alt Hacker NewsThere are a few more modern OTAs that rebate a portion of the OTA commission back to you (see Rove, often rebating 15+%) and more that rebate a flat rate (Chase at 8%, Amex at 5%, Cap1 at 10%, etc). The "member pricing" is often 1-2% lower at most, so going through an OTA should get you around 10% off rack rate at minimum, more if commissions are particularly high (hotels pay about 20-30+%, so it's not uncommon to see 20% returns on Rove. Highest I've seen is 50%!).
OTAs can play "member" pricing games too I think so there's even better deals to be had.
So you definitely need to comparison shop, I make my agent take the pricing from all the OTAs and calculate a post-rebate price, then pick the lowest one.
> There are a few more modern OTAs that rebate a portion of the OTA commission back to you (see Rove, often rebating 15+%) and more that rebate a flat rate (Chase at 8%, Amex at 5%, Cap1 at 10%, etc).
You are still overpaying when using Amex/Chase/Cap1 portals.
$105-110 book on Amex/chase/cap1 portal
$101-102 after 5-8% travel portal cash back
versus
$100 book direct Hilton/marriott/IHG rate
$96-97 after 3-4% cash back everything card.
Don’t even get me started on “premium programs” like Amex FHR, Chase Edit, etc. Probably overpaying by $100+/night. Much cheaper to just pay for 4 pm checkout. And early check-in is dead anyway.