What to know about booking a hotel with Orbitz.

January 9, 2009 by sukilove.

I have worked in hotel management for ten years.  I’m going to give you a few simple tips when booking, something you should know before you leap to ’save’ a few dollars!

It’s a good idea to always call the hotel previous to jumping online trying to save a few dollars by booking through Orbitz.  Ask your hotel if they have specials, discounts or even coupons.  Never fail to call the hotel first.  If the first person you speak with at the hotel doesn’t give you a discount, it doesn’t mean that the person on the next shift won’t!

Orbits and other hotel booking agencies will basically fill the lower end rooms of a hotel for reservations.  Most if not all hotels will put Orbitz and other agencies into the cheapest rooms that they have. Your special request is never ever guarenteed.  The hotel typically will take these reservations to fill up empty rooms.  Most of the rooms they fill first are rooms that are there lowest prices. Want to be by the indoor pool?  I say it’s not going to happen, you’re going to be far away from the best aspects of the hotel.  You’re going to get the crappiest room.  I am sure that not all hotels are like this, but a majority of them will be.  They get paid $40 for a room that a walk in guest would normally pay $70 for.  You are not going to get a great deal.  The hotel is not to show you your receipt.  Orbitz and the hotel does not want you to know how much Orbitz is making for booking your reservation. Most likely you have paid the same rate the hotel would have charged you and you don’t get as many choices or options if you would have called the hotel directly.

Also, some hotel booking companies will NOT guarentee a preference like smoking or non-smoking, ground floor, pool side, single or double bed, etc.  You basically pay Orbitz to hold a room for you, you are never guaranteed a preference and you could be paying more for a room than you would have booking it at a hotel.

If you are truly interested in booking a good stay at a hotel, and you don’t want to waste your money, do comparison shopping with the hotels in the area you are staying in first.  Call the hotels first!  Don’t just look at their website for prices, call the hotel and ask for discounts!  The people working at the hotel KNOW their property, they know what will be best suited for your tenure in one or more of their rooms.  Orbitz takes your money to hold a room for you.  They may  even charge you more than the hotel will.  You will most likely be put into a room that you will loathe.

The only good time to book a hotel through Orbitz is if you simply don’t care what kind of room you will get and are willing to gamble, you also already know that the hotel rates are higher than Orbitz.

One last thing, and yes I have done this for my customers!—–Ask the hotel to match the Orbitz rate!  Don’t be shy!  I do it all of the time.  Not only will you be better off booking it at the hotel, you are going to be well informed of what your hotel room and stay will be like. You won’t be in the dark about it!  You will also be avoiding the fees you’re paying to Orbitz!  They don’t like to cancel reservations!  I know that if a potential guest is going to book online with Orbitz, I will only make about $40 on that room.  I would normally make $70. Orbitz will charge them $60.  I can make that $60 matching their rate, getting the full price and Orbitz doesn’t make any profit, my hotel does.  Some hotels MAY NOT do this, but it certainly does not ever hurt to ask!  The hotel can make more by giving you this discount than by letting Orbitz take your money and book it for you.

Knowing the way  many hotels set up Orbitz reservations, I would always suggest to spend your time talking to the hotel reservations office first.  Skip the third party booking and the hassle of never knowing where you’re going to end up in that fancy resort you chose for your wedding night…(only to end up near a loud elevator and ice machine with a broken toilet in a smoking handicapped room with a twin bed).  Ok, that was a joke but still……it’s a gamble, one I would prefer not to waste my money on.  They capitalize on filling empty crap rooms at hotels and taking a huge fee to do so.

My basic point is that hotels utilize Orbitz to fill empty rooms, to raise their ADR/RevPar, to gain revenue for rooms that otherwise will not be rented.  Orbitz even states on some of their hotel mailings that they are great for filling up unwanted rooms (NOT WORDED exactly that way but the meaning is there).

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