why I hate...

today's topic for Blog Every Day in May: rant about something

{this is my personal opinion, and not meant to offend anyone.}

I really hate Expedia/hotels.com/Priceline/third party booking websites.

I've only seen the business side of these websites though, I've never personally used any of them to book a reservation.

So here's how it usually goes: you're looking around on the internet to find accommodations for your next vacation. You want something clean and fabulous, but with a low price tag. Where do you head? Expedia, Priceline, or some other third party booking website.

I'm just going to stop here and start over. I forgot where I was going with this.

So sometimes it happens on accident; I get that. You think that you're looking at the hotel's website, and you think that the 800 number listed is for the hotel. Guess what? The people on the other line will tell you whatever you want to hear, because they want their cut of this reservation. "Is there a pullout couch in this room?" "Oh yes, of course there is." No. There is not a pullout couch in that room.

Here's a good one: I had a woman book through one of these sites, and she told them that she needed a room with one bed, on the first floor, since she read that that is where we allow pets. The person at the third party told her it was okay to have her on the second floor. Gotta love when they don't even listen to the customer!

Double bookings are always fun too. Especially when you are already full, and have no other rooms to move people into.

I know that people think that these websites give them better deals on room rates, but they really don't. It will usually cost you about the same amount to book a reservation directly, versus through a third party, but if you ask about discounts when talking to someone at the hotel {such as AAA or AARP} they can usually help out with that.

I guess my point {I do have one} is that you should always try to book directly with the hotel. Need to cancel? The hotel can take care of that for you. Have questions? The hotel has the correct answers. As with third party bookings, you can either call the hotel directly, or you could book through the hotel's website if you would prefer to do that.

Have you ever booked through any of these third party websites? Was it a good experience, or a bad one?

xoxo.