Looking to save on your next holiday? Avoid booking websites and go directly to airlines and hotels to get the best deal.
That’s the advice from Which?, with the consumer watchdog noting that some booking websites offer poor customer service and rarely – if ever – find the cheapest prices.
Which? surveyed its members about their experiences of using both comparison sites (which trawl the internet for the best prices) and booking sites (which allow travellers to search for flights and accommodation and book on the same platform).
Separately, it also undertook research to discover the cheapest booking methods for both flights and hotels. The findings were based on 275 flight bookings and over 3000 accommodation bookings.
FLIGHT BOOKING AND COMPARISON SITES
Looking to save on your next holiday? Avoid booking websites and go directly to airlines and hotels to get the best deal. That’s the advice from Which?
Among flight booking sites, Expedia was the highest-scoring platform in the consumer watchdog’s survey, with a customer score of 70 per cent. Respondents awarded it three stars for value for money, ease of finding flexible fares, transparency of fees and site functionality.
However the research also found it was the site least likely to find consumers the cheapest flights. When Which? checked 10 different flight journeys across nine websites (including four booking sites and five comparison sites), and recorded the price shown for bookings one week, six weeks and six months before the departure date, Expedia failed to return the cheapest option on any occasion.
Which? noted that this may be because Expedia does not offer flights from some budget airlines, such as Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Meanwhile, Opodo returned the cheapest flights more often than any other site Which? looked at – 11 out of 30 times.
Opodo – the lowest-ranking flight booking site in the survey with a customer score of just 28 per cent – returned the cheapest flights more often than any other site Which? looked at
Conversely, Opodo received a one-star rating for customer service, and a customer score of just 28 per cent – making it the lowest-ranking flight booking site in the survey. Difficulties getting hold of customer service agents was a frequent complaint. One respondent said the site offers ‘zero customer service’.
Previous Which? research also found that while some online travel agents (OTAs) such as Opodo may often offer the cheapest headline fare, once extras such as baggage or seat selection are added, the final price will often work out significantly more expensive than booking directly with the airline.
Booking directly is not only likely to prove cheaper in the long run, but will also ensure you know where the responsibility lies when something goes wrong, said Which?.
To this end, the consumer champion found comparison sites can be a useful tool for finding the airline with the best price.
With a customer score of 64 per cent, Google Flights was the best performing flight comparison site, with respondents awarding it four stars for site functionality – the highest of any comparison site rated in the survey.
With a customer score of 64 per cent, Google Flights was the best performing flight comparison site
It found the cheapest flights on six out of 30 occasions – comparable to Kayak and Cheap Flights, which each found the cheapest flights on five occasions.
With no flight comparison site vastly outperforming the others on their ability to find the cheapest flight, the consumer champion recommends checking at least a couple of platforms before committing to a booking decision.
However, it’s worth remembering that comparison sites do not vet the site they send you on to – whether an airline or booking site.
HOTELS
When Which? carried out a similar price analysis for hotel bookings, there was a clear winner. The consumer champion compared the cost of 30 overnight stays in ten hotels across nine different websites, and found booking direct rather than using a booking site offered the cheapest price half the time.
Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel, said: ‘Comparison sites can be an excellent starting point, scouring the internet to take the hard work out of your decision-making’
BEST ACCOMMODATION AND FLIGHT BOOKING AND COMPARISON SITES
ACCOMMODATION BOOKING SITES
1. Booking.com – 73% (customer score)
2. Airbnb – 71%
3. Hotels.com – 70%
4. Expedia – 67%
5. Agoda – 66%
6. Vrbo – 66%
FLIGHT BOOKING SITES
1. Expedia – 70%
2. Booking.com – 55%
3. Lastminute.com – 40%
4. Opodo – 28%
FLIGHT AND ACCOMMODATION COMPARISON SITES
1. Google Flights – 64%
2. Skyscanner – 59%
3. Kayak – 56%
4. Trivago – 56%
5. Tripadvisor – 53%
6. Travel Supermarket – 51%
7. Cheapflights – 42%
8. Flight Finder – 40%
BEST SITES FOR FINDING CHEAPEST FLIGHTS MOST FREQUENTLY
1. Opodo
2. Google Flights
3. Cheap Flights
4. Kayak
5. Tripadvisor
6. Skyscanner
7. Lastminute.com
8. Booking.com
9. Expedia
Source: Which? Travel
Comparison sites again proved useful, however, returning the best, or joint best price on multiple occasions. Kayak and Trivago were most frequently successful, finding the lowest, or joint lowest price on 12 occasions, while Skyscanner was close behind with 11 times.
Hotel booking sites, on the other hand, were more likely to source the highest prices.
Agoda returned the most expensive price on 14 out of 30 occasions, while Expedia and Booking.com each had the dearest prices on 13 out of 30 occasions.
There was also little to distinguish many of the booking sites in terms of customer satisfaction. Booking.com received the highest customer score, with a rating of 73 per cent, and achieved a four-star rating for both site functionality and transparency of fees, just slightly edging out Airbnb (71 per cent) and Hotels.com (70 per cent).
Calling a hotel directly will often secure you the best price or at the very least they’ll throw in a freebie like a bottle of wine or a room upgrade
Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel
Expedia received 67 per cent in this category, while Agoda and Vrbo tied in last place, with customer scores of 66 per cent.
Naomi Leach, Deputy Editor of Which? Travel, said: ‘Comparison sites can be an excellent starting point, scouring the internet to take the hard work out of your decision-making. We’d advise checking a couple of different platforms so you have the best possible chance of finding the right option for you.
‘Once you’ve narrowed down your selection, book directly. Booking with the airline will usually prove cheaper than using an Online Travel Agent (OTA), and will mean you know exactly who is responsible should something go wrong. Calling a hotel directly will often secure you the best price or at the very least they’ll throw in a freebie like a bottle of wine or a room upgrade.’
An Opodo spokesperson said: ‘This survey was based on responses from only 44 customers, which is 0.0002 per cent of the 20million travellers that book through our platform each year. We care passionately about every single Opodo customer and we are always looking at how we can make our customer service even better, but consumers also need to be aware that surveys based on such tiny sample sizes are not robust or representative.
‘We get feedback from the millions of people that book through Opodo each year and nine out of ten tell us they are satisfied or very satisfied with the service they receive. Since the pandemic, through significant investment in technology and our customer service team, we have supported millions of people who have faced travel disruption and got our average call answering time down to only 60 seconds, all while expanding the range of options available to consumers to help them keep costs down, make travel more convenient, and discover new destinations and experiences.
‘Like all businesses we get it wrong sometimes, but consumers should be reassured that the overwhelming majority of people that book with us have a positive experience.’
Source link
CHECK OUT: Top Travel Destinations
READ MORE: Travel News
