So is there a more efficient way to compare prices? Today, we will introduce how to compare and book rooms more efficiently, how to find the real low price, and how to book hotels in 2022 in the most cost-effective way.
When traveling abroad, accommodation costs often account for most of the travel expenses. As savvy consumers, we all know the truth of shopping around without losing money. Ctrip is generally enough to book hotels in China. Basically, it’s not much worse than other websites. Ctrip’s monopoly position is still very stable.
But when booking hotels in other countries, the situation is very different. Well-known international booking sites include: Agoda, Booking, Expedia, Hotels, and some less well-known ones: Getaroom, HotelTravel, Asiatravel, etc.
Each website has its own advantages and is in a situation of competition for hegemony. The prices of the same hotel on different websites vary widely, and the price difference of some hotels is still very large. So usually we need to compare websites one by one to find the cheapest price, which is a very troublesome job.
This article is aimed at travelers who usually travel 1 or 2 times a year for tourism purposes, and the hotels they stay in generally do not have designated brands.
Step 1: Use Biyi.com to compare prices efficiently
We all know that we need to compare prices first when booking a room, but we are afraid of trouble, so how can we compare efficiently? We introduce you a price comparison website: Biyi.cn (website: www.biyi.cn).
When booking hotels in the future, you can use this website as the entrance. Through Biyi.com, you can compare the hotel prices of major websites in real time, find the cheapest price, click on it, and you can jump to that website, without the trouble of finding them one by one.
Now that the price comparison tool is available, let’s take the booking of the “Hong Kong Dragon Castle International Hotel” as an example (The Dragon Castle International Hotel is located in the central area of Tsim Sha Tsui, close to Victoria Harbour, and the transportation and shopping are very convenient) to see how to book the cheapest room.
Note that there is a trick here, and many booking sites have this problem, that when searching for the hotel name, don’t enter the full name of the hotel that you know from other places.
Because the hotel name of each website will be slightly different, you often cannot find the hotel when you enter the full name. When searching, you can enter the keyword of the hotel name. In fact, it is best to enter the English name of the hotel.
After entering the hotel page, we can see the price of Longbao International Hotel on various booking websites. The default is tax-free, and you can also choose tax-included price for comparison.
Step 2: Consider the promo code factor
Don’t forget that we can also use discount codes from major booking sites. After adding discounts with these codes, when considering the discount code factors, we must first have some basic understanding: Agoda, Booking and Ctrip rarely launch discount codes, Expedia has many, and Hotels has the most.
The following article will have a discount code, please save it first, you can use it when booking:
The latest discount codes from major booking sites (Agoda, Booking, Hotels, Expedia)
Through the article linked above, we can find more general discount codes
- Expedia offers 10% off with coupon code “AEPlatinum2016Q1”
- Hotels use the coupon code “CN5OFF” to get 5% off.
- After using the discount code “CN5OFF” at Hotels, the price including tax is RMB 1027.6.
In fact, considering the combination, the discount codes of these two websites can usually achieve a discount of about 10%. Then we have to take this 10% factor into account when we compare prices.
Please note that if the Expedia jumped to by Biyi.com is the Chinese version of http://Expedia.cn, the discount code cannot be used.
You can access the Hong Kong version of Expedia at: www.expedia.com.hk. You must use the English name of the hotel to search, and the Chinese name can hardly be found.
Step 3: Consider other special offers
In fact, there are some special factors that can be taken into account, such as “credit card discounts”, but this factor can only be used for certain groups of people. For example, there is a recent CCB credit card cashback discount, and 20% cashback is available for booking through Agoda.
You can get up to 20% cash back when you book hotels on Agoda, Expedia, and Hotels, and pay with special bank credit cards, Visa, and Master.
For example, Agoda’s mobile app is cheaper to book a room:
Agoda Booking Deals: Mobile Exclusive Deals
Summarize:
To sum up, the way to get the cheapest booking price is: “Comparison on Biyi.com + discount code + credit card discount + special discount”.
Of course, for lazy people, you only need to compare prices through Biyi.com. The price difference caused by the discount code factor is generally not too large, and the discount code cannot be used when booking some hotels.
If you are a little more lazy, even those who find it troublesome to compare prices, according to experience, the price is from low to high, you can refer to the following order of booking:
- Greater China: Ctrip → Agoda → Booking → Expedia → Hotels
- Southeast Asia: Agoda → Booking → Expedia → Hotels → Ctrip
- Europe and America: Booking → Agoda → Expedia → Hotels → Ctrip
