In today’s world, booking a hotel in any part of the world becomes a seamless task. Just visit an online vacation rental platform to get it done within a few clicks. Booking.com is one of the most popular, reputed, and oldest online booking platforms where one can easily book any hotel, resort, or serviced apartment in just a few minutes. The best part is that it offers a lot of lucrative deals and offers around the year to make the accommodation even more pleasant and unforgettable. Despite stiff competition, Booking.com managed to stay among the top-ranking online vacation rental platforms.

 

PROS

• User-friendly interface
• Easy navigation
• Search results offer a lot of options
• Immersive hotel comparison
• Amazing customer support
• A twin rooms search is available
• Multi-lingual platform
• Supports various currencies

 

CONS

• The cancellation policy is little complicated
• Sometimes, refunds take a lot of time

About Booking.com

Booking.com is the most elaborate, user-friendly, and versatile travel booking website today. It offers a wide range of products without giving any kind of inconvenience to customers. The brand came into existence in 1996. It was founded by Geert-Jan Bruinsma. In 2005, it was acquired by Priceline Group for over $133 million. A year later, the brand collaborated with a European hotel reservation firm, ActiveHotels.com. In 2006, ActiveHotels officially kept the name, Booking.com Limited to make it easier for people to remember.

The collaboration of two big entities helped the parent company to recover losses incurred in 2002. The collaboration helped them to churn out $1.1 billion in profit in 2011 which is quite admirable.

The best part of Booking.com is that both experienced and new travelers can easily make a booking online without facing any kind of problem. The interface is so seamless and user-friendly that one can navigate and make payments within a few minutes.

 

How Does Booking.com Work?

It offers multiple menus that users can choose right from the homepage. There are multiple services and customers can easily pick one or combine two services. The platform comes with:

–              Filtering options

–              Search screens

–              Reading through options

–              Favourites

 

All these features help travelers to book the right kind of accommodation without facing any problems.

In case, some travelers are not sure about booking their next travel, they can take the help of multiple researched guides while picking any destination. They can simply put their areas of interest, favorite location, type of accommodation they want, etc. On the basis of their filters, Booking.com research guides will give them the best possible accommodation.

Booking.com also allows domestic as well as international customers to pick their favorite language and currency in order to make bookings easily. Upon selecting their preferred language and currency, the choices will remain on the platform unless it’s changed.

How To Find Offers & Discounts on Booking.com?

Booking.com offers various offers and discounts around the year. Once you take a membership you are entitled to get amazing offers and discounts to save money on your booking. All the registered users will get to see discounts with a marked logo.

In case, you are not a member, making a booking just as a guest then also you will get some discounts. These discounts are called ‘Getaway deals’. Most offers and deals are being offered on specific dates. However, it’s really difficult to get discounts or special rates during the peak season.

 

How To Make a Booking?

 

To get started, one has to follow the simple steps mentioned below:

• Signup on Booking.com
• Either signup with your Gmail account or via your social media account.
• One can also signup with their phone number
• Navigate and scroll up and down to check deals and offers
• Pick a service you want such as stays, flights, flights+hotels, car rentals, etc

 

How to Find The Best Deal?

When you signup and navigate on Booking.com, you will come across various deals such as Genius Deals in blue font, Secret Deals in blue font, highlighted packages, special deals of the day, etc. However, there is a process to fetch the best deal.

• First of all, you need to set your budget for a trip
• Secondly, find a hotel per your budget
• It’s better to travel during the off-season if it’s not urgent
• Use filters to get the best deal.
• If traveling with family, it’s better to pick accommodation with free breakfast, Wi-Fi, parking, and a pool
• Once you have set the filters, scroll down till the end of the search results
• Save the options that match your budget, requirement, and taste
• Compare the selected options in terms of amenities and price
• If you are booking a flight then use filters such as layovers, timing, non-stop flights, etc
• You can also pick an option for flights+hotel if you haven’t booked your flights. Here, Booking.com will show you the combined results based on the package.
• Once you reach the confirmation page, you will get to see the full package/hotel price along with the total savings and check-in details.
• One can also make modifications on the confirmation page such as hotel, room, or flight upgrade.
• One can also finance the trip via Booking.com’s lending partner Affirm.

 

What Payments Methods Does It Accept?

Booking.com accepts payments via VISA, MasterCard, Discover cards, and American Express. Also, it offers an EMI option through it’s lending partner, Affirm.

 

Why Should You Pick Booking.com?

There are multiple reasons to choose Booking.com over other vacation rental platforms.

• Seamless and smooth interface

Booking.com is easier to navigate, search, and browse. While booking flights and hotels, one doesn’t need to wait or beat around the bush.

• Transparent and informative

The platform doesn’t hide information related to the booking, prices, taxes, fees, etc. In fact, it shares every little detail with a customer to keep them updated.

• Offers a complete package

Booking.com plans a complete trip for you. You don’t need to open multiple sites on your browser. Just visit Booking.com to get everything done. Be it flights, hotels, car rentals, sightseeing, or a package. It does it all for you.

• A rich selection of hotels

Whether it’s a five-star hotel, a 3-star hotel, a luxurious apartment, a resort, or a beach resort, Booking.com offers a versatile range of options to choose from.

• Affordable rates assured

When it comes to affordability then it’s hard to beat Booking.com. It offers the best rates across all categories. It strives hard to cater to every budget in every category.

• Fast confirmation

It takes a couple of clicks to confirm a booking on the platform. It doesn’t take much time.

• No reservation fees

The platform doesn’t charge any reservation fees. In fact, one gets a full refund upon cancelation in most cases.

• Safe and secure booking

Booking.com leaves no stone unturned to keep it very safe for users/customers on the platform. Every booking or transaction is completely secured. It follows high safety standards and advanced security encryption to ensure the highest levels of privacy and confidentiality for customers’ financial and personal details.

• Round-the-clock support

Booking.com answers customers’ queries and doubts around the clock. It has a special 24/7 customer support team to assist customers in over 40 languages. Along with that, it also has a rich self-help knowledge base and FAQs.

 

FAQs

What’s the cancelation policy?

One can easily cancel a booking. However, cancelation fees vary from property to property. Also, it’s according to the booking’s cancelation policy. In case, you have a free cancelation booking, there is no need to pay any fee. If your booking is non-refundable or not free then you have to pay the fee.

Is it possible to change the dates in a non-refundable booking?

No, it’s not allowed. Once the booking is confirmed, you can’t make any changes to the non-refundable booking.

Does Booking.com send any message or email for cancelation?

Yes. Upon canceling a booking, it sends an email to confirm the cancelation.

Does every booking include taxes?

The booking contains every little detail. However, taxes vary from country to country. At the time of making a booking, it is advised to check the taxes and extra charges. However, the booking confirmation mail has everything mentioned.

 

Does it charge any extra fee on credit cards?

No, Booking.com doesn’t charge any extra transaction fee on any card. One can easily check in the booking or see the price breakdown.