Why are we doing this?
There are many ways to book a hostel bed: You can reserve by phone, directly on the individual hostel's website.
Or you can use one of the numerous booking portals such as Hostelworld, Hostelbookers or Booking.com.
These hostel / hotel booking portals take a commission of 12-20% of the total price from the hostels and hotels. The hostels that do accept such bookings end up with only a portion of the amount they have actually calculated.
This is not generally a problem for a few bookings in a given year. However, in recent years, the number of reservations through such booking portals has increased dramatically. As a result, a typical, midsize hostel may pay between 15,000 to 50,000 € per year in commissions. Coupled with the already low prices being charged for a bed in hostels, this is a big problem.
Hostels are continually being hit with higher commissions, i.e. 12-20%, by these booking portals. So, in order to not lose money, the price of a bed offered on such a site must be increased. In other words, the same bed will cost more when booked through one of these portals than when booked directly through the hostel.
For example: A bed costs 15 €, if you book directly through the hostel. The exact same bed costs €16,80 when booked through Hostelworld and as much as €18,00 through Booking.com. When booking for multiple people for multiple nights, this difference quickly escalates! Wouldn´t you rather use that money for a nice night out on the town?
Zuletzt geändert am: Feb 16 2016 um 1:30 PM
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