Booking.com. insane not to use.

[Ken Latchers]

I have been using booking.com and Airbnb mostly. People complain about booking.com cancellations. I have fixed that completely. 

Airbnb types are seeking cheap and deeply discounted. Booking.com people pay a premium pricing and are good guests. I don't get a huge amount, but it is a good stream.

My secret is I use the one-hour window to allow cancellation. They made an error or are just confused, it weeds most of them out. I use strict / flexible cancellation policy. Any cancellation within 60 days I get the full payment.

I realize there are Regional differences. Booking.com leaves Airbnb in the dust in my area.

[Anand S.]

Or how about both?

[Ken Latchers]

you not on one of the major listing sites you are missing a lot of revenue potential 

Penny wise dollar poor

[John Underwood]

@Ken Latchers

I agree about Airbnb.

I get most of my bookings from VRBO/HA and I have heard alot of bad report in bookings.com so I'm not going to bother since I dont need them.

[Ken Latchers]

All my experiences on Booking.com have been good people at high profit. Airbnb people have been discount seekers.

try not to go by what you have heard,  but try it on one of your properties  and give it a few months  at a higher rate.  Add 15% fee and let the guests pay your Commission.

[Anand S.]

@John Underwood what were some of the experiences you've heard?

[John Underwood]

Originally posted by @Anand S.:

@John Underwood what were some of the experiences you've heard?

 Similar to the negative ones listed above.

[Brendan Curley]

@Ken Latchers  what did booking.com do to prove you owned the home and how are they processing credit card payments for you?

[Ken Latchers]

You have to fill out something on the property page and they send you postal mail to your address to which you have to enter a code.

I have them process credit card payments. Works like clockwork.

I have not had a single one of the negatives people seem to think is above. Just much more profitable bookings as I set my price higher.

booking.com brings people at a much higher price more than Airbnb brings people at a lower price.



Originally posted by @Brendan Curley:

@Ken Latchers  what did booking.com do to prove you owned the home and how are they processing credit card payments for you?

[Ken Latchers]

Another way booking.com is superior to Airbnb. I got a very lucrative multi-day booking this fall, and then tried to cancel just a couple of weeks later claiming I want except her service dog which wasn't true. Booking.com fidnt blink at my decline

now 3 weeks later, they tried to cancel again claiming their dates change and they couldn't make it. I called booking.com the verify and they said they would absolutely back me up on declining their cancellation request.

Airbnb has this judge injury thing were they can rip your booking out from under you when the guest claimed extenuating circumstances.

another nice thing is I haven't really been asked to review and I haven't really received reviews on booking.com like the insane hyper-focus on Airbnb.

[Ken Latchers]

sorry for typos. speaking into the Android keyboard leaves a lot to be desired

[Anand S.]

Just completed my first booking.com guest. The process was seamless. I called the guest prior to check-in and asked how he wanted to pay for the deposit and we did it via paypal. Super easy and I never had to meet him. 

He didn't complain or ask any stupid questions during his stay and when he left he left behind 6 tiki torches and tons of OFF spray. Looks like they had a nice outdoor event. It's comforting to know I don't have to obsess about reviews. 

Money was deposited into my account the day after checkout. The only inconvenience is I have to pay booking.com a commission at the end of the month, and I have to remit the local taxes myself vs. HA/ABB which do it automatically. 

Overall it was a good experience, and I will definitely do what I can to nurture the channel. 

[Ken Latchers]

i add a 15% commission (fee) to the booking and let guest pay the fee.

[Kerry Baird]

21 days after reading this post and taking action, I got my first booking.com guest, but for a stay that will be in May next year.  His only request was to check in at midnight.  Have lock, can do.  Thanks, @Ken Latchers for the suggestion.  

[Andre Galaviz]

I wanted to refresh this post to share my recent experience with others who might otherwise suffer the same fate. I will not use booking.com after the experience my dad just had. First booking after signing up, he lost $1,383.62, which was the entire stay from a horrible scammer. Booking.com has yet to help my dad in any way. It's been brush off service and passing him around between "Partner" services and "Customer" service. Both have essentially told him he could have gotten the credit card details, and chose direct payment. Neither of those features are available to new "partners," so my dad didn't have enough time to react once he figured out that he had to actually collect payment directly from the scammer, who also had an excuse the last three days she was staying at his home with about 10 people (was  supposed to be 6) going in and out of his place. Fail #1, platform is not intuitive and doesn't tell new hosts that there is a "trusted partner" period where PAST verifying your property, you still have to jump through hoops to actually set up direct payments. Fail #2, Although booking will capture info about the guest who was "new" to the platform, they will not share that info, instead the "call them on your behalf and ask that they pay their bill." Let's hold out breath - it's been 3+ weeks so far! Fail #3, Their customer service and Partner support is full of "Sorry this happened, but we won't do anything for you" reps. Not helpful to have the issues acknowledged, if there's no resolution. 
Bottom line, they side with a scammers and for the "benefit" of being on their site, you get to waste more time than it's worth, dealing with their confusing set up. Run, don't walk away!

[Johnny Hernandez]

Has anyone on this thread with positive review from 4 years ago still using booking.com?

[Lauren Kormylo]

I saw this article today about how Booking is not paying many hosts for stays in Europe, Thailand, and Indonesia. Some for as long as 6 months. 
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com...

[Alex Scattareggia]

All of the negative stuff about customer service, cancelation policies and fees are true.  Booking is a pain in the ***, especially compared to Air/VRBO.

That being said, I love Booking because it attracts completely different clientele bases, we generate a much higher ADR (which helps offset some of the policy issues) and the positives outweigh the negatives for me. 

I have never had an issue being paid, so I cannot weigh in on that topic.  I think the ease of use on the other OTA´s has skewed how people view Booking, but it is a really valuable revenue source IMO if you are willing to put in a little more work and deal with the occasional headache. 

[Luke G.]

I use it but it's honestly trash.  I hate it.  Having to contact guests to collect payment, 15% commission they take is terrible, janky website that's choppy and difficult to navigate.  I keep it open as we get an occasional booking from there, but it's a distant 3rd between Airbnb/VRBO.  I will say the few guests we have had through them have been easy, but their owner portal is garbage.  
   

[Cliff H.]

I could write a novel on my experiences with Booking.com and given that's nearly Halloween, the genre would likely also be correct. 

The frameworks others have presented of viewing the site as a lead-generation tool where you, as the host, are handling all the payment processing and screening is pretty accurate. 

That said, the demographic targeting offered by the platform is quite nice. If you know your target market, Booking.com can help you find them. 

[Joseph Dasmerces]

This is why i love BP where else can you go and find so much wisdom and insight among professionals in our industry that are willing to share their experiences. Thank you everyone for all the value each one of you brings and shares to the BP community.  

[Joel Lazar]

Quote from @Ken Latchers:

I have been using booking.com and Airbnb mostly. People complain about booking.com cancellations. I have fixed that completely. 

Airbnb types are seeking cheap and deeply discounted. Booking.com people pay a premium pricing and are good guests. I don't get a huge amount, but it is a good stream.

My secret is I use the one-hour window to allow cancellation. They made an error or are just confused, it weeds most of them out. I use strict / flexible cancellation policy. Any cancellation within 60 days I get the full payment.

I realize there are Regional differences. Booking.com leaves Airbnb in the dust in my area.

 Great post Ken. But my biggest fear is not screening out guest like I do with airbnb. I don't allow instant booking if they have any reviews less than 5 star. I have zero issues that way. 

[Julie Gates]

Booking.com has really gone after the STR market and we are getting lots of bookings through them in Savannah, GA. Absolutely use their payment processor and insurance and don't allow cancellations. My best advice is to use it only if you have property management software that supports the platform.

[Jackie Diaz]

How have you all been dealing with showing your property address on Booking.com? I just listed our property but want to hide the entire address until the guests formally book.

Appreciate your feedback!