry, we can't find your reservation" if I book on the direct website, whereas I absolutely have run into that issue -- albeit generally with independent hotels and B&Bs -- when booking through aggregators.

But, sure, I'm obviously an idiot! I'm just over here drooling stupidly while I get better and/or cheaper hotel rooms.

Thanks for your response. I apologise, the term "idiots" was definitely over-the-top - while there are people who are paying more than they should, I didn't know about the loyalty programs (which makes me the idiot). Maybe it's a US-centric thing. In any case I understand that your experience with booking direct has been better than using third party.

The annoying thing is that should so obviously be the case! Booking direct should always be cheaper and better, right? But I've found that even if booking.com is cheaper the hotel refuses to match the price when booking directly. And they never told me about any loyalty scheme :/

I didn't downvote you, but I did notice that you are making repeated assertions about price disparity between direct and third party; multiple people are posting actual links and experiments showing you wrong; to which you more vehemently ("idiots") repeat the assertions (without evidence).

I apologised in another comment and admit it is not universally true, as many people have pointed out. However I have repeatedly tried to get hotels to price match; they don't, and they never mentioned a loyalty scheme. That is my personal experience. Of course it may differ based on the type of hotel (I don't use very expensive chain hotels), the country, etc.

Numerous times I’ve booked direct with the hotels and it’s cheaper than or same as 3rd party.

Booking.com requires the cheapest price, unless you are talking about the price from the hotel’s rewards program, which they will push very hard. It’s a contract loophole that works out for everyone except the non-savvy (or privacy-conscious) consumer.

Similar dynamic with credit cards, where retailers are forbidden from offering a cash discount. Though some skirt this using rewards programs— in Canada for example, Canadian Tire gives you more Canadian Tire "money" if you pay with debit or cash.

Best price requirements should be straight up illegal IMO.

In fairness, if credit card processors hadn't been permitted to require that and customers had had to pay the fee, credit cards would never have achieved liftoff.

Which is maybe as much of an argument as any, if it had put pressure on the processors to minimize or eliminate the fee and find alternative revenue streams to sustain themselves and build out the network. Instead we got a world where the fee has been static forever and the gains from automation have gone to cashback and rewards programs for customers, ultimately making it more expensive to pay with cash.

That's simply not true. I just did search to see if anything has changed. I searched for hotels in the Seattle area for a 5/18 reservation. The 3rd item in a hotel's result [1] is the direct hotel's price. It matches the same reservation on the hotel's website [2]. Another hotel's result [3] has the lowest price as direct booking.

[1] https://i.imgur.com/XtDkLZj.png

[2] https://i.imgur.com/gHJgB3I.png

[3] https://i.imgur.com/MVVqmFG.png

For reference: to be part of a hotels “rewards program” just requires you to create a free account.

What privacy concerns are you alleviating by not signing up for the hotels loyalty program? They are going to ask for ID when you get there and many require a credit card hold.

You can read the terms of service and privacy agreement for that "free account" to find out.

In general, the Hotel would not be offering a rewards program if it did not benefit them more than it cost. At the very least they are going to use your "free account" to try to get you to use that Hotel (chain) more.

They will be getting that information from you anyway when you check in.

Who do you think is more likely to sell your information to third parties - a hotel brand that has every incentive to keep your information to themselves or an aggregator?

> cost. At the very least they are going to use your "free account" to try to get you to use that Hotel (chain) more.

And a third party aggregator won’t try to get you to use their site more?

> except the non-savvy (or privacy-conscious) consumer.

Every single hotel I have been to already requires your ID and records your information at check in. In fact, it is required by pretty much all city laws in the US.

I also would not want to stay in a hotel that does not require it.

Even in countries where recording guest ID is a legal requirement, it can often be circumvented.

The rewards programs use your information to market to you, and sometimes third parties. Terms and conditions vary. As always, consult a lawyer before clicking accept on any EULA.

Of course they do. Grocery stores, airlines, car rentals, hotel brands, retail stores, everyone has a rewards program for a discount and they all have my info.

So far I do not receive any junk mail other than credit card offers, which I take advantage of for the bonus.