Are travel discounts a thing of the past?

We expect to find the best travel discounts online and along with convenience, this is the reason we use booking engines as opposed to calling or booking direct with a service provider. Except, maybe you have noticed, the cost of hotel rooms and other travel related services seem to be increasingly expensive and there is a specific reason for this being the case.

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Travel discounts and Rate Parity

Introduced recently, a law called “Rate Parity” stipulates travel brands can only advertise one price across all channels of distribution. This effectively means a traditional booking engine simply cannot offer hotel discounts as they have done in the past. Held accountable by this new legislation, the cost of a hotel is the same on a traditional booking engine as they are on a website for the hotel in question.

The truth is out there

Take for example Kayak, one of the largest travel comparison websites in the world. If you perform a quick search for a hotel room on Kayak you will find the cost of a hotel room is the very same across all of the booking engines out there. Why? As mentioned previously, rate parity. This is the same if you check each individual booking engine and compare the price against the website of the actual hotel.

Providing this is the case, you really do need to ask yourself, what is the point of using these booking engines if they offer no genuine value anymore?

travel discounts

Travel membership: The only way to find genuine travel discounts

However, there is thankfully still a way to find the best travel discounts online and this is by searching within a “closed loop program” such as a travel membership club. Rate parity does not apply to membership clubs and for this reason, it is possible to sign up and start finding the travel discounts which were once available on the traditional booking engines.

Simple and effective, travel membership clubs also have a booking engine of their own on which you can search for the best vacation and avail of the best price.

Hotels Etc in North America

Leading the way in North America for more than 25 years, Hotels Etc is a travel membership club with a 5 star reputation and 4 million members. Essentially, this membership program negotiates the best possible rates with service providers in the travel industry and passes them on to their clients. Ranging from 50 – 80%, these are large discounts which far outweigh any decision to sign up for membership and there is also a trial option during which you can verify this value for yourself.

There really is no more to say other than if you want to find the best travel discounts online, you will need to look past the traditional booking engines and start utilizing the incredible advantages of being a member with a travel club such as Hotels Etc.

Still not sure? Come see for yourself, you can sign up for a free trial today.