Families planning a stopover will have to pay up to 50 percent more on Booking.com if they use a computer instead of the travel agency’s smartphone app.
And one hotel in London even charged an extra £200 per night, according to a Mail on Sunday investigation.
Prices for rooms for a family of four in Britain and Europe during the summer holidays were on average 16 percent higher per night – almost £50 – if the booking was made on a laptop or desktop computer.
In the worst example, The Cumberland hotel in London charged a family of four £388 for booking two rooms via Booking.com’s smartphone app, but £588 on the website – an increase of 52 per cent.
Experts said the pricing system caused families to pay too much “unknowingly and unfairly”.
Prices of rooms for a family of four in Britain and Europe were on average 16 percent higher per night during the summer holidays. (Stock photo)
Experts said the pricing system caused families to pay too much “unknowingly and unfairly”. (Stock Image)
For two adults without children, only six hotels charged an average of 10 percent more on the website. (Stock photo)
While some of the cheaper app prices were labeled “mobile only,” many were not. (Stock Image)
We compared 35 hotels on Booking.com in popular holiday destinations in the UK and beyond, including Tenerife and Mallorca. We looked at the rates for a family of three booking one room, and a family of four booking two rooms, for the night of October 31st.
In total, 30 of the 35 increased prices between 4 and 52 percent, with a family of four booking two rooms paying an average of £49 per night more via the website, while a family of three booking one room on average £49 more paid per night. from £36 more.
We discovered that a family of four had to pay £108 more – £538 – for two rooms at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh on the website. The price of an apartment at the Royal Tenerife Country Club was 30 per cent higher – £237 – compared to £182 on the app. And it was 25 percent more at Melia Palma Marina, Mallorca – £257 instead of £206 – for a family of four booking two rooms.
For two adults without children, only six hotels charged an average of 10 percent more on the website.
While some of the cheaper app prices were labeled “mobile only,” many were not. And there was no indication to website customers that app prices could be cheaper.
Consumer expert Helen Dewdney of the website The Complaining Cow described the practice as ‘utterly bizarre’. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel warned: ‘Families are unknowingly – and unfairly – paying higher prices for their holidays.’
A Booking.com spokesperson said hotels set their own prices, adding: ‘Our accommodation partners only offer mobile rates as a way to engage with customers.’