Booking Hotels Online:

An In-Depth Examination of Leading Hotel Web Sites (Abstract)

Abstract

There's a general consensus that the best hotel deals are to be found on the Internet. But where? Which sites consistently offer the best rates? Which don't? Just what's going on behind those screens?

Consumer Reports WebWatch is continuing the work of the Consumer Reports Travel Letter by conducting controlled, real-time, head-to-head testing of online travel sites, in order to determine which sites offered the most thorough displays and lowest rates for hotel rooms. Sites tested included Expedia, Hotels.com, Lodging.com, Orbitz and Travelocity, as well as several branded sites maintained by national hotel chains. Testing was benchmarked with Sabre, the leading global distribution system used by travel agencies in the U.S. of hotel booking sites.

Statistical analysis provided by Consumers Union led to the creation of five separate tests, each consisting of 30 entries, across all seven sites. The testing simulated a variety of trips in 30 cities throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Consumer Reports WebWatch’s research detailed the best and worst sites for searching for hotel rooms by price, location star ratings, and specific brands and properties. The findings of the testing were grouped into three major categories: lowest raters, closest rates and lowest rates by test.

Overall, Travelocity provided the highest number of lowest rates: 29% in 150 tests, outpacing its nearest competitors, Orbitz (21%) and Expedia (18%). In 87% of the tests, one or more of the six Web sites provided lower rates than Sabre, the largest global distribution system (GDS) used by travel agencies. The lowest average rate was provided by Travelocity. Hotels.com, which did not perform very well overall, provided the second-lowest average. The "branded" sites maintained by hotel chains and specific hotel properties performed rather poorly overall, with a significant exception: When rates were queried at specific properties, the branded sites outperformed all competitors and provided the lowest rates in 1 out of 3 cases.