Crazy Hotel Pricing

trisontana

I am having difficulty understanding the pricing policy of some hotel chains , as the following example shows.

I was on the look-out for a hotel and parking package at Birmingham airport for early next year. I managed to find a good deal at the Holiday Inn Airport Hotel for £72, including on-site parking at the hotel for a week, plus free transfers to and from the airport. This was through a company called FHR.

Just out of curiosity I then logged onto the web-site for Holiday Inn to see what they would charge just for a room. This comes out at £97 , with no parking. This for a booking that is many months in advance. Also the FHR package allows me to cancel up to 24 hours before the booked date, with just a fee of £10. Holiday Inn direct will not allow any refunds at all.

So the moral of the tale is don't book with the hotel direct, shop around through someone like FHR or Holiday Extras. You might be pleasantly surprised.

WiseInvestor_2

Hotels are only too happy to sell block-bookings to other companies or agents, at a reduced rate, which are then sold on to travellers. This gives the hotel guaranteed forward bookings and the traveller cheaper rates. However, the middle-man (FHR in this case) accept the responsibility and/or risk of rooms going empty. Hotels aren't typically in the business of heavy discounting, so having a forward booking at, say, £60 is better than no booking at all. The agent on the other hand, having already taken their cut (20% in my example) may well have to drop their prices in the weeks/days before, even resulting in a loss if necessary.

Airport hotels also hold the upper hand in case of disruption at the airport. An airline would be forced to pay the inevitable extortionate prices to accommodate their passengers if for whatever reason a flight didn't depart. The hotel makes a risk assesment of this occurring and releases X rooms for block bookings. The rest are kept for direct sales (telephone, internet, walk-ins) albeit at a higher price, and disprution at a higher price still. It's good business sense.

Froggitt

Holiday Inn I believe have a "lowest price on the web" guarantee......they will match what youve been quoted elsewhere.

saveapenny

They honor it too