Is it better to book directly with airlines and hotels or use a third-party site? Experts weigh in
When it comes to booking your holiday - flights, accommodation, activities - you have a lot of choices.
Airlines and hotels offer loyalty points and big sales to get you to book directly with them. Meanwhile, third-party booking sites let you manage everything in one place while searching for the cheapest option.
So, which one should you go with? We asked some experts to weigh in.
READ MORE: The best places in Australia for a staycation
How do you prefer to book? Getty
First things first, let's clear up the difference between all the online booking options.
Booking direct means you're making a transaction directly with an airline or a hotel, with no middlemen involved at all.
Then there are third-party sites like Booking.com and Expedia. These are known as online travel agents or OTAs. They allow you to see an overview of everything that's available, whether that be flights to a certain destination or every accommodation choice in a city.
There are also sites like Skyscanner (for flights) and Trivago (for hotels), which act as a meta search engine. They scrape info from all the travel providers and OTAs and look at who's got what price for what product at any given time.
You don't actually do a transaction with them, they just point you to what is supposedly the best place to buy the travel product that you want to buy.
Ok, now into the costs and benefits.
READ MORE: All the airlines flying out of the new Western Sydney International Airport
Booking directly with the hotel can come with perks. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Is it cheaper to book hotels directly?
These days, hotels are pretty much the same price no matter where you book them.
Australian Traveller's Quentin Long tells 9Travel that most travel operators - like hotels and airlines - are "trying as best as they possibly can to get direct bookings, so there's no price advantage anymore in booking through a third party."
The biggest advantage of booking directly with a hotel is access to perks like loyalty points, elite status benefits, and upgrades. However, these are only given to loyal, return customers.
If you're a frequent traveller, it's worth trying to stay with the same chain wherever you go to lock in discounts.
READ MORE: Family-friendly Airbnbs in NSW to stay this Easter
Meanwhile, OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia allow you to rack up points and rewards as well.
Many have their own rewards schemes, so you can collect points with each trip even if you don't always fly with the same airline or stay in the same hotel chain.
Some OTAs offer special perks at hotels - like room upgrades. Crowne Plaza
Sarah King, Expedia travel expert, tells 9Travel that when booking with Expedia, you can access VIP perks at certain properties, like upgrades, late checkout, and dining credits, just like how some hotels offer their own direct-booking perks.
There's another option - if you find that booking through an OTA gives you a cheaper price than directly booking with the hotel, you can give them a call.
A 2016 agreement brokered by the ACCC lets Australian hotels give discounts over the phone that they can't provide online.
So if you call up and quote the lower online price, there's a good chance they may offer you a better rate if you book directly. It's always worth a try.
Is it cheaper to book flights directly?
There isn't often too much of a difference between where you book your flights. On occasion, some travel agencies can access lower fares not available to the public, which can make it beneficial and cheaper to book with an agent.
But overall, you're better off booking direct, for peace of mind if something goes wrong.
Booking direct with an airline can save headaches down the line. Getty
The biggest perk of booking flights directly with your airline is that it's so much easier to handle anything that goes wrong.
Chris Chamberlin, freelance travel journalist and points coach, tells 9Travel: "I always prefer to book directly with airlines and hotels. When something goes wrong, you're not stuck dealing with a middleman - you can talk straight to somebody who can make a decision."
Say you were in Dubai when the airspace was closed due to conflict in the region, and your flight was cancelled. If you'd booked with an OTA, the airline wouldn't be able to do anything to help you.
They'd say "sorry, you booked this with a third party, go to them for help".
Benefits of booking travel with a third-party site
A big benefit of using a third-party booking site is that you can do everything in one place - hotels, flights, car rentals, and even tours or activities.
"Travellers can plan and book everything they need for their trip in the one place, with one account, one itinerary, and one support experience that keeps every detail organised from door-to-door," says Sarah.
This saves you from having to swipe between emails and apps to find what you need while you're on the road.
Quentin points out that they often have better booking terms - like not having to pay till you arrive, and booking cancellation terms that are more favourable.
Keep everything in one place with a third-party site. Getty
You can also use third-party sites to save you time and money. Skyscanner, for example, has launched a new feature that brings train and flight options together in a single search, making it easier for travellers to compare routes.
In places like Europe, where trains can often be faster and cheaper than flights, this easy way to search and compare can really come in handy.
Some sites also offer deals where you can bundle different elements of your trip to save money.
"Ultimately, the advantage of third-party sites lies in their ability to give travellers choice and control by combining intelligent travel tools with seamless flexibility, great value, and ease," Sarah tells us.
Trains can be a cheaper and faster way to travel. Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
What are the risks of using third-party booking sites?
Again, the main thing when booking with a third-party site or an OTA is that it's tricky to solve problems when they arise.
If something goes wrong, you're so much better off having your booking direct with the hotel or the airline.
Chris tells us that, when booking with an OTA, you have basically no contact with the airline until you get to the airport.
"You'll need to liaise with the agency about any flight changes, cancellations or other requests, as the agency 'owns' the ticket - and by extension, they own the customer relationship before travel day," he explains.
Some hotels may reward those who book directly. Getty
Do hotels give better rooms to guests who book directly?
Some hotel staffers admit that they provide better service to guests who have booked directly rather than with a third-party site.
"Hotels can be slugged up to 30 per cent commission by some booking platforms, whereas direct bookings at the hotel don't attract this fee," says Chris. "Customers who book direct are more profitable, so hotels reserve the best benefits for those travellers."
When you book directly with the hotel, you're also in direct contact with the staff, allowing for a more personalised experience - if you need to make special requests, amend your booking, or even ask for a corner room with more space.
